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| Green beans with chorizo and potatoes. |
Green beans from the garden were featured in my salad recipe last week. This week I’m cooking beans with chorizo, an easy main dish or side.
No beans about it--
Speaking of beans, let me tell you that in my new cookbook, FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, there are no recipes for beans, neither green beans nor pintos, haricots nor limas. Why not?
There were no beans in al-Andalus, Moorish Spain, the Islamic kingdoms of Iberia between 711 and 1492. These legumes, of the family Phaseolus vulgaris, native to Mexico, were brought back to Europe on Columbus’s second expedition to the New World in 1493.
Other legumes—chickpeas, lentils, black-eyed peas, fava beans, and peas were consumed in Moorish Spain. Interestingly, two of the words for “bean” in Spanish, alubia and judía, come from Moorish times. The Arabic name for the black-eyed pea, lubia, came to be used for all beans when they eventually became available in Spain. The word judía actually means “Jewish,” possibly because the Sephardic people of Spain favored the “beans” of the day, black-eyed peas. (Oh, by the way, there are no recipes with potatoes or chorizo in the new book either.) See below for more information about FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS.
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Green Beans with Chorizo
Judías Verdes con Chorizo
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| Serve the bean-chorizo combo as a side dish, here with fried fish (rosada). |
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| Or finish cooking the fish in the sauce with the beans. |
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| Pre-cook beans 2 minutes. |
Serves 2.
4 ounces green beans
Salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces chorizo, chopped
½ cup chopped onion
1 clove chopped garlic
½ cup grated tomato pulp (1 tomato)
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of oregano
1 cooked potato, cubed (optional)
Fillets of fried fish (optional)
Top and tail the beans and cut them into short (2-inch) pieces. Cook in boiling salted water 2 minutes. Drain and refresh the beans under cold water. Set them aside.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chorizo, onion, and garlic on medium heat until onion is softened, 5 minutes. Add the tomato pulp, salt and pepper to taste, oregano, and the potato, if using. Cook until tomato is reduced to a sauce, 5 minutes. Add the par-boiled beans to the mixture and reheat them, 2 minutes. If desired, add fried fish to finish cooking with the beans.
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The fish pictured above is rosada, "pink fish," popular in Spain although it is not fished locally. For more about rosada see this recipe for Fried Fish Sticks.
More green bean recipes:
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FLAVORS OF AL-ANDALUS, The Culinary Legacy of Spain, will be published August 12, 2025! See Meatballs with Backstory for more about what’s in the book and to view several of the page spreads. See advance reviews at Advance Praise for Flavors of al-Andalus.
This cookbook explores the fascinating story of the deep and lasting influences that Islamic culture has left on modern Spanish cooking.
Author and Spanish cooking expert Janet Mendel tells the story of the Moorish influence on Spanish cooking through 120 recipes and photographs for modern-day dishes, from salads and vegetables to fish, poultry and meat to sweets and pastries, that trace their heritage to foods served in medieval times. Dishes from this era include exotic spices such as saffron, the use of fruits and almonds with savory dishes, and honeyed sweets and pastries. The flavors of al-Andalus live on in modern Spanish cooking and are what makes Spain’s cuisine distinctive from the rest of Europe. (Hippocrene Books)
Use PROMO CODE HIPPO40 for 40% off through June 30 on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.
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