Just Life | Persian Food #1 Green Beans and Rice

I love rice! I love the delicious aroma that engulfs my house whenever I cook rice. In my household, we eat a lot of rice. I am far from being an expert in Persian cooking, but I can still cook some basic Persian foods for my finicky family. Since I am a working mom, I usually opt for easy recipes. 

One of these recipes is green beans and rice. It is easy to make and it is pretty tasty.

Let me share this recipe with you and see what you think.

Here are what you need to feed a family of four:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 2 cups of basmati rice
• 1 large white onion 
• 1 can of cooked French style green beans (14.4 oz)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric   
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• Cooking oil or butter
• Salt & pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of saffron (optional)

In a bowl, wash the rice and soak it in salt water for at least 15 minutes. Set it aside.

Add the dried saffron in a small cup, add 1/3 of cup of hot water in the cup. Set it aside.( Optional)

Chop the onion into small pieces. Saute the onion in oil until it is golden brown. Set it aside.

Cook the ground beef in some oil and then add the cooked onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, turmeric and cinnamon to the mixture. Add green beans and tomato paste to this mix. Let it cook for a couple of more minutes and then set aside

In a big pot, boil the water, add the rice, and let it cook until the individual rice is a bit soft not crunchy (about 3 minutes...don't let the rice get too mushy). 

Drain the rice. Pour one table spoon of oil and 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of pot. Add one layer of rice to the bottom of the pot and cover it with a layer of the meat & green beans mixture and repeat these two steps. 

Make a tiny mountain out of your rice mixture and poke a few hole in the rice.

Add a few chunks of butter and 1/2 cup of water all over the top of the rice.

Pour the saffron water on top.

Cover the lid with a kitchen towel and place it on top of pot and let it cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. 

When you splash a few drops of water to the side of the pot, if it sizzles, it is ready to eat.

Here is a book with some Persian recipes:

Food of life

"I love my mom's rice and you should try it because it will blow you away".  Arianna age 8

 Signing off until next Monday- Panteha