These Turkish White Beans are wonderful—delicious and with a distinct Mediterranean flavor.
This would be perfect for a plant-based main dish served with crusty bread and a green salad (maybe with feta?) or as part of a mezze assortment of dishes.
This recipe is from Yasmin Khan’s great cookbook, Ripe Figs. You can order her cookbook through your local bookstore or online through Amazon here. Khan’s cookbook features the recipes of Turkey, Greece and Cyprus.
Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen.
Turkish White Beans
May 11, 2024
Ingredients
- 9 ounces dried white beans (soaked overnight)
- 3 T. extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 T. lemon juice
- 1 1/2 garlic cloves (crushed)
- Salt and black pepper
- Sliced red onion (for garnish)
- Aleppo pepper or sweet paprika (for garnish)
- Chopped cilantro leaves (for garnish)
Directions
- Step 1 Rinse soaked beans and drain. Put beans in a large pot and cover with water. Boil beans for 5 minutes and then lower the temperature to a simmer and cover. Cook beans until tender. This will take somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes depending upon the freshness of your beans. I used Rancho Gordo Marcella beans for this recipe.
- Step 2 Once beans are tender, drain them and then, while the beans are still hot, add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, 1 1/2 t. salt and 1/2 t. black pepper. Stir the beans to mix the dressing evenly into the beans and then let the beans sit for about 30 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Adjust seasonings to your taste.
- Step 3 Garnish beans with red onion, Aleppo pepper and chopped cilantro. Drizzle with a bit more olive oil to your taste.
