Middle Eastern White Beans Recipes

MIDDLE EASTERN WHITE BEANS

Steps:

• In a slow cooker combine the beans, tomato paste, pimento sauce, garlic, onions, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix until the beans are coated. Pour in beef broth, and top off with enough water to completely cover the beans.
• Cover, and cook on High for 6 hours, or until the beans are tender and the liquid is thickened. It should not be soupy.

JACY'S MIDDLE-EASTERN FAVA BEAN STEW

Steps:

• To make harissa paste: Heat a dry skillet over high heat and add coriander, caraway and cumin seeds. Shake pan gently until spices become fragrant, about 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat and pour seeds into mortar and grind with pestle to a fine powder. Add garlic, salt, paprika and dried red pepper flakes, mashing and stirring until garlic is incorporated with the spices. Mixture will be dry and crumbly. Add enough of the 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil until you have a thick paste. Use fewer pepper flakes if you prefer less heat. Set aside.
• Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into a large pot and add minced onions and garlic. Cook slowly over low heat until onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Push onions aside in the pot, and stir in the anchovies. Cook anchovies until they soften, mashing them with the back of a wooden spoon until they dissolve. Stir together with the onion and garlic mixture.
• Add the butternut squash, carrots, bell pepper, frozen peas and a pinch of salt. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Pour in the stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for about a minute.
• Stir in the drained fava beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf and harissa paste (from step 1). Add brown sugar and pomegranate molasses. Bring back to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook uncovered for about 1 1/2 hours. The long, slow cooking time allows the flavors to deepen.
• Just before serving, stir in the chopped parsley. Top with the mint, if you like.

LEBANESE/SYRIAN FASOULIA

Steps:

• Brown meat in a large frying pan with some olive oil from the bottle. Add season salt if desired or use regular salt and pepper. Make sure all pieces of meat have been browned. Set aside.
• In a stew pan, over medium heat, add the olive oil and the tomato paste. Fry the tomato paste about 5-8 minutes. If it seems dry, add more oil in small amounts. It should be chunky in the oil, not runny like soup. Stir constantly! This will burn very easily.
• Turn down the heat, add 2 cups of water. Stand back, it may spit at you! Continue to add the water in 2-cup increments. Add the boullion cubes. Stir around and scrape the bottom of the pan to make sure all tomato paste is mixed in the water.
• Add the lima beans and the meat. Bring to a boil (should take about 5 minutes) then reduce to a simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste. Depending on the quality of the meat, it may take 2-4 hours for the meat to become tender.
• Add more water if too much boils out or it is too salty.
• Serve with Middle Eastern rice.
• This can be prepared in a stainless steel or non-stick pan. I prefer non-stick. Additionally, it may be transferred to a crock pot to simmer all day. Never leave food cooking on the stove unattended!

MIDDLE EASTERN BEAN TABBOULEH

Steps:

• Combine beans, tomatoes, green pepper and parsley in mixing bowl.
• In a small bowl, whisk lemon juice with salt and cayenne. Mix in oil. Pour over bean mixture; toss well. Mix in mint and cilantro, if using. Let it sit 20 minutes so flavors meld together. This will keep in the fridge 24 hours, tightly covered. Enjoy!