Looking for a unique green bean side dish? Lobio Satsivi is a traditional Georgian recipe featuring fresh green beans dressed in a rich, garlicky walnut sauce. It’s served cold or at room temperature, making it the perfect make-ahead dish for Thanksgiving or dinner parties!
I'm soooo excited. At the time I write this, Thanksgiving is a couple of months away. My thoughts are already turning to what dishes I might be able to bring to the gathering at my sister's home. The staple green bean dish for Thanksgiving is the very well known green bean casserole. I have nothing against green bean casserole. However I love to try new foods and I'm determined to bring lobio satsivi to Thanksgiving this year as a new side dish for friends and family to try.
Lobio satsivi??
The book 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die by Mimi Sheraton lists lobio satsivi as one of the foods to eat. She says that the foods she lists in her book are the tastes that every food lover should experience or dream about. I am 27 foods in, and lobio satsivi is food #28!
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What is Lobio Satsivi?
Lobio satsivi, a cold green bean dish, hails from Georgia. Georgia is a country in Eastern Europe, and is on the coast of the Black Sea. Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia also border Georgia.
Georgia has a rich culinary heritage, and I found this amazing website called Georgian Recipes. This site aims to promote and preserve Georgia’s rich culinary heritage. On this site, I learned that satsivi is a thick paste made from walnuts and served cold. "Tsivi" actually means "cold" in Georgian.
Lobio ( in Georgian: ლობიო) means beans. This includes beans such as red kidney beans, etc. Often when people use the term "lobio" they are referring to Georgian bean stew made with the red kidney beans. However in our case lobio is referring to the green beans we will use in this satsivi recipe.
The green beans are dressed with the satsivi which is made from: walnuts, garlic, onion, red wine vinegar, vegetable oil, paprika, cilantro, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.
Satsivi is actually used in a variety of dishes, including fish, vegetable, and meat dishes. I prepared lobio satsivi as it is one of the 1,000 Foods in my 1,000 Foods to Eat Project. However, the Georgian Recipes site has recipes for Satsivi with Eggs and Onions, and other vegetarian recipes which look fantastic! But these dishes will have to wait for another time...onto the Georgian green beans!
Ingredients for the Lobio Satsivi
You will need the following simple ingredients for this lobio recipe:
- Fresh green beans
- Walnuts
- Fresh garlic
- Red onion
- Red wine vinegar
- Vegetable oil or olive oil
- Paprika
- Cilantro
- Parsley
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Cayenne pepper - this is optional, but great to include if you'd like a bit of an extra kick!
Looking over the list of ingredients, you can easily imagine how the lovely fresh ingredients and punchy spices will combine to create a very lively green bean dish!
🔪 Instructions
These delicious green beans are very simple to make.
You will simply prepare the green beans for boiling (top and tail and cut into small 2" pieces). Fill a large saucepan with water (add ½ ts salt) and bring to the boil. Boil the green beans for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and allow to come to room temperature.
Make your dressing by combining the other ingredients in a mixing bowl: walnuts, garlic, red onion, red wine vinegar, vegetable or olive oil, paprika, parsley, cilantro, and cayenne (if using). Mix all ingredients and add salt and black pepper.
Once the green beans have come to room temperature add to the dressing and mix well. Refrigerate for at least one hour before consuming. If you can leave the beans a little longer than 1 hr, the flavor should be more developed.
Suggestions For Serving
Ms. Sheraton's book recommends that the beans be eaten at room temperature. However as mentioned earlier, "tsivi" means "cold" in Georgian. So perhaps it should be eaten once cooled down in the fridge for a few hours.
Nevertheless, I would recommend allowing some time for the flavors to meld, which will result in a much tastier lobio satsivi. 🙂
I really savored these green beans prepared the Georgian way! I can't wait to share these with my family at Thanksgiving. 😊
My hope is that you will try this Georgian green bean salad and enjoy it as much as I did!
FAQ
Lobio Satsivi is a dish made with green beans, from the Caucasian Republic of Georgia. The green beans are dressed with a sauce that consists of walnuts, herbs, garlic, red wine vinegar, onion, and paprika. This dish is eaten cold, or at room temperature.
Boil green beans in boiling salted water for about 10 minutes, until they are firm and tender.
Lobio ( in Georgian: ლობიო) means beans. This includes beans such as red kidney beans, etc. Often when people use the term "lobio" they are referring to Georgian bean stew made with the red kidney beans. However in our case lobio is referring to the green beans we will use in this satsivi recipe.
Some Other Recipes You May Enjoy!
Here are some other recipes that you may enjoy:
- Fresh Green Beans With Tomatoes, Garlic, and Chili
- Italian Broccoli Recipe With Garlic and Lemon
- Italian Peas and Ham Frozen Peas Recipe
1,000 Foods to Eat Project
Please follow along with me on this quest to try the 1,000 Foods To Eat Before You Die, from the book by Mimi Sheraton! Join me in this journey and discover new foods, experiences, and cuisines which I hope will add inspiration, fun, and joy to your life! Visit the 1,000 Foods to Eat Project page to view a list of the foods tried so far.
Lobio satsivi is #28 on my list of foods to try. 28 down, 972 to go!
Join Me On A Fun Food Journey!
If you'd like to follow along and be a part of the 1,000 Foods Project, please sign up to get the latest recipes and inspiration for you to expand your food comfort zone! It's an incredible journey, please join me by signing up here.
Thank you for reading! Please share and comments or suggestions below!
Cheers! Grace
Lobio Satsivi
Ingredients
- 1 lb green beans topped and tailed, and cut into 2 inch pieces
- ⅔ cup walnuts finely ground
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ red onion minced
- 3 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoon vegetable oil can sub olive oil
- 1.5 ts paprika
- 2 tablespoon cilantro minced finely
- 2 tablespoon parsley minced finely
- ¼ ts salt plus additional to taste
- ⅛ ts pepper plus additional to taste
- ¼ ts cayenne pepper optional
Instructions
- Wash the green beans. Top and tail them. Cut into 2 inch pieces. Fill a large saucepan with water (add ½ ts salt) and bring to the boil. Boil the green beans for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and allow to come to room temperature.
- Make your dressing by combining the other ingredients in a mixing bowl: walnuts, garlic, red onion, red wine vinegar, vegetable or olive oil, paprika, parsley, cilantro, and cayenne (if using). Mix all ingredients and add salt and pepper.
- Once the green beans have come to room temperature add to the dressing and mix well. Refrigerate for at least one hour before consuming. If you can leave the beans a little longer than 1 hr, the flavor should be more developed.
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