This Iraqi Spiced White Bean Stew with Lemon Herb Oil has become a favorite weeknight dinner over the last few months - healthy, deeply flavorful, and very easy. Allowing the spices to brown into the onions for 20 full minutes creates an incredible depth of flavor. Your home will smell amazing. An easy lemon-herb sauce comes together quickly while everything simmers.
Ingredients
For the Baharat Spice Blend
- 1/2 tablespoon whole allspice
- 1/2 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon whole coriander seeds
- 4-5 whole green cardamom pods
- 1/2-inch piece of cinnamon stick or 1/2 teaspoon ground
- 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
- 1/4 of a whole nutmeg, freshly grated
For the Stew
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions or 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 30 ounces canned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 14 ounces canned whole tomatoes, grated with a large-hole cheese grater
For the Lemon-Herb Oil
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- zest of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
To serve
- pilaf or basmati rice
Instructions
For the Baharat Spice Blend
- Combine all of the spices in a small pan and toast over medium heat 2-3 minutes until warm and fragrant. The spices should start to gain the slightest color, have a noticable fragrance, and begin to make a faint cracking sound. Do not let them smoke. If that happens, you've gone too far and need to toss them and start over.
- Transfer the spices to a spice grinder or coffee grinder. Allow a minute for them to cool before grinding. Pulse in the grinder until ground.
For the Stew
- Finely chop the onion. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan on medium heat. When hot, add the onion, salt, and Baharat spice blend.
- Cook 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
- Grate the canned whole tomatoes using a large-hole cheese grater. Drain and rinse the cannellini beans. Add the white beans, tomatoes, and half a can of water. Bring it to a boil then simmer 10 minutes. Taste for salt.
For the Lemon-Herb Oil
- Chop the parsley finely. Combine it in a small bowl with the lemon zest and juice, olive, oil and salt. Mix well.
To Serve
- Serve the stew topped with the lemon-herb oil. Serve with basmati rice or simple pilaf.