Fassoulia recipe

Fassoulia literally means “green beans” in Arabic. Here’s how my family likes to make it.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of green beans
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
• olive oil
• salt

Steps:

Dice and saute the onion in olive oil on low heat until it goes translucent. While those are cooking slowly, chop off both ends of the green beans and cut them into half-inch-long pieces. You can actually leave the “far” end of the bean on, but make sure you cut the tough end off.

Add in the green beans to the sauteeing onions; they’ll turn bright green. Cook them for a while, still on low. Put a lid on it to keep the humidity up.

After about 45 minutes, add the whole tomatoes, put the lid back on and sautee for as much time as you have. This is one of those recipes that benefits from extended time; those green beans can be tough. You can break up the whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon while you’re stirring it to make for smaller pieces. You can also add more olive oil for more flavor - the olive oil will infuse with the tomato.

Add salt to taste and you’re done! Eat with pita bread - put a couple pieces of green beans into a bite of pita - or with rice or just as a side.