Thursday 28 May 2020

Green Beans With Olive Oil

Mr P. and I have always called this dish Greek beans, but here in the book called Zaitoun by Yasmin Khan it is Fasolia Bi Zait, a Palestinian recipe.  The book is subtitled Recipes and stories from the Palestinian kitchen.  I love the recipes here, so you'll be seeing a few more of them over the coming weeks, my virtual friends.  

This is a lovely book, full of stories from local Palestinian women, and complemented by beautiful, and colourful photos.  The author travelled over several years to Israel, and the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.  She visited local communities, cooked with the women, and ate at the restaurants.  She decided to bring all these food experiences together in this interesting and informative book.  (BTW, zaitoun means olive in English.)   



tasty green beans with spiced potatoes


Serves 4:

ingredients:


400g. (14 oz) green beans

2 tbs olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped or sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 small red chillies, finely chopped (optional)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

3/4 tsp ground cummin

1/2 tsp ground allspice

400g. (14 oz) tin of diced tomatoes

1 fresh tomato, diced

1/2 cup of water

a dash of red or white wine - maybe 1/4 cup

1 tsp white sugar

a dozen grinds of black pepper

¾ - 1 tsp of sea salt

more EV olive oil to drizzle over the top


Method:


First trim your beans - i.e. - cut off the top and tail, then cut each bean into three pieces

Now boil or steam them for about twenty minutes till crisp-tender (as the Americans say)

Drain and put aside while you make the sauce

Heat the olive oil in a large frypan, tip in the onions and let them cook for about fifteen minutes on a gentle heat, stirring now and then

Stir in the garlic, chillies and spices, and cook for a few minutes more

Add the tinned and fresh tomatoes, water, wine, sugar, pepper and salt

Give the mixture a good stir, cover and let simmer on a low heat for ten minutes - check it now and then; and add a wee bit more water if it starts to look too dry

Add the beans to the sauce, and stir them in gently

Check for seasoning, drizzle over the olive oil and serve - as a side for 4 people, or as a main for 2 or 3 with some spicy potato wedges


Notes:

If you like your beans very tender, by all means go ahead and cook till they're as tender as you wish

I think this amount of sauce would happily accommodate another 50-100 grams of beans, so if you're feeling hungry ...



trim, top and tail your beans
Mr P. is posing for this shot, but I actually did all the gritty bean work:-)


steam your beans till tender - as you please


get Mr P. to stir the onions and garlic, etc


sauce cooked down and  beans added


all ready - with spiced spuds in the background


delicious - hot or room temp.

Confession time - I did adapt this recipe slightly by adding oregano and a fresh tomato.  I also felt it needed a bit of wine, and the red chillies that Mr P. always adds to his Greek beans!  Delicious!




colourful cover caught my eye

This is a book after my own heart; full of personal stories, interesting recipes, great photos, and providing lots of inspiration.  It is divided into five chapters: Mazzeh/Salads/Soups/Mains/Desserts.  Each recipe has a little story, a list of ingredients and straightforward directions.  Yasmin tells us how to make each dish very clearly, so that even a novice cook should be able to follow along.  I am really enjoying this book, and have sent off for some spices so I can make more of these recipes.  Do you know how hard it is to buy za'atar at the moment? :-) 





artwork © Sherry's Pickings

36 comments:

  1. This looks like a terrific recipe! That sauce looks amazing. Neat way to prepare green beans -- thanks.

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  2. I just had some green beans too. Yours with those wonderful spices and herbs turned out looking really tasty and moreish, Sherry.

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  3. Middle Eastern food is always a treat. I love your photos!

    be well... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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  4. Thanks for this. With a couple of minor alterations this will be a wonderful keto side dish, different from just regular green beans!

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    1. hi anne, thanks for dropping by. i am curious now - what sort of keto changes? dump the potatoes i guess:-)

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  5. This looks like a lovely book. I adore this green bean dish! :D

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    1. thanks lorraine. it's a great book and a great recipe.

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  6. I will try your cooking of Green Beans With Olive Oil....look delicious.
    Thank you for sharing the recipe

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  7. My garden green beans are just starting to flower, this looks like a wonderful way to use them once I get tired of plain old steamed or roasted green beans. And a wonderful vegetarian meal. Thanks.

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    1. roasted beans? i've never thought of doing that - interesting...

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  8. This is my favourite kind of food - I love Middle Eastern Cuisine! Fun fact: In my 20s I spent a year on kibbutz in Israel, learned Hebrew and as part of our "course" we visited a Palestinian family and had tea in their home. I wish I had paid more attention to the delicacies we enjoyed! I will definitely keep an eye out for that book - looks great!

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    1. i see that someone (an Ottolenghi chef?) has put out a similar book on Palestinian food. I must check that out too. I love Middle Eastern food! Falastin it's called - the book I mean:) cheers
      S

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  9. Green beans are a favorite veggie - love this recipe in a tomato sauce. Cookbooks offer so much more than just recipes - I too love the personal touch some authors give.

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    1. yes a personal cookbook with stories is my fave!

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  10. These look so good. I make a much simpler Italian version with broad beans, but I absolutely love all the flavors in this dish - will be adding this to my Middle Eastern repertoire, for sure! Hope you are well, Sherry!

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    1. that's great david. cheers! and yes i am doing okay. hope you are too.

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  11. It's dinner time and I wish I was settling down to dinner with this -- it looks delicious and the photos are wonderful.

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    1. hi jeanie
      it is a very tasty meal. thanks re photos. i took them at night so i was worried they weren't okay...

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  12. I am not surprised you were drawn by the colourful book cover - I would be too. I have just bought a whole bunch of green beans and this would be a great way to use them. Thanks for the inspiration, Sherry.

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    1. thanks katerina. i think you will like this dish.

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  13. These beans sound delicious! Laura and I often make beans with chopped tomatoes and garlic for an Italian twist, however I need to try this version next! However, I'm concerned I won't be able to make them here as I don't have a Mr. P to stir the onions, garlic and etc.

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    1. tee hee. that's sad. they just won't be the same without Mr P.:-)

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  14. I've had soul food beans that are something like this, but yours are fancier.

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  16. My husband always has to cut the onions because my eyes start tearing within seconds. Your bean dish makes a great vegetarian meal. Stay safe and well. Gerlinde

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  17. My husband always has to cut the onions because my eyes start tearing within seconds. Your bean dish makes a great vegetarian meal. Stay safe and well. Gerlinde

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  18. My husband's family is from Cairo and they call these beans by the same name. The cover of the book is beautiful and I can only imagine how wonderful the recipes and stories are!

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    1. yes it is a lovely book judee. thanks for dropping by.

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  19. I get za'atar on Amazon. Good quality and decent price with lots of choices of brands

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    1. not sure we can get that sort of thing on amazon here!

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