Recipes Bean Medleys

Faye Levy

The versatile fava bean

Every since my first taste in Paris of haricots panaches, the classic French side dish of green beans and flageolets, a pale green dried bean, the mixture has been a favorite of mine.

Cooked simply in water, the beans are traditionally heated with butter or goose fat, parsley and sometimes other herbs or garlic. Since it was a popular accompaniment for lamb roasts, I sometimes ordered lamb because I loved the beans.

This tasty dish is versatile enough to be served in many other ways. If you lighten it up and use olive oil, it is a delightful dish for summer, whether or not you are serving lamb. It is good not only with chicken and beef, but as a vegetarian entree on its own, since dried beans are protein-rich legumes.

The delicately flavored flageolet beans are not widely available in the U.S., but there are plenty of substitutes to be found. Peruano beans, greenish-yellow dried beans sold at Mexican markets, are a good choice, and so are small or medium white beans.

To speed up the preparation, I sometimes make the dish with frozen beans, such as baby lima beans, black-eyed peas, shelled edamame, or frozen, peeled fava beans. Do use fresh green beans, however, or top quality frozen ones if you must, and not canned ones; this makes such a difference in the quality of the dish.

As long as this bean medley is prepared with olive oil rather than butter or meat juices, which congeal when chilled, it tastes good cold as well as warm. In some bean-growing regions of France such as the Loire Valley, known for its famous chateaux, cooks also use this bean duo in salads. They often pair it with potatoes and dress the salad with cream-enriched mayonnaise or with mustardy walnut oil vinaigrette.

Another bean salad in my repertoire comes from Istanbul. Called piyaz, it is a popular dish of white beans dressed with onions, plenty of parsley, olive oil and lemon juice and often topped with black olives and hard-boiled egg wedges. It, too, is delicious warm or cold and is very simple to prepare. To make it more colorful and add a fresh vegetable, I like to stir in green beans, to obtain a sort of "piyaz panache."

Indeed, all sorts of bean medleys can be made as two-way dishes, great warm or cold, according to the weather or your whim. Pairing green or yellow beans with any cooked dried, frozen or canned beans provides endless possibilities perfect for picnics, summer salads and entrees. For a festive garnish, you can add a few time-consuming shell beans such as peeled, cooked fresh favas or green garbanzos; this is a good way to enjoy them instead of making them one of the main elements of the salad.

It's easy to turn one of these mixtures into a hearty, one-dish meal. Simply add strips or cubes of flavorful cheeses such as Gruyere, Roquefort, feta or goat cheese, or strips of grilled chicken or roast beef. Marinate the meat with the beans in the dressing for extra flavor. Afterwards, if you want to serve the dish warm, you can microwave it briefly in a covered bowl.

To vary the seasonings, add fresh tarragon, thyme or mustard to the dressing for French flavor; fresh dill, green onions, and hot pepper paste for a Middle Eastern accent; or cilantro, chilies and limejuice to give the bean combo a Mexican taste. A combination of cooked white or red beans tossed with green or yellow beans is attractive but to make it even more appealing, I often add diced tomatoes, thin slices red onions and sweet peppers of several colors.

LESSER KNOWN, FAST-COOKING BEANS

Edamame (green soybeans)

These are available frozen at Asian and many mainstream markets.

Many people buy edamame in their pods to enjoy them the way they are served at sushi bars, but these tasty beans have many more uses if you buy them shelled. They take only a few minutes to cook, and in my family they are more popular than lima beans.

Fresh fava beans

Look for these large, pale green pods at farmers' markets, Middle Eastern and Mexican markets. French cooks and some Persians prefer the beans with their tough skins peeled, but doing this is time consuming. Taste them both ways and see which you prefer. Frozen peeled fava beans, available at some Middle Eastern groceries, are a much easier alternative.

To prepare fresh (or unpeeled frozen) fava beans, cook them in a saucepan of boiling salted water uncovered over high heat for 7 to 10 minutes or until just tender. Remove from heat, drain and press each bean to remove the thick skins, in order to have bright green beans. If you're leaving the skins on, cook the beans a few minutes longer so they will be more tender, and drain well.

With peeled frozen fava beans, cook for 5 minutes, then taste; continue cooking until they are tender enough for your taste.

Fresh green chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

These tasty, pretty beans are newcomers in some areas; you can find them in Mexican and Middle Eastern markets. Fresh in their pods, it takes some time to shell enough to make a serving, but they make an interesting garnish. You can cook the shelled chickpeas for 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are tender enough to your taste; raw ones are good sprinkled on salads.

COOKING DRIED BEANS

Use this recipe to cook white, red or black beans, as well as flageolets, peruano beans and chickpeas. There is no need to soak them.

Sort and rinse 1 pound (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups) dried beans. Put them in a large pot and add 7 cups water or enough to generously cover them. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until tender, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours for most beans and about 1 1/2 to 2 hours for chickpeas, adding salt halfway through cooking time and adding hot water occasionally to keep them covered with water. If cooking beans ahead, refrigerate them in their cooking liquid. Reserve cooking liquid for soups and stews.

Makes 5 to 7 cups cooked beans, about 6 servings.

