Sautéed Dandelion Greens [Elet]

categories: Posts, Recipes, Vegetables & Sides

Dandelion Greens

Last week, during my weekly visit to see my Tayta, she pulled out some sautéed greens, Elet (علت) and a few pita rounds. I hadn’t had Elet in a very long time and was really excited to share a plate with her. As we were sopping up the greens with pita bread, I asked for her recipe and diligently took notes (in my notes app), but I had one problem. I had to figure out what Elet was in English. After sending a couple WhatsApp messages to my cousins in Amman, I found that those delicious sautéed greens were actually dandelion greens. Sounds weird, right?

When I think Dandelions, I think those yellow flowers that grow between the grass and weeds. The ones I used to pick out to make makeshift flower bouquets for my mom. (more…)

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Dreamy Date Coconut Smoothie

categories: Beverages, Posts, Recipes

Dreamy Date Coconut Smoothie_2

Back in April, I was in Amman and had the very fortunate luck to try out Seed Healthy, a health food shop specializing in juices, smoothies, and organic food. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t luck. I had been following Seed Healthy on Instagram for a while and just had to check it out. I’m so happy I did because I tried the most delicious date smoothie, and took one to go for my mom. (more…)

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Rosemary Green and Black Olive Bread

categories: Breads, Posts, Recipes
Rosemary Green and Black Olive bread
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I love olives.

As a matter of fact, I find it downright offensive that restaurants want to charge you upwards of $5 for a small bowl (bowl is a generous description, it’s more like a soy sauce-sized bowl) of olives. Crazy right? I mean olives are such a staple of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diets. We have at least two massive jars full of green and black olives. And I frequent Wegman’s olive bar at least once a month. They have these green olives stuffed with all sorts of things. I’m talking cheese, garlic, almonds (those are my fave).

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Spiced Cardamom Cake

categories: Desserts, Posts, Recipes

Cardamom Cake

I just can’t believe summer has come to an end already! It seems like it just wasn’t long enough this year. I mean, really … where did summer go? We’ve just crossed the Labor Day Weekend threshold (the Official End of Summer, at least that’s when all the swimming pools close), and my tan game slowly degraded as summer went on. In my defense, that’s because I was busing filling my weekends up with adventures of the non-culinary type. I had my fair share of BBQs, laying by the pool, and sitting outdoors basking the summer evenings, shisha in hand.

So for summer to end so abruptly (and yes, I will say abruptly since even Labor Day Weekend was rainy and cooled off so much it was almost too cold to swim) was such a disappointment. (more…)

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Mediterranean Kafta Burgers

categories: Beef, Posts, Recipes

Mediterranean Kafta Burgers

It’s a little later than midsummer and my tan game has been going strong. Okay, it’s actually been fairly weak in comparison to past years, but with Ramadan falling smack-dab in the middle of summer it really put a dent in my tanning plans. Not to mention, it’s been pretty rainy overall. Not ideal for catching those much sought after rays. I still have another solid month before I declare summer officially over and I’m going to take full advantage with pool and beach time, and BBQs, of course. (more…)

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Lemon Spiced Middle Eastern Style Popcorn

categories: Posts, Recipes, Snacks

Lemon Spiced Middle Eastern Style Popcorn_

I have this obsession with popcorn. This wasn’t always the case, but over the years, I’ve developed this serious obsession with light, crunchy, slightly salty (usually white cheddar flavored) popcorn. My mom used to make popcorn almost weekly. She’d mix some dry corn kernels with vegetable oil  in a pot over the oven and I’d wait around the kitchen listening to the kernels popping against the sides of the pot. Sometimes, the popcorn would overflow onto the stove. She’d toss the popcorn with salt, and I’d run off to watch my favorite TV show with a bowl of mom’s simple stovetop popcorn. (more…)

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