Recipe: Pinto Bean Ful and Article: Ful - An Egyptian Dish for Everyday

FUL - AN EGYPTIAN DISH FOR EVERYDAY

"Every neighborhood has its local charms. When I first moved to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, I was enchanted to discover an Egyptian restaurant. The food was impeccably fresh, the prices modest, and Mustafa, the owner, most gracious. From my trips to Greek and other Mediterranean restaurants I recognized almost all of the dishes on the menu, like stuffed grape leaves and various kebabs. When I bravely tried ful medames, one that was not familiar, it was love at first bite.

This humble dish, sometimes simply called ful, is eaten throughout Egypt. It is made by mixing partly mashed beans with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley and sometimes, the creamy sesame paste called tahini. Egyptians say you eat ful for breakfast if you are rich, for lunch if you are of modest means, and for dinner if you are poor. For me, it is a perfect example of peasant food that is fit for a feast anytime.

Ful is both the name of the dish and of the type of fava beans used to make it. These round, brown beans have a definite skin and a soft interior. When I asked Mustafa about cooking dried ful from scratch, he suggested using the canned beans sold at most Middle Eastern food stores instead because the dried beans take hours to cook.

One summer I had a craving for ful while vacationing in a beautiful and somewhat remote part of Massachusetts. Experimenting with the different kinds of canned beans available at the local market, I discovered that pinto beans worked nicely. Since pintos have more mellow flavor than ful, I made Ful Eskandarani, in the style of Alexandria, as opposed to Ful Medames, which is popular in Cairo. Combining beans, chopped onion, diced tomato and cucumber, and served on shredded romaine lettuce, this ful is a lighter dish, using less olive oil than other versions.

Try ful as a meatless main dish, as part of a Mediterranean platter of light dishes called mezze, or simply stuffed into a pita as a convenient brown bag lunch."

PINTO BEAN FUL

3 to 4 romaine lettuce leaves, cut crosswise into 1/2-in strips, about 1 c.
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion
2 cups cooked pinto beans, or one (15 oz.) can, drained and rinsed
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/3 cup diced seedless cucumber, not peeled
1 Tbsp. chopped Italian parsley
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 pieces warm pita bread (for serving)

Arrange the lettuce to cover a serving plate and set aside.

In a medium, non-stick skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until slightly soft, about 4 minutes.

Add the beans, mashing about half of them coarsely with a fork. Add the tomato, cucumber, and parsley. Mix until some of the mashed beans are creamy, and the mixture is warmed through, but not hot. Remove from the heat.

Mix in the lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spread the beans over the lettuce and serve immediately. Pass the warmed pita bread separately.

Each of the four servings contains 328 calories and 5 grams of fat.
Source: Dana Jacobi for the American Institute for Cancer Research