Greetings food adventurers! Today we are visiting the country of Ghealdan to enjoy a richly spiced summer Green Bean Stew.

We will take a small boat up the River Eldar and disembark in the town of Samara. We see signs of a healthy trade here, with plenty of other boats loading and offloading wood, cloth, and furs. A cool breeze comes off the river. We are surrounded with the smells of trees and well-worn barkchipped pathways. The townspeople happily point us in the direction of our destination. We arrive at an inn with a leaning pine tree etched into the wooden sign and find a table in the common room. They bring honey-sweetened teas while we chat with the other patrons and await the delicious bowls of dinner.

** In the Wheel of Time books, Ghealdan (pronounced “GEL-duhn” with the same hard-g as in “green beans”) is mentioned early in the first book / first episode of the show because there is a war happening there, led by the false dragon Logain Ablar. We don’t actually get to visit the country in the books, but we do learn bits about their culture and history. Robert Jordan based several aspects of this small country on Lebanon and Israel, so this stew is likewise inspired by a Lebanese recipe by Cosette’s Kitchen called Loubieh Bi Zeit.

Ghealdanin Green Bean Stew

This richly spiced green bean stew is perfect for late summer.

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Course Main Course

Makes 4 servings

Special Equipment

• Dutch Oven or similar heavy-bottomed pot

Ingredients

  

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• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 large sweet onion sliced
• 4 medium cloves of garlic roughly chopped
• 1 lb ground beef at least 85% lean preferred
• 1 tsp table salt
• ¾ tsp ground black pepper
• 1 ¼ tsp ground allspice
• 14.5 oz can of tomatoes whole, crushed, stewed, whatever you have – do not drain
• 1 lb fresh green beans ends trimmed and snapped in half
• Handful of new potatoes well scrubbed (optional)
• Egg noodles cooked (for serving)
• Feta cheese for garnish

Instructions

 

• In a large Dutch Oven or heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil on medium heat.
• Add the sliced onions and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, stir, and cook for 2 minutes.
• Add ground beef. Chop it into small pieces and stir well.
• Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• (If you have very fatty ground beef, you may choose to strain the fat out at this point before adding the spices and tomatoes).
• Stir salt, pepper, and allspice into the ground beef.
• Add your tomatoes and whatever juices were in the can to the pot. If the tomatoes are whole, break them up with a wooden spoon. Allow the mixture to come to a boil.
• Once it boils, reduce heat to medium/medium-low and add the green beans. Add new potatoes, if including.
• Carefully stir the green beans into the tomato mixture, COVER the pot and cook for 15 minutes.
• As green beans begin to soften and wilt, stir again until combined and cover the pot again.
• Allow the green beans to soften and stew for another 45-55 minutes on medium low heat. Stir and check on them every 15 minutes.
• MEANWHILE, start the pasta when there are about 30 minutes left on the green beans. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and run cold water through the noodles so they don’t stick together. Set aside until serving time.
• Once beans are tender, use a potato masher to smash them a bit. Taste and add additional salt if needed.
• Serve hot stew over a bed of egg noodles. Garnish with feta cheese if desired.

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