Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Ful for Madame?

Meze or mezze in Eastern Mediterrean is a selection of appetizers or small dishes often served with beverages, similar to the tapas of Spain…or here in the US, Finger foods!


Beans are featured in many dishes and one of the legumes I particularly like are the Ful Medames. These small brown beans are members of the Fava family, of a specific type native to Egypt and the Levant. They are served with egg on top for breakfast, mashed into a puree with oil and lemon juice for mezze, or prepared as in this recipe, for a mezze, for a main course with meats, or for a side dish. There are restaurants in the Middle East- Egypt especially- that specialise in ful dishes!




Brown Beans with Herbs
Ingredients
1 15oz can of Ful medames beans
15-20 cherry tomatoes, halved
3-4 tsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3-4 garlic cloves crushed
1 tsp cumin powder
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro or dill leaves (I prefer dill/suva)
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Drain and rinse the canned beans. In a bowl add the crushed garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin powder, salt and pepper and stir in the beans and chopped fresh herb (cilantro/dill). Cool in the fridge for 2-4 hours and serve with more olive oil and lemon wedges and pita bread.

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This recipe is submitted for the event My Legume Love Affair, created by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook and hosted by Sra of When My Soup Came Alive.
For the event FIC-Brown, an event created and hosted by Sunshinemom of Toungue Ticklers.
And for Herb Mania-Dill, an event created by Dee of Ammalu's Kitchen and hosted by Latha & Lakshmi of The Yum Blog.

7 comments:

Sunshinemom said...

Rupa, this beans is not something we find here, but I love the way you have used dill to flavor!! Thanks for sending it to FIC!

sra said...

That looks gorgeous, thanks for the entry!

A Virtual Vegetarian said...

@ SunshineMom....thank you for your comments. The beauty of cooking is that we can always substitute ingredients to meet our taste/choice/availability!

For instance if you do not find Fava beans in your neighborhood - then you can use Val beans or Broad beans to make the dish...and that will be your unique version!

Hope you can look past unfamiliar ingredients and have fun trying out the essence of the recipe!

@ Sra, thank you!

Unknown said...

I am a vegetarian and love trying out unusual dishes. Will surely try this one. - rekha

VV said...

We had our fill of foul medammes when we traveled to Egypt earlier this year and I always thought it was so bland. Truly, you have given new hope for the foul medammes !! Got to try it out.
Btw this is my review of food in egypt: http://veggiemonologues.blogspot.com/2008/02/egypt-has-lot-to-offer-to-world-but.html

A Virtual Vegetarian said...

VnV...thanks for your comments, adding red pepper flakes or a dash of Tapatio sauce makes this dish even more delicious.

VV said...

Looking forward to your koshari recipe!