Mediterranean Medley

Eggplants, zucchini, bell peppers, basil, olive oil and garlic….couldn’t get more Mediterranean then that.

This wonderful dish can be served as a salad or as a side dish, warm or at room temperature. It is at its best a day after preparing it as the flavors combine into a cohesive dish.

Ingredients:
2 eggplants, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 zucchinis, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 bell peppers
Olive oil for drizzling
4 cloves garlic, minced
5 sprigs basil (1 cup)
3 tbs white vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
Salt

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F.

Place the cubed eggplants and zucchini on a baking sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and bake for about 20 minutes, until eggplants are golden. Remove from the oven and chill.

Place the whole bell peppers on a baking sheet. Set the oven to hi broil and roast the peppers until skin is charred. Turn the peppers and char them all around. Remove from the oven and place in a pot with a lid to let the peppers sweat. When cold enough to handle, peel the skin off the peppers and remove the stem and the seeds. Cut the peppers into strips.

In a large bowl, place the roasted eggplants, zucchini and peppers.

Cut the basil leaves into thin strips and add to the bowl.

Add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and salt, and toss the salad well.

Keep refrigerated overnight or at least 4 hours before serving, to let all flavors come together.

Best Dill Pickles

I grew up with these pickles. My grandma made them and so did my mother. With the years I’ve tried other versions of pickled cucumbers, but always came back to this recipe.

A crucial thing to know before attempting to pickle cucumbers is that you MUST have the right kind of cucumbers. Otherwise the cukes become soft and mushy when pickled. You want them to remain crunchy. Which are the right cucumbers? In the U.S. the most used pickling cucumbers are the Pickalot and National Pickling types. They are short and have a bumpy skin, and they can be found in many supermarkets and markets.  

I like to use the Persian/ Lebanese cucumbers. These are actually cucumbers that where developed in Kibbutz Beit Alpha in Israel in the 1950s and made a name all over the Middle East. They are small in size, with a firm texture and their skin is smooth and thin. They are sweeter in flavor. I always called them Israeli cucumbers because these are the only cucumbers I knew when living in Israel. Nowadays they are making a name in the U.S. and I see them more and more in different supermarkets. These cucumbers are great for pickling, but they are also great eaten raw. At home, we use only this kind for all our uses – salads, tzatziki, pickles, or just eating them as a snack with some salt sprinkled on them.

Once you’ve got your hands on the right cucumbers, it’s time to pickle…

Ingredients:
2 quart pickling jar
2lb thin Israeli cucumbers, rinsed
10 sprigs dill, leafy parts only
6 large garlic cloves peeled and smashed
6 bay leaves
½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups warm water
½ cup white vinegar
4 hipping tsp salt

Preparation:
In a small pot, combine water, vinegar and salt , and mix until salt is dissolved.

Boil water in a large pot. When water is boiling, submerge the open jar and sterilize it for one minute. Remove the jar from the water using tongs, pour all the water out and leave to cool.

Place 5 sprigs of dill, 3 bay leaves, and 3 smashed garlic cloves on the bottom of the jar.

Insert the cucumbers and stand them tightly, one next to the other. If you have room on top insert more cucumbers in any way that works. I sometimes cut the cucumbers in half to fit them in.

When the jar is almost full (leave space of about 1 inch), top it with the rest of the dill, smashed garlic, and bay leaves, and sprinkle the pepper flakes.

Pour the brine into the jar to cover all cucumbers.

Tightly close the jar and let sit in room temperature, preferably in the sun.

The pickles will be ready to eat after 3 days. You can keep the jar refrigerated or at room temperature, but not in the sun.

Only use a clean, unused utensil to remove pickles out of the jar, and avoid touching any of the contents with your hands, to avoid spoilage.

Eggplant Rollatini with Mushrooms

My husband and two boys used to be the carnivores in our house, and if a main dish didn’t include meat, they were very dissatisfied. But not anymore. Not after having this dish for dinner. In fact, they enjoyed it so much that now I can introduce more meatless dishes and they are totally fine with that and a new era started in our home – we are all vegan now.

