Lucky me, I picked up some string beans from my CSA yesterday, and now I know what I’m going to break my fast on tonight! They’re just what I need after a full 25 hours of not eating; a light dinner (and a lot of fluids) instead of a feast that will make me feel sick afterwords.
We’ve showed you how we make Asian-style string beans, but these are more true to our heritage: Syrian-style! They’re almost as easy to make, and have just a bit more ingredients. Sometimes we like to eat them with rice for a light dinner, but they really work best as a side dish where the protein is the star of the meal (you may recognize that we made them to serve with lamb chops once).
Syrian String Beans
Ingredients:
- 1 lb. of string beans
- about 4 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1 4.5 oz. can of tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon of cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon of all spice
- 1/2 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper
- salt to taste
- 1 cup of water, as needed
Directions:
- Trim and wash the string beans. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and cook garlic for about 3 minutes.
- Add the string beans and stir to coat.
- Add the tomato paste and spices, mixing well.
- Reduce heat to low and cover, stirring often, and adding water 1 tablespoon at a time if the beans seem to be drying out or burning.
- Let cook for 30-45 minutes and serve. These make great leftovers to snack on, since they keep well and taste as great cold as they do hot off the stove.
