Vrasta Fasolakia Freska
"This is a Greek green-bean recipe. The fennel seeds in the recipe impart a sort of licorice-like taste, so if you don't like licorice you might want to omit these. I've made it both with and without and it still tastes good, though different, without the seeds. A good side dish to serve with moussaka."
photo by Chef1MOM-Connie
- Ready In:
- 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 10
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1⁄4 cup butter
- 1 lb string bean, trimmed
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
- 1 teaspoon fennel seed
- 1⁄2 cup tomato sauce
- 1⁄4 cup water
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt, to taste
- 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper, to taste
directions
- Sauté the onion in butter until golden brown.
- Add the beans to the onion and sauté, stirring constantly, until the beans turn a bright green.
- Add the garlic through salt and pepper.
- Simmer 30 minutes, or until beans are tender.
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Reviews
-
EXCELLENT!! Just as YiaYia makes it. Like a few other chefs I did use EVOO as opposed to the butter and it did not take away from the flavors at all. I minced the garlic, parsley and onions together, let sitt a few minutes, then added to the warmed oil. I did not use fennel, as I did not have any. (thought I had some left but alas, empty jar) I used crushed tomatoes and let it simmer. WOW. My tastebuds are singing! Made this with Recipe #218860 and oh did it go so nice. A little bit of Greece is a little bit of Heaven. Thank you. -
Excellent! I did, in the interest of low fat cooking, use a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil in place of the butter, but otherwiwse remained faithful to the recipe. I mashed the garlic clove with the fresh parsley and the fennel seeds in my mortar and pestle which I think helps bring out the flavor of the seeds. This was a peerfect complemnt to grilled lamb. -
This is a fabulous, easy recipe. I recommend using the fennel seeds as it leaves you with such a lovely fresh flavour that really suits the beans. Tonight I served with a roast lamb and potatoes. Thanks for a keeper. -
What a great way to have green beans. It was very different for me and I liked it very much. I used frozen beans with no problem and I thought that the fennel seed was a great addition. This was a wonderful side dish that we all enjoyed. -
This was even better than I anticipated. I love the additon of the fennel ( Even my flavor phobic husband didn't make any negative comments)! I did use frozen green beans ; they worked fine. However, I was able to shorten the cooking time a little. As with almost evrything; I added a little more garlic.
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Tweaks
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Excellent! I did, in the interest of low fat cooking, use a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil in place of the butter, but otherwiwse remained faithful to the recipe. I mashed the garlic clove with the fresh parsley and the fennel seeds in my mortar and pestle which I think helps bring out the flavor of the seeds. This was a peerfect complemnt to grilled lamb.
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A new favorite way to prepare green beans! I subbed 1 T olive oil for the butter and fresh basil for the fennel and wow, was this good. I recommend covering the pan during the 30 minute simmer in order to get the beans tender.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
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Phippsburg, Maine
[SINCE I HAVE WELL OVER 200 COOKBOOKS, I SUGGEST THAT ANYONE EXPLORING MY COLLECTION CLICK ON 'AUTHOR'S ORDER' AT THE TOP OF THE RIGHT HAND COLUMN BEFORE PROCEEDING. I'VE ARRANGED THEM SO THAT COOKBOOK SERIES OR SIMPLY COOKBOOKS ON RELATED TOPICS APPEAR TOGETHER, WHICH SHOULD MAKE IT EASIER TO FIND THE ONES THAT INTEREST YOU.]
In 2004, I moved home to New England after many years living in the South. Often I go walking in the morning with my sister, who lives near me on the Maine coast--we truly live in a beautiful place. I share a love of ACC basketball with my brother in upstate New York. Nowadays, I rely heavily on Kitty Rosati's Heal Your Heart book (lots of low-sodium recipes) and Donald Gazzaniga's No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook. Other cookbooks I frequently use are Weil & Daley's The Healthy Kitchen and Cooking Light's Five-Star Recipes cookbook.
From January 2005 to September 2008, I hosted the recipe tagging game <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/bb/viewtopic.zsp?p=2192193">ONE-TWO-THREE HIT WONDERS</a>, taking four months off in late 2007, during which the tireless, compassionate and totally wonderful Game Forum Hosts <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/88099"> ~Nimz~</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/67656"> justcallmetoni</a>, <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/157425">Lauralie41</a> and <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/428885">Andi of Longmeadow Farm</a> with incredible kindness of took over my workload. I loved hosting the game and the players there were and are the best, but competing obligations required me to give it up and it's now ably presided over by HokiesLady.
In 2008 my dear sister finally joined Recipezaar. Her chef name is Sagadahoc (the county in Maine she lives in). My popular Recipe #89132 is actually her recipe--check it out sometime, it's great! She eventually realized how useful having several cookbooks can be, so I gave her a premium membership as her birthday present in March 2008.