Of course, this dish is not what made us change our eating habits but it was a nice trigger.

The flavor of the mushrooms is very rich and full of umami. Do not skip on the baby bella or the dried mushrooms. They are responsible for the umami flavor.

Ingredients:
4 large eggplants
Oil spray
¼ cup oil
1 large onion, diced
20 oz mixed mushrooms (baby Bella, white button)
1 oz mixed dried mushrooms or dried porcini mushrooms
1 cup chopped parsley
1 tsp Aleppo pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt

Sauce:
2 tbs oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 cup water
½ tsp garlic powder
Salt and black pepper

Preparation:
Preheat an oven to 400F.

Slice the eggplants lengthwise, into ½ thick slices. Generously pray a baking sheet with oil and arrange the eggplant slices in one layer. Spray the eggplants with the oil. You will probably need 2-3 baking sheets to accommodate all the eggplant.

Place in the preheated oven and bake until eggplants turn golden. Remove from the oven and chill. Turn oven off.

In the meantime, heat ¼ cup oil in a large pot and sauté the onion.

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Chop the fresh mushrooms in a food processor until they resemble ground meat in texture.

Place the dried mushrooms in a coffee grinder and grind to a powder.

Once the onion is golden, add the ground mushrooms to the pot and sauté on high heat for 5 minutes stirring it occasionally.

Add the garlic powder, Aleppo pepper and salt and sauté for 1 more minute.

Turn off the heat, add the chopped parsley and mix well. Chill.

Heat 2 tbs oil in a small pot and saute the onions for 3 minutes.

Place the tomatoes in a food processor and puree. Add the tomatoes to the sautéed onion and saute for 2 more minutes.

Add the tomato paste, water, and spices and stir it all in. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Putting it all together:

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Place 1 tbs of the mushroom filling on one end of the eggplant and roll up tightly.

Place the eggplant rolls in a baking dish, seam side down, one next to the other.

When baking dish is full, top the eggplant with half the amount of the tomato sauce, and bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature with some good bread.

 

Cauliflower, Asparagus, Pea, and Herb Salad

This salad was born as I was making it. As I was roasting the cauliflower with the idea of making some kind of salad, I was exploring the options in my head. I wanted to add texture and flavors that would complement a Moroccan lamb dish we made for Passover dinner. I wanted the salad to be refreshing and not too packed with flavors as the lamb was already very flavorful. And I had to use what I already had in the fridge. The result is a refreshing, delicious salad that can accompany any meat, chicken, or fish dish, as the flavor is mild and lends itself to a wide variety of flavors.

Ingredients:
1 medium head cauliflower
1 cup frozen green peas
7 asparagus spears
½ cup chopped green onion
½ cup chopped mint
½ cup chopped cilantro
½ cup chopped parsley

Vinaigrette:
½ cup olive oil
3 tbs red wine vine
1 tsp Dijon mustard
¼ tsp salt
¼ black pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut the cauliflower into small florets, and place on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with some salt and drizzle a little oil on top. Roast in the preheated oven until cauliflower has soften, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.

Remove 2 inch of the bottom of the asparagus and slice the spears on an angle into 2 inch pieces.

In a medium saucepan, place the asparagus and the peas. Fill the pot with water just to cover the veggies and bring to a boil on high heat. Cook for 2 more minutes, then remove from the heat.

Transfer the asparagus and peas to a bowl filled with ice water, to stop the cooking process and retain the green color of the veggies. Remove the veggies from the bowl once cold.

In a large bowl, combine the roasted cauliflower florets, peas, asparagus, and the chopped herbs.

In a small jar combine the ingredients for the vinaigrette. Closed the jar with the lid and shake well until the dressing emulsifies.

Pour the dressing over the salad and mix it in well.

Fenugreek

Fenugreek is a plant believed to be originated in the Middle East. It is used as a fresh or dried herb and also as a spice, using the seeds. Fenugreek seeds are rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, manganese, and iron. In their raw state, the seeds are very bitter and need to be roasted or soaked in water for an hour to remove most of the bitterness. The smell and the flavor of fenugreek seeds are pungent and dominant, and for most Westerners it is an acquired taste. You either love the flavor and the smell, or you can’t stand them. When eating large amount of fenugreek, the odor may be secreted in perspiration (I’m talking from personal experience), so make sure that you or people around you don’t mind the smell 🙂

Some people may be allergic to fenugreek, so please make sure you are not susceptible before attempting to experiment with this great plant.

