Vegetables & Sides

Skillet Chickpeas

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

 

Monday night, my dinner situation was a mess. Let me start off by saying that my commute home was what started the domino that affected my night. My 30 minute commute took me an hour and 15 minutes. I was stuck in traffic with people who don’t know how to drive and thought they could get around the traffic and weasel themselves in front of me. I was practically at a standstill. Perfect. Just how I wanted to spend my Monday night. When I got to the source, there was no source. It was an obvious case of stupidity and inability to merge in high-traffic zones – whoever started this was obviously from out of town and had no experience whatsoever driving in and out of the city. Tourist season is over – or so I thought.

After using colorful words, shaking my head and waving my hands around in frustration of the subpar drivers around me, I finally made it home. My frustrations were not easily subsided.

I had been thinking about my baked chicken and Tuscan beans and couldn’t wait to have them for dinner. I started all the prep, put the chickens in the oven, started the mix for the beans and began sautéing the garlic. Then I went to get my white beans. They were nowhere to be found. I looked everywhere – I don’t have a large kitchen or a large pantry for that matter. I even got other family members involved searching the top shelves. Then came the questions, “Are you sure you bought them?” Am I sure I bought them?! Of course I did! I remember spending almost 15 minutes in the beans aisle searching for them and was so excited when I found them. They had to be here somewhere. We spent 20 minutes searching and nothing turned up. I was starting to think I was going crazy.

[Update: I found the white beans. They were sitting next to the other cans of beans.]

I gave up, and subbed the white beans for chickpeas and then heated the whole thing up and ended up with a completely different dish. At least the chicken turned out.

 

Skillet Chickpeas

Ingredients

2 cans Chickpeas
½ Red Onion, chopped
2 small Roma Tomatoes, chopped
Basil, dried
Garlic Salt
Lemon Juice
2 cloves Garlic, smashed
 

Directions

Sauté garlic with olive oil spray
In a bowl, mix together red onion, tomatoes, chick peas and basil
Add lemon juice
Pour mix into a large skillet and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, add Garlic Salt and stir.

Snack Time

categories: Posts, Recipes, Snacks, Vegetables & Sides

A week or so ago, I was told we may have some friends over for dinner. So, of course, the planner that I am I made a menu and a list then went grocery shopping. It was the week before their wedding, so they weren’t able to make it – so I had some herbed goat cheese and Endives laying around which I had planned to use for an appetizer.

Not really sure what to do with endives, other than slip them in with some mixed greens on a salad, I made my appetizer anyway and served it while dinner was cooking in the oven.

 

 

 

Endive and Herbed Goat Cheese Appetizer Recipe

Ingredients

1 Endive (or more if you’d like)
3 Tablespoons Herbed Goat Cheese
¼ cup Chopped Walnuts

 

Directions

Wash the endives, peel apart carefully and dry on paper towels.
Mix together chopped walnuts and herbed goat cheese until mixed well.
Arrange endives on a plate, place a small piece of goat cheese on the end of each endive leaf.
Using the goat cheese walnut mixture, form a loose ball with your hands and place in the middle of the plate. Serve with crackers. 

Koussa Mahshe Bel Laban (Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce)

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

Koussa Mahshe Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce

I love yogurt, and cheese. Actually, I love most dairy, but mostly cheese. Yogurt comes in at a close second. Some Middle Eastern foods (mostly from Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon) focus on dishes with yogurt. Most famously, Fatteh is topped with a garlicky yogurt and crunchy homemade pita chips. Some of these yogurt-based dishes include cooked yogurt. It’s really hard to explain without giving you the full recipe, but I promise you cooked yogurt is absolutely delicious. One of my favorites is Jordanian Mansaf (a traditional dish that calls for yogurt derived from goat milk and lamb). It’s served over lots of rice and large chunks of lamb meat. It’s heaven on a plate. It requires a little more work than what we (palestinians) call Labaniyeh, which is cooked yogurt with corn starch.

Koussa Mahshe Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce

There are a couple steps to this dish, but they’re all fairly simple. The nice thing about the yogurt is that you can use it for stuffed zucchini, as well as kubbeh.

