Mediterranean Cooking in the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya: Loving Loubiye
Sautéing home grown loubiye with garden tomatoes and onions © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Lebanese style loubiye (green beans) are a summer garden favorite and if you grow your own beans, you can preserve the abundance of the season by freezing them for a taste of warmth in the winter months. In this classic dish made with chunks of cinnamon-seasoned lamb or simply vegan style without meat, the julienned green beans are combined with sautéed onion, garden tomatoes and are cooked until the beans are tender. Loubiye is traditionally served over riz m’falfal (steamed rice) with carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, and other vegetables and is scooped up with snippets of Arabic bread. Both the lamb and vegan versions are excellent and simple to make.
loubiye bi banadura ou zeit served over rice © linda dalal sawaya 2015
My recent favorite beans to plant in my organic garden are Italian borlotti beans, which also produce beautiful cranberry type dried beans out of those missed being picked young and tender, and scarlet runner beans, which also grow quite tall, and make a stunning flower that hummingbirds love, and they are named after. Both varieties are delicious raw, steamed, sautéed, and even grilled. I have used the scarlet bean flowers in salads for a dash of color; and amazingly they taste like a bean!
scarlet runner bean flowers for salad © linda dalal sawaya 2015
scarlet runner beans © linda dalal sawaya 2015
scarlet runner beans © linda dalal sawaya 2015
Another simply sublime way to prepare the beans is with a garlic lemon olive oil sauce in loubiye m’toume, which can be served along with kebabs, mjadarah, or as a side dish to most entrees. Sahtein and happy cooking!
loubiye mtoume with home grown borlotti beans © linda dalal sawaya 2015
—Linda Dalal Sawaya is a Portland artist, cook, Master Gardener, daughter of Lebanese immigrants and author of Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking.
Remember, as my mother Alice said, “If you make it with love, it will be delicious!”
story and photos © linda dalal sawaya 2015