Some of my favorite sources of recipes are the public cookbooks of other Zaar chefs. I have over 100 bookmarked to refer to occasionally, but some of my favorites are from the following:
In January-February 2007, the Chefs of 1-2-3 Hit Wonders hosted a Cook-a-Thon for veteran Zaar member Sharon123 while she was undergoing chemotherapy at Duke University. The entire group of recipes tagged, cooked and reviewed for the Cook-a-Thon are contained in:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=123948">Sharon123's Cook-a-Thon Cookbook</a></li>
<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/58104">~Rita~</a>: Thanks to her stunning photographs, she has one of the most beautiful cookbook lists at Zaar. Her cookbooks focus on a variety of inspired topics, many of them health-related, and the introductions often provide an encyclopedic disquisition on the topic at hand. Some stand-outs:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/27685">Edible Flowers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33443">Honey Honey You`ve got me wanting you!</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33123">Recipes I named after zaar chefs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33325">Menopause</a></li>
If you've been around Zaar any length of time, you probably know that <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/4470">Bergy</a> writes wonderfully detailed and helpful recipe reviews and has also contributed a wealth of wonderful recipes of her own. Judging from comments in the forums, her burger cookbook is the most popular and referenced cookbook at Zaar, and her appetizers cookbook is a treasury of finger foods as well as a major hunting ground for Dim Sum:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/30563">Saturday Night Burgers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/25538">Appetizers/Finger Foods</a></li>
<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/133174">PaulaG</a>'s own recipes are a well I go back to again and again--I've made tons of her dishes, with great results. Cookbooks of hers I find especially handy include:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/27896">Chicken Recipes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/45020">Then There Were 2</a></li>
As I mentioned above, while I love the cuisines of all regions of the world, my favorite is Greek, and the following from <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/49168">Cookiegirlandi</a> is chockful of great Greek recipes:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/30983">It's All Greek</a></li>
(Another great way to find Greek recipes is to go cirectly to evelyn/athens' <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?chef=80353">recipe list</a> and then sift for Cuisine-->European__>Southern-->Greek. She currently has 142.)
UPDATE: <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/80353">evelyn/athens</a>, host of the Greek Cooking Forum and Greek food expert extraordinaire has a cookbook of her own Greek fecipes that could be the only reference you'll ever need for Greek cuisine:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/76021">Greek Cookery</a></li>
I'm not a vegetarian, but I do eat meatless meals a fair amount of the time. I've observed that <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/37449">Sharon123</a> is a great one for cooking fare that's healthy and tastes great, which is why I trust and turn to her:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/41407">Yummy Vegetarian Dishes</a></li>
If I want to cook something to eat with my friends, the go-to person is <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/6258">Miss Annie</a>:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/26048">Recipes for Entertaining</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/26046">Pot Luck /Picnic Recipes</a></li>
<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/1533">Dancer^</a> is single-handedly responsible for tons of great salad dressing and seasoning mixes posted at Zaar. See the evidence in her cookbooks:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/33143">Dressings & Vinaigrettes</a>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/34918">Spice and Herb Mixes</a>
If I'm hanging out in heaven a hundred years from now, I'm hoping to find they've had the good sense to make <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/169969">NcMysteryShopper</a> and <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/8688">Bev</a> the twin bartenders there, so after I go to my final reward I can continue to imbibe offerings from Cheryl's Book #99544, Book #148198, Book #90314, Book #73634, Book #75595, Book #74074 and Book #70836 cookbooks and Bev's Book #86058 and Book #124180 cookbooks. These ladies know how to set 'em up and I know how to chug 'em!
<a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/39547">Julesong</a> was one of the first to take advantage of the multiple-cookbook option of premium membership in a big way. For awhile she held the record for most cookbooks at Zaar. Some of those I've particularly liked include:
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=30568">Junior League Cookbook Recipes</a>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=31052">Second Chance</a> - a generous list of Zaar recipes that received a low-to-mediocre rating but may deserve a second look
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=30575">Newspaper Recipes</a> - some of my own favorites have come from newspapers, including the original version of my most popular recipe Recipe #88939.
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=32342">Old Bay Recipes</a>
<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=31064">Penzey's Recipes</a>
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<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/cookbook.php?bookid=29290">They Call Me the Soup Fairy... ;) Julie's Soups</a> - Julie has some great soups in her repertoire!
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I'll admit I've never actually made anything in them, but <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/13593">Amber of AZ</a> and <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/21752">Mirj</a> have two of the most fun cookbooks to peruse:
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<li><a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/book/42722">Funny Recipes</a> - Mirj</li>
I'm always looking to lose weight, so really appreciate all the fine folks who've come up with cookbooks for dieters. Other than keeping my sodium intake low most of the time for my blood pressure, I don't follow any particular one of the popular diets, but rather am just an old-fashioned calorie counter. This means that I can find gold in all the varieties of diet cookbooks--low-fat, low-carb, weight watchers, diabetic (even though I'm not). Ones I've found useful include:
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The only freezer I have is the one on top of my fridge, so I don't have room to do once a MONTH cooking, but I generally like to have a dish or 2 stowed away there to cut down on last minute rushing. <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/member/3288">Tish</a>'s complete library of OAMC cookbooks are the reason I have bookmarked her entire <a href="http://www.recipezaar.com/browse/getchef.zsp?id=3288">homepage</a> for easy reference.
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