Loobiya (Lebanese Green Bean and Tomato Stew)

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We eat Lebanese food at least once a week. Our favorite? Loobiya! Loobiya is a green bean stew with chunks of beef swimming in a tomato sauce. It’s super healthy and flavorful. An easy to make dish, Loobiya is served with Arabic Rice and a side of yogurt. 

The first dish I made for guests after I got married was Loobiya with Rice. To be honest before marriage I rarely cooked. (Jarred spaghetti was my go to) So when my husband told me we had guests coming over- his 2 cousins- I decided to play it safe and make Loobiya since it was so easy. How did it go? Great except I put ZERO salt in it. For no reason other than I didn’t know I was supposed to put salt in my dishes. Dead serious! 

Obviously I’ve come a long way since. From no salt, frozen green beans and canned tomato sauce I have been constantly evolving this recipe. Today I only make Loobiya with freshly trimmed green beans and juicy fresh tomatoes. The taste is far superior to frozen and canned ingredients. 

If you need a quick meal though you can use frozen beans and canned tomato sauce. Just reduce the cooking time after you add the green beans. 

By simmering the beef chunks for 20 minutes before adding the other ingredients you’ll be sure to have super tender meat!

Loobiya (Lebanese Green Bean Stew)

 Ingredients:

• 3 T (45ml) Olive Oil, divided
• 10oz (300g) Beef or Lamb Chunks, cut into bite size pieces.
• 1T (15g) Salt
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 2lbs (1Kl) Green Beans, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
• 2lbs (1 Kl) Tomatoes
• 1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro
• 2 Garlics, minced
• 1/2 cup Chopped Red Onion
• 3 T (45g) Tomato Paste

Directions:

1. Heat 2T (30ml) oil on medium high in a large pot. Sauté onions until soft and slightly caramelized (10 minutes).
2. Add garlic and coriander. Sauté until garlic becomes aromatic (1 minute). Remove from saucepan and set aside.
3. Brown beef with remaining oil. Add 4 cups of water, salt and bay leaf  and bring to boil on high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover  and simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any fat.
4. Remove bay leaf.
5. Add green beans, tomatoes, tomato paste and onion mixture. Return to boil on high heat then reduce to low and simmer for 45 minutes or until green beans are tender.
6. Serve over warm rice and with thick yogurt (Lebanese, Greek or Bulgarian)

 

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