Fasulye Diblesi: Green Beans with Rice, Giresun Style

For anyone tired of the usual green bean dish, this is a different way to handle them. It comes from Giresun on the Black Sea coast, and what sets it apart is the rice cooked in with the beans.

The result tastes familiar but drier — closer to a pilaf than a stew. Serve it with yogurt or a summer salad.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 lb green beans
2 medium onions
2 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup short-grain rice
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon salt

Method

Top and tail the green beans and pull off any strings. Wash them well and drain.

Cut them crosswise into pieces about an inch long.

Spread the beans across the bottom of a pot in an even layer.

Finely dice the onions and peel and dice the tomatoes.

Rinse the rice once or twice and drain.

Layer the onions and tomatoes over the beans, then scatter the rice on top.

Pour in the warm water and add the salt.

Do not stir. The layering is deliberate — beans on the bottom release their moisture upward and steam the rice above them. Stirred together, the rice sinks and catches on the base of the pot.

Cover and cook on low heat until the beans are tender and the rice has absorbed the liquid, about 35 to 40 minutes. Check once toward the end and add a splash of water only if it looks dry.

Melt the butter in a small pan and heat it until it foams and just begins to brown.

Pour the hot butter over the finished dish.

Stir gently, just enough to combine, and serve.

Chef’s note

Browning the butter rather than simply melting it is worth the extra thirty seconds. It is a Black Sea habit and it gives the dish a nuttiness that plain melted butter does not.