Green Beans in Olive Oil

Zeytinyagli Yesil Fasulye

This is a very much loved dish, and one of the most common ways of cooking vegies in olive oil. Do not shy away from using plenty of good quality olive oil in this dish. It is a great side dish, or a dish on its own when served with rice. In summer, it is often served cold, at times straight from the fridge. It can be made a day before.

Frozen green beans can be used, but fresh beans are always superior. Frozen version is quicker to prepare and cook, and also an option when green beans are out of season. One of the best green beans I recall using were straight from the garden patch of Isthmus Retreat (off Wilson's Prom, great owners, great spot).

Abla's restaurant serves also a very similar dish (see recipe in 'Lebanese Kitchen'). The recipe below is just an approximation of what I do - once you get used to this dish, no need to use a recipe. It's simple and variations in amount do not matter really (as long as there is enough olive oil, and not too many tomatoes).

One could replace onion with two garlic cloves. Add paprika or black pepper (or herbs, e.g., fresh parsley at the last minute, or dried mint). It also works if you have run out of tomatoes (or a tin of tomatoes) - just omit it, or one tablesp tomato paste could be used.

Try it also dropping some garlic yoghurt on to it before serving (mix crushed garlic with plain yoghurt, and adjust taste for salt).

1 tablesp olive oil
1 onion, diced up small
1/2 kilo green beans
2 diced tomatoes
1/3 cup additional olive oil
1 teasp salt
1 tablesp sugar
1/2 cup water

Use a medium sized pot with a lid. Gently fry the diced up onion in 1 tbsp olive oil. Once onion is soft and starts to turn colour, add the pre-washed and trimmed green beans, stirring a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, additional olive oil, salt and sugar. Stir. Add water, cover. Cook for 30-45 minutes over low heat.

When cooked, the beans will have changed colour, turning into almost khaki green (if looking bright green still, add a tablesp of water, and continue cooking). The beans should not be crunchy, but feel soft and moist.

Lemon Zucchini in Olive Oil

Zeytinyağlı Ekşili Kabak

Vegetables cooked in olive oil form an important part of Turkish kitchen. The vegies are well-cooked in that some may find them overcooked, but in the process, the juices are released in the olive oil and provide great flavours when combined with herbs, spices or lemon juice (as in this case). In this dish, zucchinis and lemon juice go well together forming a sour olive oil dish. Worth a try, and best served with white rice. The recipe comes from one of my cookbooks in Turkish.

I used half of the ingredients, as one kilo makes plenty. This dish can be served warm, or cold - straight from the fridge.

1 kilo zucchini (courgette)

1 cup olive oil

2 brown onions

1 or 2 green peppers

1 clove of garlic

2 tomatoes

juice of a lemon

1/2 teasp sugar

1/4 teasp salt (or to taste)

1/2 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1. Wash, peel and chop zucchinis into cubes. Chop all vegetables including garlic.

2. Brown the onions until light golden. Add the green peppers. When the peppers are lightly fried, add the garlic and tomatoes. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Then add the zucchinis. Close the lid of the pot, and let it cook until zucchinis change colour from bright into dull green. If necessary, add some water (or shorten the cooking time by using microwave oven)*.

3. Add the lemon juice, sugar and salt. Let it cook for a few minutes. Check for seasoning. Add parsley, stir and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

* Zucchinis take a long time to cook! If you are short for time, pre-cook them in the microwave oven. Simply add 3 tablespoons of water into a bowl suitable for microwave along with the zucchinis, cover, and cook for 7 minutes on High (100%). Then proceed with the recipe.

Sour Leek in Olive Oil

In Turkey, the best known leek dish is the leek in olive oil made with leek, rice and carrots. I found this sour version from a Turkish cookbook, and it is different! It has no rice or carrots but onions instead. The reason I tried the recipe was I had simply run out of carrots. The result was impressive.

It is best served as a side dish, together with rice and meat/chicken, and a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

1 kilo leek
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon tomato paste
a pinch of salt
European parsley

Wash the leek carefully to get rid of any soil. Cut into 7-8 cm.s pieces, and cut each into thin stick-like pieces.

Add olive oil into a pot, and lightly stirfry the onion. Then add the leek, and continue stirring. Close the lid, and cook further for a few minutes.

Add the water, tomato paste, salt, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook in medium heat until the leek is soft.

Turn off the heat. Serve it when it has cooled down, topped with parsley.

You may want to try mixing through a teaspoon of sumac prior to serving.

Red Capsicum and Zucchini in Olive Oil

On my last trip to Istanbul, my mum cooked 'red pepper in olive oil' several times, as red peppers were plenty in the market. I loved the dish, and here is my variation of it with zucchini added, as I had to use the last zucchini in the fridge. Olive oil brings out the true flavour of red pepper, so do not opt to use other oils.

5-6 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 sweet red peppers (or 1 large capsicum), diced
1 tomato, diced and crushed
1 teaspoon tomato paste
3 small zucchinis (or a large one), diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Fry garlic lightly in olive oil. Add pepper, and stir until mildly fried. Add crushed tomato and tomato paste, and stir. Add diced zucchini, then salt, sugar, and two cups of water. Cook until zucchini is well-cooked in a pot with lid semi-closed (it has to turn colour into deeper green).

P.S. Because zucchini takes a long time to cook, cooking time can be shortened by microwaving the zucchini beforehand. To do so, put diced zucchini in covered microwave dish along with 2-3 tablespoon of water for about 5 minutes. If so, only add 1 cup of water to the recipe above.