Green Beans in oil

2-3tbsp extra virgin olive oil
200g onions, thinly sliced into half moon shapes
7 garlic cloves, cut into thick slivers
450g green beans, topped, tailed, and strings removed, and cut at an angle
1 ¼ tsp salt, or to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of allspice
450g ripe tomatoes, peeled (optional), and thickly sliced
1-2 slices of green pepper (optional)
Heat the oil in a pan. When it is hot, but not smoking, add the onions and garlic, and cook over moderately high heat for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden in color. Add the beans and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, cinnamon, and allspice. Reduce the heat to moderately low. Cover and let the beans sweat for about 10 – 15 min. Stir them once or twice without disturbing the onions, or shake the pan. Gently stir in the tomatoes and pepper (if using). Cover and simmer over moderately low heat for about 20-25 min, allowing the beans to cook in the juice of the tomatoes.

I got this from New Flavours of the Lebanese Table .

This is a great way to make green beans. I don’t normally approve of cooking green beans for that long, but in this case it worked really well. In the end it’s really more like a green bean stew or something. With some bread it could be a good lite meal on it’s own.

Also, it’s the first time I’ve used cinnamon in a green bean recipe. That was pretty cool.

This was a really wonderful dish, and I highly recommend it.