The plant in all its forms is widely used in the Indian subcontinent. The leaves are used in curries and are also served as fresh herbs in salads. The seeds are used ground in spice mixes, pickles and chutneys.

In Persian cuisine, the leaves are called Shambalileh and this is probably the name you’ll find them under when looking for them in Middle Eastern stores. They are used in khoresh Sabzi, kukus (quiches), and fresh as part of sabzi (fresh greens served on the table).

Fenugreek seeds are used in Yemenite cuisine ground in spice mixes (Hawaij) and in Samnah – the Yemenite version of ghee. The seeds are also used to prepare a condiment eaten by Yemenite Jews called Hilbah (see recipe below) which is served with soups and stews. Hilbah is considered very healthy as it is believed to strengthen the heart and lower cholesterol and blood sugar.

Ethiopian cuisine also uses fenugreek, called Abesh. The seeds are incorporated in various dishes and are also used as a natural herbal medicine to treat diabetes.

Georgian cuisine is another cuisine that enjoys fenugreek in its dishes. They use a slightly different type of fenugreek, known as blue fenugreek.

I’m sure there may be other cultures using fenugreek in various degrees in their cuisines, and I apologize in advance to all of those I unknowingly omitted.

At home we use both the leaves (we can only find them in their dry form) when we cook Persian dishes, and we use the ground seeds in spice mixes and to make Hilbah which goes great with Yemenite soup.

Hilbah
Hilbah is a frothy condiment with a slightly slimy texture. When whisked with lemon and water, the seeds change their color from yellow to creamy white. Yemenite people eat Hilbah with soups, salads, and breads. Hilbah was brought to Israel by Yemenite Jews and is now widely eaten by other ethnic groups in Israel.

2 tbs ground fenugreek seeds (found in Indian and Middle Eastern stores)
¼ cups water
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt

Place the ground seeds in a bowl, cover with water and soak for at least an hour in the refrigerator. The seeds will soak most of the water and will double in size.

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Discard of the water by tilting the bowl gently (don’t spill the jelly-like seeds themselves).

Add lemon juice, 2 tablespoons water and salt, and using a whisk or a mixer whisk the hilbah until it becomes thick and frothy. Add a little more water if necessary. The consistency should be fluffy but not watery.

It is best eaten when freshly made. You can keep leftovers in the fridge in a closed container. Hilbah tends to turn dense and lose its foam after a while. You can either add it to foods as is or add some lemon and water and re-whisk it to recreate the original texture.

Best Cauliflower Salad

I’m proud to say that this salad is my creation. I created it a while ago, and everyone who tasted it fell in love. We entertain a lot, and this salad is a star in almost every meal. Whenever we are invited to dinner, I’m asked to bring this cauliflower salad. I already gave the recipe to so many people and got so much great feedback that it’s time I finally posted it here.

Ingredients:
1 head large cauliflower
3tbs olive oil
30 cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
½ bunch (1 cup) coarsely chopped cilantro
3 cloves garlic
2tbs olive oil
Juice from ½ lemon
Salt
Black pepper
½ tsp cumin

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut the cauliflower head into small florets and place in a bowl. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper and add 3tbs olive oil. Mix well.

Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet in one layer and roast in the pre-heated oven until cauliflower is nicely roasted, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and chill.

Cut the tomatoes in half and place in a large bowl.

Add the chopped cilantro and the sliced onion to the bowl.

Peel and slice the garlic. Heat 2tbs oil in a small frying pan and add the garlic. Saute just until the garlic is starting to brown. Pour the garlic and the oil into the large bowl with the tomatoes.

Add the chilled cauliflower to the bowl.

Pour in the lemon juice, add some salt and cumin, and mix to well combine all the ingredients.

Let rest for 30 minutes so the flavors are well absorbed.

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