We're Back!! =)

So I haven't posted in a while! I've been busy. First I visited my family and then visited the in-laws, so May was a fun month Alh. Now I'm back in Pittsburgh and ready to share a recipe with you iA!

First, lets start with the recipe. The other day I had a HUGE craving for some green beans, so I decided to make some fasooliya, which is a green bean stew. This is probably one of my favorite dishes ( Don't I say that about everything though?) . Theres two variations, so I'm going to give you both, one with stew meat and one with ground beef. Lets start with the stew meat one.

For the stew meat, get some beef stew and cube it. Saute it with some onions and then boil it on a simmer for about 20 minutes ( It's not supposed to be fully cooked). Turn it off and proceed to make the green bean recipe.

Ingredients:
1) one pound to a pound and a half of fresh green beans ( This is important, make sure they are really fresh and yummy, they should snap easily if you bend it.) If you MUST use frozen and your too busy, then make sure you get reallly yummy frozen green beans.
2) 2 freshly chopped tomatos
3) 1 chopped red pepper
4) 1 chopped green pepper
4) 1 sliced onion
2) 2 tablespoons of ground coriander ( NOT fresh, it has to be ground.)
3) 1 and a half tablespoon of minced fresh garlic ( don 't use the jarred stuff its gross).
4) 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
5) 1 eight ounce can of puree tomato.
6) One chicken or vegtable bouillon cube.
7) 1 lb of ground beef or beef stew ( whichever you decide to use.)

- Take the green beans and wash them. After that, what I do is just snap off the ends with my thumb and then just break them in half.
- If you decide to use ground beef, add it at this point. Add some olive oil to the pot. Combine the ground beef, all the vegtables, garlic, coriander and stir fry it together until the meat starts to brown. If your using stew meat, then add all the other ingredients except for the ground beef.
- After the beef starts to brown, add enough water until its about an inch or two above the green beans. If your using the stew meat recipe, add the water that you used to boil the stew meat with.Usually around 5 to 6 cups.
- Add the tomato paste, puree and vegtable bouillon, and bring it to a boil.
- If your using the stew meat, add it at this point. 
- Bring to boil, and then simmer for an hour and a half, until the green beans are done and the sauce is consistent and is thicker.

And your done! I usually serve this with plain white rice. Its sooo delicious. Enjoy! 

Disclaimer: I mentioned in a previous post that my green bean stew wasn't that great, WELL I've worked on it a lot, and realized that its all about the green beans that you use. If you use ones that aren't fresh it ruines the entire dish.