So Many Dishes

My dear friend Mary is the person who first made me aware of the wonderful green bean dishes of Greece. We both own and cook out the wonderful The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook by Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Mary cooks green beans with tomatoes and olive oil from that source. She raved about it, so I had to try it, too. It’s a delicious way to prepare fresh beans, but, to me, it’s a side dish. It just needs something else for a complete meal.

One thing that caught my eye when I looked at the recipe in the book was that the recipe on the opposite page was titled “fasolakia.” I had eaten a green bean side similar to Mary’s recipe at an excellent Greek restaurant in the Orlando area that our son took us to. There, the beans were called “fasolaka.” But the similarly-named dish in the cookbook included potatoes.

Off I went, down the research rabbit hole. Fasolakia is, indeed, a traditional Greek green bean and potato stew, with tomatoes, onions, and plenty of olive oil. But there’s also fasolia, which seems to be a generic Mediterranean term for bean stew. I’ve seen both Mary’s recipe and the Greek potato version listed as fasolia, but also a Lebanese white bean stew, a Syrian beef and green bean stew, and numerous others.

The recipe that we enjoy is from a different book, The Mediterranean Dish, by Suzy Karadsheh, and it’s called fasolia. But when I was doing my research and Googled “fasolakia,” the first recipe that came up was on The Mediterranean Dish website, and it was exactly the same as the fasolia recipe in the book!

By either name, this dish is delicious. It’s a wonderful summer entree. I’ve cut it more or less in half, because it makes way too much for two people. we still had plenty of leftovers. Don’t be thrown by the addition of cumin. It’s essential, and it won’t overwhelm the veggies. We always have bread to sop up the sauce. In fact, Ken went for seconds and only took broth.

Fasolia

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 14-oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 large potato, about 8 ounces, peeled and cut into 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup water
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• Juice of 1/2 large lemon
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

In an oven safe pot with a lid, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and cumin. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, another 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes with their liquid, bay leaf, green beans, potato, carrots, and water. Raise the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cover and transfer the pot to the oven. Bake until the sauce thickens slightly and the beans and potatoes can easily be cut with the side of a fork, about 35 minutes.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in the lemon juice, parsley, and a generous drizzle of good olive oil, and serve.

We love it the way it is, but I’ve seen it suggested that you crumble a little feta on top. Whatever you decide, happy eating!