Green beans are cheap this time of the year, so I practically cook them once a week. When we came back from the farmers’ market, I cleaned, washed and dried them and the following day they were ready to be cooked.
When buying them, I intended to cook them yiahni, as is the usual Greek recipe. Don’t get me wrong, I love this recipe but cooking them often makes them boring, so while preparing them I was thinking what I could do to make something different.
I decided to make Tourlou, which means “mixed up”. This dish, is similar to briam only this time I made it on the stove top, as it was very hot yesterday. When I told my husband that I was planning to cook something different, he wasn’t particularly happy at the idea of adding more vegetables to a recipe he already likes, but at the end he licked the plate.
Personally, I would have added an eggplant as well and spiced it up with more garam massala, but I know that he wouldn’t like it that way, so I skipped adding them.
As I added more vegetables to this stew, the green beans were too much for two persons, so part of this is going in the deep freezer for another recipe.
Now that we have a garden, I keep some herbs in the deep freezer, for whenever they are needed. Kafkalithres are winter herbs but they were a great addition. I also kept some green onions as well. I keep the white part separate from the green part.
We harvested our garlic at the end of May but the heads were not very big but still they were great. As usual I roasted some garlic, which I always have some in the refrigerator for a milder taste to my dishes and the remaining is hanging in our basement.
Last week I also collected a lot of fennel fronds growing wild, but have some in our garden as well. I’ ve kept a lot in the deep freezer to use during the winter.
Stove top Tourlou-Tourlou me Fassalokia (Vegetable Medley with Green Beans), recipe by Ivy
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Servings: 3-4
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 roasted garlic clove, mashed
- 1/2 kiko green beans 3 medium potatoes, cut into small pieces
- 3 medium carrots, cut into small sticks
- 1/2 cup kafkalithres, chopped
- 5 medium, ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/4 tsp garam massala
- 1 organic vegetable cube
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 600 ml water
Directions:
- Cut the ends of the beans with a knife and then with a vegetable peeler remove the strings around them. Wash them and leave them in a colander to strain.
- Heat the olive oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion until translucent. Add the white part of green onion as well as garlic and sauté for 1 – 2 minutes.
- Add the beans, kafkalithres as well as green part of the onion and mix.
- Add the potatoes, carrots and courgettes and season with salt and pepper and garam massala.
- Add the tomatoes as well as tomato paste, as well as some water to cover them.
- Bring to boil, cover with lid, lower heat and simmer for about 45 minutes, until vegetable are soft and water has evaporated, leaving a nice sauce.
- Ten minutes before the end mix in the parsley.
Serve warm or cold. It is served as a main dish with feta and a salad but could also be served as a side dish.
Note: Kafkalithres is a winter aromatic herb. If you cannot find any you can substitute it with more parsley or if you like you can add some fennel fronds or dill.
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
Judy
Wednesday 31st of July 2013
I just Love it !!! I need to try All receipts
Simona
Thursday 18th of July 2013
This dish looks very good. I could eat a large plate.
TasteofBeirut
Saturday 22nd of June 2013
Love it! I adore veggie dishes and these green beans look just like the ones we grow here in Lebanon. Nice!!
Rosa
Friday 21st of June 2013
A delicious bean dish! Perfect with bread and feta.
Cheers,
Rosa