New Way Provencal Beans Panaches

Makes 4 servings

Make this bean medley quickly with the help of shelled edamame or frozen lima beans, or substitute a drained 15-ounce can of cannelini or other white beans. If you want to prepare a traditional version of the dish with flageolet beans, see the cooking instructions in the sidebar.

Serve the beans warm as a side dish or vegetarian entree, or cold as a salad. If serving them cold, you can stir in 2 to 3 teaspoons wine vinegar or strained fresh lemon juice.

2 cups frozen shelled edamame (green soy beans) or a 10-ounce package frozen lima beans (2 cups)

1/4 pound green beans, ends removed, broken in 2 pieces

1/4 pound wax (yellow) beans and/or green beans, ends removed, broken in 2 pieces

2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

4 large garlic cloves, minced

2 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 plum tomatoes, diced

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

Cook edamame or lima beans in a medium saucepan of boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. Add green beans and/or wax beans and boil about 5 minutes or until all beans are tender. Drain well.

In same pan heat oil over low heat, add garlic and green onions and saute for 10 seconds. Add beans and thyme and heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve warm, add tomatoes, cover and heat for 1 or 2 minutes. To serve cold or at room temperature, transfer bean mixture to a bowl and add tomatoes. Add parsley, taste and adjust seasoning.

Three-Bean Salad, North African Style

Unlike the familiar sweet and sour American three-bean salad, this colorful vegetable medley is brightened with the fresh flavors of the southern Mediterranean -- ripe tomatoes, capers, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. Serve it warm, cold or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 to 2 cups cooked fresh or frozen fava beans (see sidebar) or a 10-ounce package frozen lima beans

8 ounces green beans or yellow beans (wax beans), ends removed, cut in half

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

3 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion or sweet onion

1 or 2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)

2 or 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro or Italian parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon capers, drained

If using cooked fava beans, reserve. If using lima beans, add them to a medium saucepan of boiling salted water, cover and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add green or wax beans and return to a boil. Cook uncovered over high heat about 5 minutes or until both types of beans are tender. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well.

In a bowl combine cooked beans with chickpeas, tomatoes, onion and garlic. Add oil, lemon juice, half the cilantro, salt and pepper, and mix well. Taste and adjust seasoning.

To serve the salad warm, cover the bowl and microwave briefly until just heated through.

Just before serving, sprinkle salad with remaining cilantro and with capers.

Sesame Chicken Salad with Beans and Barley

To make this salad more quickly, use fast-cooking barley, which you can find in natural food stores, and substitute frozen lima beans or edamame for the fava beans.

Za'atar, the popular eastern Mediterranean herb and toasted sesame seed blend, is delicious in bean salads like this one. If you don't have any in your pantry, it's easy to improvise a similar herbaceous flavor (see note).

Makes 4 to 6 servings

1 cup pearl barley

3/4 pound green beans, cut in thirds

3/4 to 1 cup shelled fresh or frozen fava beans or lima beans

3 cups diced cooked chicken or turkey

1 or 2 roasted red peppers (see note below; or from a jar), cut in strips

3 green onions, chopped

2 to 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 to 3 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice

Salt and freshly ground pepper

4 teaspoons za'atar or substitute (see note)

Lettuce or spinach leaves (optional)

Bring 3 cups water to boil in a large heavy saucepan and add a pinch of salt. Add barley and return to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes or until barley is tender. Rinse barley briefly and drain well. Transfer to a large bowl and let cool.

Cook green beans uncovered in a saucepan of boiling salted water over high about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and rinse with cold water.

Return cooking liquid to a boil. Add fava or lima beans and cook uncovered over medium-high heat until just tender; fresh lima beans take about 15 minutes, fresh fava beans take 7 to 10 minutes and frozen lima beans take 5 to 7 minutes. Drain beans, rinse with cold water and drain well; if using fava beans, peel off thick skins if you like by pinching each one.

Add green beans, fava beans, chicken, pepper strips and green onions to bowl of barley. Fold together gently.

In a small bowl whisk oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add to salad. Taste and adjust seasoning. Just before serving, fold in all but 1 teaspoon of the za'atar. Sprinkle remaining za'atar on top. If you like, serve salad on a bed of lettuce or spinach leaves.

NOTE 1: TO ROAST AND PEEL RED PEPPERS:

Preheat broiler with rack 2 to 4 inches from heat source, or far enough so peppers just fit. Broil peppers, turning every few minutes with tongs, about 15 minutes or until their skins are blistered and charred; do not let them burn. Put them in a plastic bag, close bag and let stand for 10 minutes. Peel using paring knife. Halve peppers; be careful because they may have hot juice inside. Discard seeds and ribs, and pat dry. Do not rinse.

NOTE 2: ZA'ATAR:

If you don't have za'atar, mix 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or thyme or 1 teaspoon dried with 1 teaspoon dried oregano and 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds.

Faye Levy is the author of "Feast from the Mideast: 250 Sun-Drenched Dishes from the Lands of the Bible (Cookbooks)" and the award-winning "Faye Levy's International Vegetable Cookbook: Over 300 Sensational Recipes from Argentina to Zaire and Artichokes to Zucchini"

Available at Amazon.com: Faye Levy's Cookbooks

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Recipes Bean Medleys - Faye Levy Bean Recipes

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