Vegan Mofo #7: Egyptian Green Beans

Morning all! I trust everyone had a good weekend?

I spent mine running, doing life admin, hanging out with friends and making some seriously awesome pancakes.

I also got the chance to experiment with one of my all-time favourite Egyptian dishes: Fasolia Khadra (otherwise known as green beans)

Traditionally cooked in a tomato sauce and served over verimicelli rice.

Don’t think that sounds too exciting?

You are sorely mistaken.

Egyptian Green Beans and Quinoa

Serves 2

200g of fresh green beans – trimmed and french cut

3 medium tomatoes + 1/4 cup water OR ready made passata

1 medium onion – roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced

1 T tomato paste

Sea salt and pepper to taste

You could definitely use ready made passata or canned tomatoes but I prefer to make my own sauce – it’s what mama taught me and in my opinion makes all the difference in taste. Plus its super easy.

Quarter the tomatoes, add water and blend.

(And you get that pretty pinkish hue – what’s not to love? )

Sautee the onions in some coconut oil on a medium flame until the onions are translucent.

Add in about half of your tomato sauce and allow it to reduce with the oil and onions – it should turn a rich orange-y red colour. Stir and let simmer for a few minutes or so before adding the rest of the sauce along with the tomato paste.

Season with salt and pepper and allow to simmer until you get a nice even colour. About another 4 minutes or so.

Once the sauce is looking ready, fold in the green beans, and bring to a boil. Add in the sliced garlic, then fill the pan up with water and cover.

Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the beans are cooked through, and add water as needed to keep from drying out. Careful not to add too much though – you want a nice thick and reduced tomato sauce for this.

In the mean time, cook your rice/couscous/quinoa to fluffy perfection.

And throw together a side salad
Rucola, mixed leaves, red onion, lexia raisins, sunflower seeds and walnuts in a cumin-cinnamon vinagrette.

Beans will be translucent, tender and light green in colour, tomato sauce should be thick and the dish should be garlicky and fragrant.

Serve.

It may not sound like much but this combination of simple, fresh and rich flavours is always a winner in my book. It’s also the kind of dish that keeps insanely well and in fact tastes better a day old.

You could definitely serve this as a cold mezze drizzled with some olive oil.

It’s great on it’s own, eaten with pita bread, or on a bed of quinoa as a healthy alternative to the typical nutrient depleted (albeit very tasty) white rice and verimicelli noodles.

 

The perfect mix of sweet, savoury and tangy.

What simple flavour combinations/dishes stand out for you?

Do you make sauces fresh or opt for store-bought?

Until next time!