Fresh Green Beans in Olive Oil (Zeytinyağlı Taze Fasulye)

 

Fresh Green Beans Cooking in Olive Oil (Zeytinyağlı Taze Fasulye)

Fresh green beans elegantly chopped and delicately simmered with onion and tomato in good olive oil.

Source: Adapted from The Sultan’s Kitchen by Özcan Ozan

Prep Time: 20 Min
Cook Time: 40 Min
Total Time: 1 Hr

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 100 ml olive oil
• 1 medium size onion finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
• 2 medium size tomato peeled and finely diced
• 500 gram green beans
• 1 tsp salt
• 300 ml hot water
• freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Prepare beans: Wash the beans and trim off their pointy ends. Cut each one diagonally at the angle of 60° – each bean will turn into a few 0.3 cm wide stripes. The cutting is the key to the more juicy result and little bit more exciting presentation than you can normally expect from a green bean.
2. Cook beans: Heat the oil in a large skillet, add onions and garlic and cook over the medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, or until soft. Stir in tomato and beans. Season with salt and pepper. Add water, bring to boil and cover the skillet with a lid. Let simmer for 40 minutes – the beans will become tender but still not too soft.
3. Serve: Transfer the beans into a large bowl, cool down and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (one hour, ideally). Serve chilled with fresh white bread or pita.
4. Shopping tip: It’s always great to get your hands on fresh bean. To check the freshness when buying break one – if the bean willingly snaps back at you that’s your boy (or girl)!: As fresh as it gets.

Note: Sabi, thank you for making me revisit this old recipe of mine! Yes, a pinch of sugar is a good idea. Lemon is added to prevent discoloring of vegetables like artichokes or celeriac. Dill works with certain vegetables indeed but in most of the case is added right before serving. I cooked the beans according to this recipe for a long time, until I started using pressure cooking and no water at all: using that cooking methods beans quickly give away enough of the cooking liquid to prevent burning.