Here’s a fantastic (and easy!) recipe from my Turkish feast: Green beans in olive oil with onion, garlic and tomato or Zeytinyagh taze fasulye in Turkish.
1 lb green runner beans, washed and trimmer
1 medium sized onion, cut in half and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tbsp. olive oil (extra virgin preferred)
2 tomatoes, skinned and diced in medium sized cubes
1 tsp sugar (just enough to balance the lemon juice)
1/2 pint water (the liquid should be about half-way the beans)
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp salt (about twice as much as sugar)
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped
Trim the ends of the beans and cut them in two or three lengthwise, depending on their size. If you are using French beans or haricots verts, leave them as they are, but still trim the ends off of course.
Sprinkle a layer of chopped onion, garlic and tomato over the bottom of a large pan and add a layer of beans, more onion, aarlic and tomato, and repeat till all ingredients are finished. Pour over the olive oil, water, lemon juice. Add the salt, pepper and sugar.
Cook on medium heat for about 45 minutes, but start checking the consistency of the beans after 30 minutes. They should have a very light bite to them still.
Set aside and take the lid off a bit later, let cool a little and then sprinkle the dill on top, without mixing it yet.
They are normally eaten at room temperature, but lukewarm these beans are very nice as well. Tip: The leftover liquid can be used for dipping bread!
Recipe courtesy Cooking Alaturka.
Text: Lydia Parafianowicz