Monday, July 19, 2010

Ejotes Guisados (Mexican Sauteed Green Beans)

This is a very simple, humble vegetable side dish that goes well with almost any meal. In Mexican cooking like I've mentioned in one of my previous posts vegetables sauteed with just onion, garlic, tomato and salt is very common. Any vegetable or combination of vegetable you have on hand can be used. Sometimes people like to spice up these types of dishes by adding chili peppers and freshly ground black pepper and or freshen it up with some freshly minced cilantro towards the end. The choice is yours.

Here I present the most simplest form, using some green beans, it is simple and goes well with almost any meal :)

Today I prepared this for dinner, along with some "Frijoles de la Olla" (mexican pinto beans), having my Cuban heritage I had to have my "Arroz Blanco" (white rice steamed with olive oil and salt), and my mom pan-fried some Bassa fish filets the same way she prepares her Salmon except she floured them and we served with Alioli (Spanish garlic mayonnaise ha ha yes my Spanish heritage came up in this meal too I'll share the recipe in the future). For dessert we had some "Camotes en Piloncillo" (sweet potatoes in unrefined cane sugar syrup) So the meal was a combination of Cuban, Mexican and Spaniard cooking much like myself ha ha ;)

Ingredients:

-1 1/2- 2 lbs. green beans (washed, ends removed and cut into whatever size you like)
-1/2 large onion minced
-2 cloves garlic minced
-3 small or 1 large tomato finely diced
-salt to taste
-extra-virgin olive oil

the optional ingredients:
-freshly ground black pepper (for some heat)
-1-2 green chili peppers finely minced (such as serrano or jalapeno) if you like spicy
-1/4 of a bunch of finely minced cilantro (to add some freshness)

Directions:
(1) Heat olive oil on medium high heat, sautee minced onions and if using the green chili peppers add them at this point, cook this down until onions are tender and translucent maybe 7 minutes, add garlic and continue cooking until fragrant and golden.

(2) Finally add diced tomato and let it cook down another 3-5 minutes (cooking the onion, garlic, and tomato with patience makes a big difference, this is a dish with very simple ingredients let them shine and be patient you can trim and clean the green beans while your cooking this down, just keep and eye on it so it doesn't burn and if it's cooking to fast lower the heat so you can have time to prep your green beans)

(2) At this point add your cleaned, trimmed green beans, and salt to taste and black pepper if using, stir well, keep heat at medium and cover for about 10- 15 minutes, Stir it every 4-5 minutes.
(3) This dish will be done when green beans are slightly tender or as tender as you'd like you may also garnish with cilantro. Enjoy :)
P.S.
I know I haven't blogged in awhile but I'll try to post more often, I've been cooking, but also been up to a lot more lately. But I have plenty new to share :)

Also... if you liked this recipe check out my post for "Espinacas Guisadas" (Mexican sauteed spinach), Verdolagas Guisadas (Mexican sauteed Purslane), and "Calabacitas Guisadas" (sauteed Mexican squash one of my favorites my mom makes)

9 comments:

Ivonne said...

The green beans look yummy. Nice seeing a new post from you.

Robin said...

A few years back when I decided to start cooking I bought a Mediterranean cookbook and made green beans similar to this recipe. So this is a great alternative and one I'm going to try soon!

I love the new look of your page. It's been awhile since I visited but I have you bookmarked so I'll never forget about your page. Keep up the wonderful cooking and thanks for supplying the recipes so I can try them in my home.

Wandering Lady said...

Hi, I found your recipe few months ago when I was looking for Cuban Rice puding recipe. I finally made it and it was delicious! just like I had it in Cuba. I noticed that you also use smoked and sweet paprika a lot so I went looking for it all over Toronto and found some! So hopefully I'll be making more of your dishes soon.

btw, this is a odd question but is there anyway you know what song this is? :-$
http://www.twitvid.com/GKZHU

Thanks!

Nathan said...

I.M.,
I'm glad you think so :) give it a try it's so simple.

Robin,
Thanks for liking the new format i kinda hated the old one because everything was so squished in the center, but i dont know html very well blogger just made it easier to change the format and ta-da :)

Shariya,
Trust me sweet smoked spanish paprika will change your world lol. it has a unique taste that I really love :)

Oh and about the music the song is called "Te Amo" by a reggaeton music group called Makano. The lead singer is Panamanian his name is Ernán Enrique Jiménez :) hope I helped :)

Unknown said...

so glad I found your site....I have been looking for cuban recipes for a while now.

Mamey said...

Bienvenue encore!

Nathan said...

@Sandi: glad I can be of some help

@Mamey: bonjour vous parlez le francais? lol. j/k. my 4 years of french went down the drain well it's super broken.

Mamey said...

Oui! During college I lived for a few months in France with a French family. Their daily routine of cafe au lait with good bread and butter took me back to my childhood in Cuba...the exact same breakfast day in day out. The lady of the house would spend her days going to the farmer's market and cooking huge lunches and dinners...Saturdays and Sundays even bigger. Since you love food you must get to France and explore the incredible variety of foods they have. Your French will surely come back from the drain!

Recetas al instante said...

wow this looks so good.
I love green beans.
regards
olga.