RUNNER BEANS (Taze Fasülye)

This recipe is best done with famous Ayşe Kadın or Şeker beans which are available in Turkey. But there is a trick if you can't find Ayşe Kadın or Şeker beans; add a teaspoon of sugar in the stew while it is cooking. Here, I used runner beans, really long and wide ones. It tasted almost same as it was in Turkey. I'm sure many people will find this amusing but I sometimes crave for this meal. Some members of my family do so too, so I think it is genetic, craving for runner beans.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 kg runner beans
• 1 onion
• 2 salad tomatoes
• 2 green pointy peppers
• 40 mL olive oil
• Salcha (or tomato paste), 1/2 tablespoon
• Paprika, 1 teaspoon
• Blackpepper
• Salt

Preparation:

• Cut the tips of the beans off. Depending on the length, cut into 2 or 3 pieces and then cut each piece vertically leaving beans in nearly 5 mm wide and 2-3 cm in length.(A depicting -or rather horrible- figure is below.)

• In a saucepan, add the olive oil with diced onion and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add chopped tomatoes and peppers (I didn't add peppers because for some top secret reasons there are no pointy green peppers in Glasgow) and fry for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add salcha, mix all together.
• Wash the beans, sieve and add to the saucepan. Give it a good mix, put the lid on and leave for 15 minutes on medium heat. Mix once or twice.
• Add hot water just enough to cover the beans and leave for cooking 25 minutes on medium heat by occasional mixing.
• Can be enjoyed hot and cold.