SPEAKING OF BEANS—

 

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

Serve the bean-chorizo combo as a side dish, here with fried fish (rosada).

Or finish cooking the fish in the sauce with the beans.

Wide, flat green beans, such as Romano (variety pictured is Helga), if available, are best for this recipe. But it can be made with any bean variety. The chorizo can be dry-cured or raw. For a vegetarian version, omit the chorizo, use additional olive oil, and 2 teaspoons of pimentón (paprika). As a main dish, the beans are good garnished with quartered hard-cooked egg.

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:

Salad with Green Beans and Purslane.

Green Beans in Garlicky Sauce.

Green Beans with Tomatoes.

Sauté of Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes.

Green Beans and Ham Sauté

Rice with Chicken and Green Beans (Arroz con Pollo)

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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)

$39.95 hardcover: Available in print and e-book in August 2025

 Pre-order on IndiePubs

Use PROMO CODE HIPPO40 for 40% off through June 30 on all Hippocrene titles at IndiePubs online bookstore.

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Pre-order on amazon

RECIPES FROM AL-ANDALUS

 

La Baltasara, Antonio Gala museum.

A tasting of foods from al-Andalus in a lush garden that might have delighted a Moorish prince. Such was the evening I enjoyed recently—Cocina Andalusí en la Baltasara—presented by cookbook author Ana Abellán—in Alhaurín el Grande (Málaga). 

La Baltasara was the country home and literary retreat of Antonio Gala, Spanish poet, playwright and novelist. Now converted to a museum containing Gala’s personal effects and library, La Baltasara serves as a cultural center for the town of Alhaurín. It was an evocative setting for a tasting of dishes that might have been served in medieval al-Andalus. 

Al-Andalus was Moorish Spain, Islamic Spain. It encompassed much of the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492. The cuisine of the era—before the discovery of the Americas and the introduction of tomatoes—is still reflected in modern-day cooking.

Cookbook author Ana Abellán (center) serves tastings of anchovy escabeche assisted by Chef Lutz Petry and María Eloy, poet and member of the editorial board of ColandCol publishers.

Ana Abellán, whose book, Berza y Pringá, las Recetas de Málaga Pueblo a Pueblo (ColandCol Ediciones; 2023), features recipes from every pueblo in the province of Málaga, planned the tasting to showcase local produce such as the oranges of the Guadalhorce Valley and the Aloreña olives and olive oil of the area. 

Eggplant tortillita.

The dishes that Ana demo-ed: Porra de naranja con bacalao ahumado, a thick, cold soup related to gazpacho, with oranges instead of tomatoes.

Tortillitas de berenjenas, eggplant omelets, adapted from a recipe found in an Andalusí-Arabic cookbook from the 13th century written by Ibn Razin al-Tujībī.

Escabeche de boquerones, fresh anchovies in an escabeche marinade, and 

Rosquillas de cítricos, citrus-flavored fried doughnuts.

The porra de naranja—which I translate as “Orange Gazpacho Cream”—is a dish with peasant origins. Field hands made it for their midday meal, mashing bread, garlic and olive oil in a wooden bowl then gathering around to dip chunks of bread into the tasty mash.

Porra—which is a close cousin of Córdoba’s salmorejo—is easily made in a blender or food processor. The classic version is served with chopped cooked egg and chunks of canned tuna. In a reference to another Málaga dish, a salad of oranges, olives and salt cod, Ana Abellán served her version with chopped smoked cod. Brilliant. 

Orange Gazpacho Cream

Porra de Naranja

Porra, like salmorejo, is a thick cream usually served cold. The classic version is made with tomatoes, but this one has orange juice in the mix. Serve it as a thick soup or as a dip.

Three large oranges make 1 cup of juice. Use blood oranges if you want a cream with deeper color. Use a dense-crumbed country-style bread. The bread is easier to pulp in a food processor than in a blender. Removing crusts helps to soften the bread. Add water as needed to run the processor, but keep the porra as thick as possible.

Serve the porra with spoons or with crackers or breadsticks for dipping. It makes a good merienda, afternoon snack, or can be served as a starter for dinner. 

Serves 4-6.

The porra is topped with pieces of salt cod and olives---

5 ounces day-old bread

1 cup fresh orange juice

½ teaspoon grated orange peel

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons Sherry vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

Water, as needed

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional to finish

Toppings (choose 1 or 2):

Flaked salt cod or strips of smoked cod

Canned tuna, well drained

Hard-boiled egg, chopped

Chopped serrano ham

Cooked shrimp

Strips of smoked salmon

Green or black pitted olives

Chopped orange segments

Chopped scallions or chives

Crackers or bread  to serve

Break up the bread into pieces and place them in a bowl. Pour over the orange juice. Stir in the orange peel, garlic and salt. Allow to set until the bread begins to soften, 15 minutes. 

---or chopped egg---

Place the mixture in a food processor container and process until the bread is reduced to a smooth paste. Add 1 to 4 tablespoons of water as needed. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil to the mixture until it is absorbed and emulsified. The result should be a thick, smooth cream. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the porra in small shallow bowls. Add toppings of your choice. Drizzle with additional oil. Serve accompanied with crackers or bread for dipping.

--or with shrimp, pieces of orange, red onion and chopped chives.

Ana fries tiny eggplant omelets, a recipe from a 13th century cookbook.

Sundown in the gardens of La Baltasara.

More about Ana Abellán and Entre Berza y Pringá.

Ana Abellán blogs at Me Sabe a Málaga . Her book is available from Amazon and from the publisher Col and Col.

About La Baltasara.

More versions of porra;

Mango-Tomato Gazpacho Cream.

Salmorejo with Tomatoes.

Fava Bean Cream.

Cold Almond Cream.