WEEK 3: YOUR BEST GREEN AND WAX BEAN DISH
Fasoolya Khadra (Beef and Green Bean Stew)
Photography by Sarah Shatz
BY SUSAN | SERVES 6 TO 8
A&M: This is one of those recipes, like pot-au-feu, that seem to defy the laws of cooking by coaxing an intensely flavorful sauce from water rather than broth or wine. Here, beef and beans soften into lushness, enveloped by a silky gravy of tomatoes, garlic, coriander, and cumin. Susan wrote, “Many people (including me) put plain whole-milk yogurt on the side,” and we encourage you to as well.
1 pound stewing beef, cut into 1-inch chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound green beans
1 pound tomatoes (canned is okay)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons ground cumin
White rice, for serving
Yogurt, for serving
- Season the beef generously with salt and pepper, place in a skillet large enough to hold the beef in one layer, and add enough water to just cover the beef. Cover and simmer gently over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until the meat is no longer pink.
- Remove the ends from the green beans. Cut them into 1½-inch pieces.
- Remove 1 cup of the simmering liquid and reserve. Add the green beans to the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Chop the tomatoes (if using fresh) and add them to the bowl of a food processor with the reserved beef broth and garlic. Pulse until smooth. Add this mixture to the green beans and beef. Season generously with salt and pepper, then stir in the coriander and cumin. Cover and simmer gently until the meat is fork-tender, 1½ to 2 hours. (Add more water if the pan gets dry—there should be half an inch of sauce at all times.) For the most delicious flavor, let the stew sit on the stove for a while after cooking and reheat later. Serve with rice and yogurt.
Photography by Sarah Shatz
TIPS AND TECHNIQUES
Susan was studying abroad in Amman, Jordan, in 2005 when she learned this recipe from her host family. She says, “We usually ate it at lunch and then again from the fridge when we got home late on Saturday night.”
Susan: “You can make it with fava beans as well, to make white fasoolya—this fasoolya is green fasoolya (khadra means green). People put cayenne or other chili pepper on white fasoolya sometimes, and I think it could be good on the green also, depending on your taste.”
ABOUT THE COOK
Susan is a graduate student living in Tucson, Arizona.
Her favorite recipe from a cookbook: “Before I turned fourteen and developed an attitude, but after I could use the stove by myself, I used to make poached chicken from Pierre Franey’s 60-Minute Gourmet for family dinner. I was so proud of myself for helping my mom, and now of course I love that recipe.”
WHAT THE COMMUNITY SAID
ThinkingChair: “We made this right after Christmas when we wanted something completely different from all that blandness. Both myself and my eleven-year-old son loved it!”
Tony S: “So simple but so good! Very similar to a Lebanese recipe called Lubee Ah Laham. Just replace the beef with lamb, and the coriander and cumin with cinnamon and perhaps a pinch of allspice.”