isgouhi's bean salad

So this is just a rough game plan for a bean salad Isgouhi threw together one night for us, and it had delicious flavor. Just a can of cannellini beans, some fessh chopped parsley, some chopped green onion (or a bit of onion if not available), pressed garlic, Aleppo red pepper, black pepper, salt, cumin, lemon juice, and EVOO olive oil. Any bean will do of course, and you can use your imagination if you want to vary this a bit. The Aleppo red pepper is basically sweet red pepper powder with a hint of cayenne, so you can substitute this with paprika and a touch (careful!) of cayenne red pepper. The Aleppo red pepper is a frequently used spice in the Sark kitchen, Isgouhi grew up in Aleppo which was a culinary captial in the Middle East, in part because of its large Armenian population driven there by the genocide. Too bad it becaue a victim of global politics in 2012 and subsequent years, wrecking a jewel of the region.

Of course mixed beans would be great, or kidney beans, even chick peas, all healthy legumes. Fava beans are less familiar to the American public but popular in the Mediterranean.

ingredients

 (see above)

instructions

  1. The canned beans are cooked, so this is just a combine and enjoy recipe.
  2. Do the chopping prep for the fresh ingredients.
  3. Then combine using a lot of judgement calls based on your personal preferences.
  4. Serve.

notes

  1. Aleppo, Syria. Where Ani's mom learned to cook from her own mom Nartouhi, who survived the1915  genocide in Musa Dagh when her mom Sima insisted on not leaving the baby behind when they went en masse to the Mediterranean mountainside to seek help from the sea against the Turkish troops who occupied their villages in order to send them all on the death march. The dad feared the baby's crying would give away their location to the Turks. Lucky for us that great grandmom stood her ground for Ani to be with us today!
  2. Illustrations available.
beansalad.htm: 23-aug-2020 [what, ME cook? © 1984 dr bob enterprises]