Tabbouleh
Tabouleh (also written tabbouleh) is a Mediterranean salad dish, often used as part of a mezze. Its primary ingredients are bulgur, finely chopped parsley, mint, tomato, spring onions, and other herbs with lemon juice and various seasonings, generally including black pepper and sometimes cinnamon and allspice.
In Lebanon and Syria, where the dish originated, it is often eaten by scooping it up in Romaine lettuce leaves.
Tabouleh is also popular in Brazil and in the Dominican Republic (where it is known as tipili), due to Mediterranean arab immigrants who settled there. In the United States, tabbouleh is sometimes used as a dip.
1/2 cupfine grain cracked wheat (bulgur)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp allspice (optional)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt, or to taste
3 cup finely chopped parsley
1/2 cup finely chopped spring onions
2 cups finely chopped ripe tomatoes (if not ripe, omit)
1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves (finely chopped)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup olive oil
Rinse the cracked whaet several times then cover with water by 1/2-inch and let soak for 20 minutes, then drain welland squeeze out excess water.
Combine minced onion with the allspice, pepper and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, spring onions, tomatoes and mint. Gently fold in the drained wheat and refrigerate until an hour before serving. Just before serving, stir in the seasoned onion and dress with lemon juice and oil to taste.
Fattoush is a Lebanese salad, good for hot weather. It allows cooks to use seasonal produce by mixing different vegetables and herbs according to taste.
Fattoush means moistened bread, and this salad consists of a chilled mixed salad tossed with small cubes of toasted bread. The texture of the toasted bread adds an unusual quality. Sumac, usually sold ground, is ground red berries and used in Middle Eastern, particularly Lebanese, cooking.
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sumac powder
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
1 medium cucumber, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced
4 onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup chopped purslane
1/2 (5 ounce) package arugula
4 pita rounds, toasted and torn into pieces
Mix the water and cornstarch in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until thickened. Remove from heat, and mix in lemon juice, garlic, sumac, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate until ready to use.
In a large bowl, toss together the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green onions, parsley, mint, bell pepper, purslane, and arugula. Toss with the dressing, and serve with pita.
Makloubeh, a much beloved Palestinian dish (the word means "upside-down") is a casserole dish made with a layer of either chicken quarters or diced mutton that has been sauteed in clarified butter, a layer of sliced onion and eggplant and another layer of saffron-colored rice. Before being served the dish is turned upside down onto a large platter and sprinkled over with pine nuts. Needless to say, as with all folk-recipes, this one has a nearly infinite number of variations. Lamb can also be used instead of chicken.
If you are using kosher chicken do not add any extra salt. You get enough salt from the chicken and the salted eggplant.
2 large aubergines sliced
1 whole chicken, skinned and quartered (or 6 chicken thighs)
2 chopped onions
2 tbs pine nuts
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp paprika
2 small green chillis
2 tbs oil
1 small chopped caulieflower
1 1/2 cups rice
3 cups chicken stock
salt & pepper
Fry the pine nuts till golden brown and remove. Fry the chopped onions and chillis until soft and add meat, salt & spices. Fry till meat browned. Seperately, deep fry the aubergines and remove. Now deep fry the caulieflower for 1 min then remove. Put 2 tbs of rice in the pot and put the meat mixture on top. Then layer the vegetables on top ( try to arrange some aubergine slices around the sides). Add the remainder of the rice on top. Add the chicken stock, salt & pepper. Cover and simmer for 40 mins. To serve: place the pot UPSIDE-DOWN (translates to 'makloubeh') on a large dish. Carefully lift the pot trying to retain the shape of the contents. Decorate with the pine nuts. Serve with youghurt and green salad.
Kousa Mihshi is stuffed courgettes (zucchini). The stuffing is made with lamb mince and rice.
It is also sometimes written as Kousa Mishi, or Kousa Mashi.
You will first need to remove the courgette cores with a knife, apple corer or zuccini corer.
1kg medium courgettes.
2 chopped onions
3 green chilles, sliced
1/2 kg lamb mince (or beef mince)
1kg red tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp tomato puree
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
salt, pepper to taste
2 tsps paprika
Olive oil
1 cup short grain rice (long grain basmati if you prefer)
2 cups chicken stock
1 small potato (optional)
Cut off the courgette stems, and remove cores. Wash inside and out.
Fry the onion in oil, add the green chillis and mince, fry till browned. Stir in the rice, parsley and season with salt and pepper. Allow mixture to cool.
Use this mixture to fill the courgettes, about 3/4 full. Although not often mentioned, I prefer to plug each courgette with a small piece of potato - cut the potato into little cubes, just the right size to 'plug' and close each courgette.
Now fry the chopped garlic, add tomatoes and tomato puree. Place the courgettes in the pot, cover with the chicken stock and simmer for 1 hour. You may need to add more chicken stock depending on the size of your pot.
Serve the courgettes and the sauce separately, or serve together in a large bowl.
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