Potato Kibbe (Potato & Bulgur Pie)

Got this delicious recipe from a fantastic cookbook, "Classic Vegetarian Cooking From The Middle East and North Africa". It's a mashed potato and bulgur dish with a layer of sauteed onions and almonds in the middle layer. I think mine could have been crisper and browner on the top but I was so impatient to eat that I have burnt roof of mouth as result!


Served with a lemon garlic sauce (vegan mayo, lemon juice, garlic, salt, parsley).

Fatayer bi Sabanakh

My post earlier about Mediterranean food made me want some! The fatayer (spinach pies) I had at the restaurant were so good that I wanted to try it out myself at home. Got this recipe from a wonderful book "Classic Vegetarian Cooking From The Middle East and N. Africa". The book asks for pizza dough so I looked no further than Trader Joe's for their pre-made pizza doughs. Worked out perfectly! They were delicious and not as tart (from lemon) as the ones I had at Gaby's. I didn't mind though. They were chewy and crisp on the outside and really lovely inside. Steamy spinach, nuts (in my case almonds because I didn't have pine nuts), onions, sumac and a touch of lemon.


Inside shot.


With a side of baby lettuce salad with balsamic vinaigrette. Perfect summer dining on the patio.

Vegetable Tagine and PB & Pickle Sandwich

When I have lots of produce to use up, I like to find a recipe that utilzes them all in one pot. This vegetable tagine was the perfect thing. I based it off the recipe in 'Classic Veg.Cooking from the Middle East and N. Africa' and added tomato sauce, ras al hanout, coriander and a little water. I garnished with lemon slices and green olives stuffed with chiles.


Served with bread and sweet pickles. All the vegetables cooked away in the hot dutch oven which resulted in a meltingly tender melange. I used eggplant, zucchini, carrots, onions, peppers, potatoes and chickpeas.


Just wanted to show you my "snack of the moment". I used to read Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries quite a lot and the main character Kinsey Millhone had several foods that she ate all the time. One of them was a peanut butter and pickle sandwich. I thought it was a genius idea. I don't remember if in the novels she used sweet or dill pickles but I prefer the sweet 'bread and butter' pickles. You might be cringing right now at the combination but don't knock it till you try it!

Tofu Scramble and Penne with Roasted Vegetables and Tunisian Pesto

For breakfast, I made a delicious tofu scramble with cremini mushrooms and red onions. Served with a blob of ketchup and HP sauce!


I'm going to a potluck today so I decided to make penne with roasted veggies and pesto. I used this tunisian style pesto that I got from a wonderful book, 'Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa'. It's a delicious blend of fresh parsley, basil, almonds (I used walnuts), olive oil, garlic, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), oregano, cayenne and parmesan (I used a vegan parmesan substitute). I added a squeeze of lemon for some brightness.


Tossed with the penne and roasted veggies. How festive!

Chickpea and Bulgur Patties (Kibbet Hummus)

Recipe from "Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and N. Africa" cookbook. Golden brown patties of chickpeas, bulgur, onions, cilantro, garlic and spices fried in olive oil. These were pretty good. Next time though I might cut back on the bulgur and use more chickpeas. A very carb-errific lunch!


And just to up the carb content even more, I made baked fries to go with it.

Fool Nabed (Egyptian Fava Bean Soup)

On an impulse, I threw a bag of dry, skinned fava beans into the crockpot at 10pm last night. Had no idea what I was going to do with them nor how they would turn out the next morning. At about 8am, they were really overcooked and in tiny bits. Couldn't do much with them except make a soup.


Found this Egyptian Fava Bean soup recipe in my "Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The MIddle East & N. Africa" cookbook. I pureed the bean bits and heated them up with cumin, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I had a little bowl for breakfast. Creamy and very flavorful! Will have this again at dinner with some whole wheat pita.

Here's the recipe: http://www.sudairy.com/mer/recipes/fulnabed.html
I used the skinned fava beans so I didn't need to skin them. Sometimes you'll find the brown fava beans which are the beans with the skin on.