Koussa Mahshe Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce

Koussa Mahshe Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce

Print
Koussa Mahshe Bel Laban (Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

    For the Zucchini
  • 8 Small Light Green Zucchini
  • ½ cup Vegetable Oil for frying
  • Very thin Vegetable Corer
    • For the Stuffing
  • 1 lb Ground Beef
  • 1 medium Onion, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon Vegetable oil
  • 2 tablespoon Seven Spice
  • Salt to taste
    • For the Yogurt
  • 4 cups Plain Yogurt
  • 2 Egg Whites, beaten until frothy
  • 4 tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 2-3 cups waster
  • 1 tablespoon Cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon Nutmeg

Instructions

    For the Zucchini
  1. Remove the insides of the zucchini without piercing the sides or the bottom.
  2. Discard the insides (or save them for soup later)
  3. Fry the cored zucchini in vegetable oil until it is browned and slightly soft on all sides, about 5-7 minutes
  4. Let the zucchini cool
  5. Stuff the zucchini with the meat stuffing, making sure to push the stuffing all the way down, and leave about 1/8 inch from the opening of the zucchini, and set aside
    6. For the Stuffing
  6. Heat the vegetable oil, add the onion and cook until translucent
  7. Add ground beef, and cook until browned, stir.
  8. Season the meat with salt and seven spice.
  9. If you want your stuffing very finely chopped, place the meat mixture into the food processor and blend for 15 seconds.
    10. For the Yogurt
  10. Place yogurt in a heavy saucepan.
  11. Blend egg whites into the yogurt.
  12. Add cornstarch
  13. Stir in the same direction until well blended
  14. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly until it comes to a boil
  15. Once yogurt boils, lower the heat.
  16. Add water, cinnamon and nutmeg
  17. Carefully add in the zucchini and bring to boil
  18. Once boiling, turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes
Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by Yummly Rich Recipes
https://www.measuringcupsoptional.com/koussa-mahshe-bel-laban/

 

 

  •  Comments Off on Koussa Mahshe Bel Laban (Stuffed Zucchini in Yogurt Sauce)

Special Request: Fattet Betenjan

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

Apparently, I’m taking requests for recipes now. Today’s request comes from my very best friend who’s been searching for the recipe for Fattet Betenjan (literally translated to Eggplant Crumbles) since she tasted it at a party. It’s a fairly easy dish and can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. Some people add ground beef to their Fatteh. My version is vegetarian.

 

 

Ingredients

Arabic Bread (aka Pita Bread)
2 Cloves Garlic
1/2 cup Pine Nuts
1 can Chickpeas, drained
2 cups Plain Yogurt
4 large (or 6 small) Eggplants
Vegetable Oil
 

Directions

Cut the bread into small squares, and fry in vegetable oil until lightly browned.
Cut the eggplant into squares and lightly salt. Let stand for 10-15 minutes.
Fry the eggplant in the same oil used for the bread, add more oil if necessary.
Fry the pine nuts in the same oil.
In a bowl, mix plain yogurt with 2 cloves garlic, whisk until combined well.
In a deep serving dish, layer as follows: Eggplant, Bread, Chickpeas, Yogurt, Pine Nuts

Dinner for One: Spiced Chickpea and Zucchini Sauté

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides


Tonight is girls night – and by girls night, I mean quality time with me, myself, and I. On a night like tonight, I’d probably be found at the mall or doing some online shopping. However, in an attempt to avoid shopping both at the mall and online, I thought why not cook myself an easy dish and give myself an at-home spa treatment? My at-home spa treatment is fairly simple: deep conditioning, manicure, and pedicure. Some spa, huh.

You either love her or hate her – Martha Stewart. Although, you have to admit she’s got the whole Suzy Homemaker thing down to a science, and a phenomenal business marketing plan. She has some great ideas, I’ll admit. This Spiced Chickpea and Zucchini Sauté  caught my eye. It would make an interesting side dish on any other day, but today, I’ve made it a meal.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Canola Oil
1 large Onions, diced
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
8 Plum Tomatoes, chopped
2 cans (15 1/2 ounces each) Chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
Coarse Salt and Ground Pepper
 

Directions

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium.
Add onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 5 to 8 minutes.
Add garlic, coriander, and cumin; cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes, chickpeas, zucchini, and 1/2 cup water; season with salt and pepper.
Cover skillet; simmer mixture over medium-high heat, stirring, until zucchini is tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, as desired, and serve.

Note: I found that adding 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce adds just enough spicy flavor.

Servings = 4