COLORADO SPRINGS – It really was Greek to me – giant beans in tomato sauce, a classic Greek dish known as gigandes plaki. Like other beans, these are jam-packed with low-fat, high-protein fiber and other good-for-you nutrition, at a low cost, Teresa Farney of The Gazette reports.

“Once I tasted them, I was on a hunt for more. However, they were not easy to track down,” she writes.

Her passion in finding the beans fired up again at the Second Sunday Jazz Affair in February, where lo and behold, one of the steamers on the Greek buffet was devoted to a pan of tomato sauce with the giant beans floating in it.

When Farney pointed to them, Costas Rombocos, who was standing behind the serving line, nodded in a knowing way: “Maybe, just maybe, I had finally stumbled onto a source for the treasured beans.”

“When I inquired, he said he bought them at an international market in Denver.

I got the brand name – Palirria – and started the hunt again online and found the company’s website. Bingo! I ordered a case of 12 (10-ounce) cans for $3 each (with free shipping), which arrived within the week.”