Eggplant Chickpea Stew, Russian Salad and Lemon Cake

Munazalit Bathinjan or Eggplant and Chickpea Stew from "Classic Vegetarian Recipes from The Middle East and N. Africa". Origin of this recipe: Lebanon and Syria. It's wonderful both hot and at room temperature and served with pita and/or quinoa.


I made this delicious Russian Salad (from The Olive and The Caper cookbook) a few weekends ago and made it again today. It has potatoes, green beans, carrots, peas, baby lima beans and lemon caper mayo. This time I added lots of fresh dill.


Lemon cake!

VeganMoFo: Mini Meze

Meze = a selection of small dishes

My husband and I like to do this every so often for dinner. It's fun to just have an assortment of things to dip bread and vegetables into. Don't have to slave over a stove or put anything in the oven. I whipped up some hummus yesterday so all I had to do today was prepare za'atar in olive oil and make a second dip. Since I used my new favorite book yesterday, I didn't want to miss another chance to use it again. I looked in the "Appetizers" section and found an eggplant dip that looked good. This eggplant dip is called Bathinjan Mfasakh in arabic and the recipe originates from Syria and Lebanon. It was very easy to prepare. I just needed to salt the eggplant and drain it for a while and then quickly saute in olive oil until browned. Then I mashed it all up and added vegan yogurt, garlic, dried mint, salt and pepper. YUM-MEE. We used whole wheat pita and fresh cucumber for dipping. For drinks we shared a Gingerberry kombucha.


Closeup of the eggplant dip.

VeganMoFo: Spaghetti, Tunisian-Style

Last night's dinner was wonderful! I got to open up my Classic Vegetarian Cooking from The Middle East and North Africa cookbook that I've only used twice before. I love this book. I take it everywhere with me, to my room, the living room, kitchen, studio...just to flip through it for inspiration. Yesterday I decided on a recipe and luckily I had almost every ingredient. The book says that according to some modern food writers, pasta in the Arab lands has an ancient history and may have been invented in Mesopotamia where it traveled to China via traders and onwards to Italy by Marco Polo. This particular dish though may be of Italian origin, brought to Tunisia by Italian settlers. It is very similar to italian pesto but the ingredients are different. The sauce is a blend of almonds, fresh parsley, basil, garlic, olive oil, butter (I used Earth Balance margarine), dried oregano, cayenne, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (I used a vegan blend of cashews, miso paste and nutritional yeast). A very delicious sauce paired with spaghetti. I squeezed lemon on top of my pasta for a bright finish. Husband gave this two thumbs up. It's a keeper!

Simple Lunch and Moroccan Tagine Dinner

I wanted to eat my lunch on our backyard patio today. I kept it simple with freshly made hummus, cucumber salad, Trader Joe's spinach pizza and pita for dipping. It was perfect.


I enjoyed it all with Reed's Cherry Ginger Brew.




Dinner was a little more complicated only because I did a lot of chopping. I based this stew off of the Vegetable Tagine recipe from 'Classic Vegetarian Recipes from The Middle East and N. Africa' cookbook. It has loads of things in it: sweet potato, carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, yellow pepper, eggplant, zucchini, chickpeas, black and green olives, cilantro, cumin, cinnamon and a bit of tomato sauce and water for some sauciness. This tagine requires you to bake it covered in the oven for about an hour and a half. I served it with healthy brown rice because I didn't have any couscous. Delicious! The flavors melded so well.


Very satisfying stew.

Egyptian Lentil Soup

I'm so used to making lentil soup with split red lentils that I wanted a break from it to cook with brown lentils. I found the perfect recipe for egyptian lentil soup from a new cookbook I just acquired called 'Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa'. As most of you know, I love middle eastern flavors so this soup was right up my alley. It's dead simple but richly flavored with cumin, garlic, onions and lemon juice. The recipe requires an extra step at the end of adding fried onions as a garnish on top of the soup but I wanted to save my fat and calorie count. This is my soup o' the week and I'll be having it for dinner every day after work. Yum!