Green Beans Lebanese Style

This is the dish known as "Lubyi bi Zayt" in Arabic, or Green Beans in Olive Oil. Recipes vary widely - by cook, by village, by region of Lebanon. Sometimes a housewife might add a little chopped meat to the browning onions. Sometimes the dish might have a hot chili, or lemon juice, or allspice, or tomato paste. The basic idea is to saute and then braise green beans with tomatoes, onions, and garlic. The following recipe is a loose version of what I do.

1 1/2 pounds green beans, ends snapped, strings removed, beans snapped in half
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil (you can use less but it affects flavor and texture)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced fine (some recipes use lots more garlic, peeled only, not cut)
1 1/2 pound tomatoes (4 large?), peeled and cut into chunks, or 1 28 oz can, drained
Salt
Pepper
Ground allspice
pinch of sugar

Saute the onion in olive oil on medium heat until translucent. Add green beans, saute until they get a bit of color and onion turns golden. Add garlic, saute another minute, then add tomatoes, salt (1/2 tsp? - to taste), black pepper, 1/4 tsp. allspice and a pinch of sugar. Okay the measurements here are to taste, very elastic. Bring the tomatoes to a boil, turn down heat, cover the pan and simmer until tender. Time is controversial - Middle Easterners like their green beans very soft. I go for 20 minutes, checking at 15; some Arabic recipes say 35 minutes. You be the judge.

The classic dish wants the green beans to absorb the tomato completely, whereas my version allows the tomatoes and green beans to still retain their shapes and identity. I don't claim my recipe is definitive. It may suit a Blue State palate more than the classic version. Here are some others I found:

Lebanese Green Beans at the Tripoli food site.

A recipe from the 1950s, via Al-Mashriq

Christina Sudairy's excellent and comprehensive Arabic food recipe site publishes green beans with olive oil here.

Comments

[Sharon]

Thank you for this recipe. Here in San Diego I shop in the many Arab vegetable markets for the great fresh produce+. Today I bought lubia and needed help. This is such a great store...also bought the huge pita bread freshly baked there. The old woman rolls out the dough to the size of a pizza, puts it on a cloth covered lid (sort of) and puts it inside the deep oven to bake. I had this before but only in a village in Israel. To be honest I am Jewish and still have hopes for peace there. Anyway, food is a connector and I see many common things in it. We are lucky here to get the Persian/Mid Eastern cucumbers here too. Anyway, thanks and if it is still Ramadan have a good fast.
Sharon

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[Suzy Phillips]

Marhaba,

My name is Suzy and I stumbled on your blog looking for Lebanese style pita bread to buy since my local store stopped carrying it. My father is British/American and my beautiful mother is Lebanese. I was born and raised in Lebanon and moved to the States in 1988. I produce and host a Lebanese cooking show on the public access station in asheville NC and youtube, you can search Gypsy Queen Cuisine, my mom has called me a Gypsy since I was a little girl, I guess I act like one sometimes :-). Please watch my show and maybe you can put my link on your blog. I miss my country and my people. shoukran and ma alsalama.

[Bruce]

I had a taste for Lebanese green beans and googled them. This is such a well-presented recipe, with real style and grace. Thanks.