Green bean stew (loubyeh b’zeit)

Loubyeh b’ zeit or green beans in olive oil (although, technically, it’s tomato sauce) is a Middle Eastern vegetarian one-pot dish. It’s incredibly simple to make, requires very few ingredients and is one of my favourite ways to have green beans. Preferably, use runner beans.

Loubyeh b’ zeit or green beans in olive oil (although, technically, it’s tomato sauce) is a Middle Eastern vegetarian one-pot dish. Credit: Sarka Babicka

• serves

  3

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  35 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 50 g butter
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 500 g runner beans, topped, strings removed
• 6 tomatoes, peeled, roughly chopped (or use canned Italian tomatoes)
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp allspice
• salt and pepper, to taste
• olive oil, to taste
• Lebanese bread, to serve

Resting time 5 minutes

Instructions

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until translucent. Add the beans, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, and allspice, and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or until the beans are cooked through but still have a gentle bite and the sauce is thickened. Remove the lid and cook until the excess liquid has evaporated and the sauce is thickened, if necessary.

Remove from heat, add the olive oil and stir to combine. Sit for 5 minutes.

Dish up and enjoy warm or at room temperature with some Lebanese bread to mop up all the juices.

Recipe from Dirty Kitchen Secrets by Bethany Kehdy, with photographs by Sarka Babicka.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.