Egyptian Brown Bean Salad Recipes

FUL MEDAMES

Steps:

• As the cooking time varies depending on the quality and age of the beans, it is good to cook them in advance and to reheat them when you are ready to serve. Cook the drained beans in a fresh portion of unsalted water in a large saucepan with the lid on until tender, adding water to keep them covered, and salt when the beans have softened. They take 2-2 1/2 hours of gentle simmering. When the beans are soft, let the liquid reduce. It is usual to take out a ladle or two of the beans and to mash them with some of the cooking liquid, then stir this back into the beans. This is to thicken the sauce.
• Serve the beans in soup bowls sprinkled with chopped parsley and accompanied by Arab bread.
• Pass round the dressing ingredients for everyone to help themselves: a bottle of extra-virgin olive oil, the quartered lemons, salt and pepper, a little saucer with the crushed garlic, one with chili-pepper flakes, and one with ground cumin.
• The beans are eaten gently crushed with the fork, so that they absorb the dressing.
• Optional Garnishes
• Peel hard-boiled eggs-1 per person-to cut up in the bowl with the beans.
• Top the beans with a chopped cucumber-and-tomato salad and thinly sliced mild onions or scallions. Otherwise, pass round a good bunch of scallions and quartered tomatoes and cucumbers cut into sticks.
• Serve with tahina cream sauce (page 65) or salad (page 67), with pickles and sliced onions soaked in vinegar for 30 minutes.
• Another way of serving ful medames is smothered in a garlicky tomato sauce (see page 464).
• In Syria and Lebanon, they eat ful medames with yogurt or feta cheese, olives, and small cucumbers.
• Variations
• A traditional way of thickening the sauce is to throw a handful of red lentils (1/4 cup) into the water at the start of the cooking.
• In Iraq, large brown beans are used instead of the small Egyptian ones, in a dish called badkila, which is also sold for breakfast in the street.

FOUR BEAN SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and prepare a bowl of ice water. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until still very crisp, 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to the ice water until cool. Cut in half.
• Whisk together the oil, honey, mustard, vinegar and garlic in a large bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Add the green beans, lima beans, kidney beans, white beans, almonds, cranberries and scallions and toss until everything is coated. Season to taste. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 1 day.

EGYPTIAN BROWN BEAN SALAD

Steps:

• If using dried/soaked beans, place in a saucepan, cover with water and boil 10 minutes, then proceed. If using canned kidney beans, place in a saucepan, cover with water, and add thyme, bay, and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer 10-15 minutes for canned, one hour for dried.
• Drain and discard the herbs and onion. Chill beans while you mix together remaining ingredients ("dressing"), except the egg and pickle.
• Stir "dressing", and pour over beans and toss lightly to coat.
• Gently fold in eggs and pickle, then serve.
• *We chilled this salad an hour more, then served.

EGYPTIAN EGG SALAD

Steps:

• Bring a pan of water to the boil, lower in the eggs and boil for 8 mins. Drain and run under the cold tap to cool them a little, then peel and halve. Meanwhile, mix 1 tbsp lemon juice and 3 tbsp water with the tahini to make a dressing.
• Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic for 5 mins to soften them. Add the ground cumin and seeds, stir briefly then add the beans and lightly crush some of them as you heat them, adding some of the juice from the can to get a nice creamy consistency but keeping whole beans, too. Taste and add lemon juice and just a little seasoning if you need to.
• Spoon the beans on to plates with the lettuce, then add the eggs and tomatoes, with the tahini dressing, chilli and parsley, if using.

EGYPTIAN FAVA BEAN SALAD (WW)

Steps:

• Pare and seed cucumber; cut cucumber lengthwise into eighths; dice.
• In large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients.
• Toss well and serve at room temperature or warm slightly.
• EACH SERVING (1 cup) PROVIDES: 3/4 Fat, 1 1/4 Vegetables, 1/4 Protein, 2 Breads, 10 Optional Calories.
• PER SERVING: 241 Calories, 12 g Protein, 9 g Fat, 32 g Carbohydrate, 33 mg Sodium, 0 mg Cholesterol, 8 g Dietary Fiber; 4 points.