Fattoush Salad

Fattoush is very healthy and a whole meal by itself. I add purslane if i find it at specialty stores. Purslane is wonderful herb eaten as vegetable in Greek and Asian cuisine. Its succulent thick leaves are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, minerals. Its a powerhouse of nutrition. I add baby arugula when pursulane is not available. Sahten!


Ingredients:

1 romaine washed, trimmed, cut in 1inch slices

1 bunch of parsley snipped or chopped thick

1 bunch mint washed and stemmed

3 medium tomatoes sliced in 1 inch cubes

2 cucumbers cubed and peeled

3 scallions finely chopped

1 green or red pepper cored and cubed

1 bunch radishes washed trimmed and cubed

1 large pita bread cut into 1inch squares and toasted or fried

1 bunch of pursulane trimmed and washed or 1 bunch of baby arugula

For the dressing:

½ cup Olive oil

¼ cup red wine vinegar

1 lemon juiced

1 teaspoon sumac

¼ teaspoon dried mint

Salt to taste

1teaspoon pomegranate (optional)

Cut and wash all the vegetable and place in a big salad bowl.

Toast the pita bread and then crumble it onto the salad, or serve on the side.

Mix everything together, add pita chips on top.


Serves 4 to 6

Mini Lasagna Cups

1 lb lean ground beef or ground turkey

1 onion chopped

1 cup tomato sauce

Salt and fresh pepper to taste

½ tsp oregano ½ tsp red pepper flakes

3 cups béchamel sauce

24 wonton wrappers

1 1/2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese

Béchamel Sauce

3 cups whole milk
¼ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup all-purpose unbleached flour

Salt Fresh pepper nutmeg


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sauté chopped onion then brown beef (or turkey) in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add tomato sauce, salt pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes to remaining meat mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.

In a separate pan melt the unsalted butter with the flour over low heat. Stir rapidly with a Wisk. Cook this for 1 minute and then remove from the heat. Add the milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg, stirring until the mixture thickens. During this process, stir constantly until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray, and arrange a wonton wrapper in each cup. Take meat sauce and layer with 1 tablespoon among the 12 cups. Top with another wonton wrapper, and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Layer 1 tablespoons of béchamel sauce over and add another wonton wrapper over, and repeat the layers by adding the remaining meat sauce, béchamel, wonton and top with shredded cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and the wonton wrappers are golden. Cool in the muffin tin for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Also an idea to make with wontons, sauce béchamel with spinach and layered with cheeses.

Hummus

Ingredients

2cups (1 ¼ pound) of dried chick peas ( garbanzo beans)

1 tablespoon of baking soda
¼ cup of tahini (sesame paste)
2 to 3 lemon juiced

¼ cup very cold icy water if needed
Salt

Olive oil for garnish

Sort through the chickpeas before you boil them to remove any disfigured or bad chickpeas.

Soak the dried chickpeas overnight with a lot of water (cover them completely, use twice the amount of water vs. the volume of chickpeas).

The next day, rinse the chickpeas well with cold water.


Fill a big (8 quart) pot with plenty of water, using the same amount as when you soaked them. Add the baking soda, and bring to the boil.

When the water is boiling turn the heat down and simmer until the chickpeas are cooked, 60 to 90 minutes. Remove froth with a skimmer as needed.

To test for doneness remove one chick pea with a spoon and smash  between thumb and index finger if its tender its done!

Take the pot off the heat and put it under the cold water tap. The cold water will shock the skins into cracking so that they will easily come off and float to the surface. In order to allow them to float up you need to gently stir the chickpeas and as the skins surface remove them with a slotted spoon. Keep stirring a little and removing the skins that surface until you’ve removed most skins.

Now strain the chickpeas and leave them in a colander to drain.

Place the tahini and lemon juice in the food processor add the chickpeas mix until you have a smooth paste, but still a little firm. If it’s too thick add little by little the icy cold water. Finally add salt to taste.

Serve with olive oil and pita bread.

Serves 4 to 6 people

Grilled Eggplant with Tomato-Basil Relish

2 large eggplants trimmed from stem and cut ½ inch thick

4 ripe tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

5 tablespoons olive oil or more

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 scallions thinly sliced

1 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 bunch finely chopped fresh basil plus fresh leaves, for garnish



Heat your grill to high or oven to 450.

Place the tomatoes in a bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Do the same with the eggplants. Place tomatoes and eggplant slices on the grill and grill until charred on all sides, and just cooked through, about 10 minutes. If using oven put on a sheet and spray with cooking oil and bake 10 minutes on each side. Remove from the grill place the eggplant on a platter and remove skin from the tomatoes and coarsely chop.


Put the chopped tomatoes in a bowl, add 3 tablespoons of oil, onion, vinegar and basil and gently mix until combined. Let sit at room temperature for flavors to blend. Serve eggplant and drizzle tomato relish on top.

Italian Green Beans, Loubie Bzet

For meatless Monday green Italian beans with tomato sauce is a great option. If you cannot find flat green beans in season, you can find them in the freezer section.



2 pounds of green beans trimmed and cut in bite size

3 – 4 big tomatoes peeled and chopped or canned crushed tomato

1 large onion chopped

4 cloves of garlic whole

½ cup olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon allspice



In a pot sauté onion till translucent add green beans and sauté till they change their color add garlic, salt and allspice and the tomatoes. Add water to cover beans, cover and cook over medium heat for 35 to 40 minutes or until beans are cooked and sauce has reduced and thickened. Serve cold with pita bread. Sahten!

Tuna Tartar

Here’s an appetizer to please a crowd. I buy grade A tuna frozen  for sushi. My family and guests always request it. It will sure impress even the non raw fish eaters!!!! Enjoy.




1 bag of good quality chips

1-pound fresh tuna cut into small cubes ¼ in

1 teaspoon of wasabi

3 Tablespoons oriental sesame oil

2 Tablespoons chives minced

5 Tablespoons of soy sauce or more

3 to 4 dashes Tabasco

Coarse salt and fresh black pepper



Mix tuna with sesame oil, chives, wasabi and Tabasco. Season with salt and pepper serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours.

Spinach and Rice with Yogurt (Spinach Fatte)

This is a meatless dinner that everyone I know enjoys. You can also make it with lamb or beef stew added to the spinach. The Fatte is assembled last minute and serve immediately otherwise the bread becomes soggy. Thanks for Tommy for taking a great picture!



Ingredients:

2 pounds fresh baby spinach rinsed

1 onion chopped

¼ cup oil

1 bunch of cilantro rinsed

1 tsp salt

Freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp red chili pepper (optional)

½ tsp cinnamon

1 juice of lemon

2 cups of long grain rice

Pita bread

½ cup Pine nuts fried with oil

1 pound yogurt



In a large pot sauté onion in oil till translucent. Add spinach and sauté add salt pepper and nutmeg until leaves are wilted. Chop cilantro and add to the spinach. Add ½ cup water and the lemon juice over cover and cook for 10 – 15 minutes.

Meanwhile make the rice with three cups of water.

Cut pita into ½ inch squares toast in oven till gold in color. Put in a bowl and sprinkle olive oil and set aside. In a small pan sauté pine nuts in a bit of oil or butter, set aside.

Mix the yogurt together with ½ tsp salt and ½ cup water.

In a large serving bowl layer the rice then the spinach and the yogurt over. Add the toasted bread and pine nuts over, and sprinkle with red chili pepper and serve immediately.

Serves 4