Loubieh bi Zeit

About This Recipe

Loubieh bi Zeit — green beans in oil — belongs to the cherished Lebanese category of bi-zeit dishes: vegetables braised slowly in generous olive oil until silky, then eaten warm or at room temperature. It is the opposite of crisp-tender Western green beans; here the beans are cooked long past squeaky, until they collapse into the tomato-onion sauce and drink up the oil. This is everyday food, Lenten food, and summer food all at once, served with rice, pita, and raw onion wedges. What makes this version work is restraint and time: a slow sauté of the onions for sweetness, a full half-hour covered braise, and good olive oil used without apology — it is the dressing, the sauce, and the point.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 500 ggreen beans, trimmed
• 2 mediumtomatoes, diced
• 1 largeonion, sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic, minced
• 4 tbspolive oil
• 1 tspsalt
• 1/2 tspblack pepper
• 1/2 tspallspice
• 1/4 cupwater

Instructions

1. 1

   Sauté aromatics

   Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the sliced onion with a pinch of salt and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft, translucent, and just starting to turn gold at the edges. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant but not browned.

   Browning the garlic makes it bitter — add it only when the onions are nearly done.

2. 2

   Add beans and tomatoes

   Tip in the green beans and stir for 2–3 minutes so they glisten with oil and begin to soften slightly. Add the diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, and allspice, then pour in the water. Stir well, scraping up anything on the bottom of the pot.

3. 3

   Braise

   Cover and reduce the heat to low. Cook 30–35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the beans are completely tender — they should bend without resistance and have lost all squeak — and the tomatoes have melted into a thick, oily sauce. If the pot looks dry before the beans are done, add a splash more water.

   Resist the urge to stop at crisp-tender; the dish only becomes itself when the beans are fully soft.

4. 4

   Serve

   Taste and adjust the salt, then let the pot rest off the heat for 10 minutes — bi-zeit dishes taste best warm rather than hot. Serve with pita, vermicelli rice, or simply more olive oil drizzled over, and raw onion wedges on the side.

Variations

• •

  Loubieh bi lahme: brown cubes of lamb or beef with the onions and extend the braise for the meat version served hot over rice.

• •

  Stir in a drained can of chickpeas for the last 10 minutes for a heartier vegan main.

• •

  Winter version: substitute a 400g can of good tomatoes plus a teaspoon of tomato paste for the fresh tomatoes.

• •

  Add a pinch of dried chili flakes with the allspice for a gently spicy southern-Lebanese take.

Storage

Refrigerate in a covered container for up to 4 days — the flavor genuinely improves by day two. It also freezes well for up to 2 months; thaw overnight and rewarm gently, or eat at room temperature as the Lebanese do.

Frequently Asked Questions