Green Beans with Tamarind Sauce
Today I have something different on the table. I made green beans in tamarind sauce. A completely vegetarian dish with a fruit, tamarind, which might not be familiar to all of you. I was craving something like this the entire summer. And last week I walked into my small corner grocery and they had a vacuumed sealed bag of tamarind with absolutely noooooo additives. It was like a dream come true. Naturally I grabbed it and here we are.
As you can see from the picture I served it with rice, but you can also eat it with cauliflower rice. Rice is gluten free but at the end of the day it’s still a grain and therefore not paleo. However, from time to time we still use it as a side to some dishes. I think I will make a separate post about how we eat and how to not make yourself crazy with ‘all the rules’.
Andrea is always talking about how she grew up with walnut trees and climbing the cherry tree in her backyard. While I don’t have those experiences, I grew up with a mango tree in my backyard and tamarind tree around the island. I remember waiting for my mom to pick me up from summer camp and waiting underneath a tamarind tree. Picking, peeling and eating them. It has quite a sour taste with ever so slight a sweet note that gently surprises you all the way at the end. You can’t help but going in for the next one. Sucking on the bean and discarding it, while the taste stays with you long after you’ve discarded the bean.
If you’ve ever seen tamarind you might be thinking it looks like a legume so it can’t be paleo. And you would be partially right. While tamarind falls in the legume category, you only eat the flesh, the actual beans are discarded. So yes, it’s a legume but still manages to be paleo.
If buying the vacuumed sealed bag, you will have quite a bit of leftover as you only need 2 tbsp of the tamarind. I might be sharing a little extra recipe in our next newsletter on what else you could do with tamarind. If you haven’t already, now is the time to sign up for our newsletter. It will arrive in your inbox next week. Simply sign-up below this post.
Green Bean with Tamarind Sauce
Equipment
- Immersion Blender
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp tamarind paste
- 4 medjool dates chopped
- ¼ tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander seeds ground
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp ghee
- 2 tbsp water
- 500 gram green beans cleaned and chopped in half
- 1/3 cup almonds chopped
Instructions
- If working with fresh or vacuumed packed tamarind you will need to let it sit hot water for 20 minutes to release the flesh from the beans. Use a 1:1 ratio of water to release the flesh and pass it through a sieve to separate it from the beans. After this it’s ready to use.
- In a pan heat up the ghee and slightly fry the spices for 30 seconds.
- Add the tamarind paste, chopped medjool dates, water and salt and stir well for 1-2 minutes till everything is combined.
- Take off the heat and use the immersion blender to get it completely homogenous.
- Place the sauce back on the heat and add the green beans and 2 tbsp of water. Make sure to stir well to cover all beans in the sauce. Cover the pan and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes until beans are cooked through.
- Serve with cauliflower rice or rice and sprinkle the chopped almonds on top.