Onions

Warm Caramelized Onion Dip

Warm Caramelized Onion Dip

I love caramelized onions {pronounced car-melized, but I guess some people say caramel-ized. It must be my Michigan showing}. I have very vivid memories of my mom in the kitchen caramelizing onions for Mujaddra and sayyadiyeh — a fried fish and rice dish. Despite the fact that she’d close the kitchen door, I could always smell the sweet scent of those onions seeping through the cracks in the door. I’d even sneak in and steal a taste after she scooped them out of the pan. The best part, she always made extra so we could add as much as we wanted to our plates at dinner. (more…)

Garlic Yogurt Chicken Salad

Rotisserie Chicken and Garlic Yogurt Salad

We’re keeping it simple today with Garlic Yogurt Chicken Salad. No fuss, no mess, no extra dishes. I just haven’t had the time to deal with complicated dishes.

I’ve been MIA on the blog front for the last two weeks. While no excuse is a good enough excuse, I have to tell you guys what I’ve been working on. It’s been a combination of social overscheduling, craziness at work, and working on some new additions to the blog. (more…)

6 Ingredient Fresh Mushroom Soup

Fresh Mushroom Soup

I’ve been fueling my soup obsession with every kind of vegetable soup imaginable. My goal is to make soups that require little ingredients, little time, and little (okay fine, lower) calories by leaving out the cream. A few months ago, when I featured videos on my Instagram Story of my mushroom soup, a few friends reached out asking for the recipe. At that time, I had sent over a rough recipe of my soup. But the more people asked for the recipe, the more I realized I needed to get it up on the blog. This Fresh Mushroom Soup has just 6 simple ingredients, and while I prefer my soup pureed, a chunkier soup would also be delicious. (more…)

Iraqi Breakfast: Bagila bil Dihin [Fried Eggs over Broad Beans]

Who loves breakfast? I love breakfast! As a matter of fact, I love it so much I look forward to huge weekend breakfasts – Brunch, if you may. Usually because by the time I wake up, make coffee and get started in the kitchen, we don’t eat until somewhere around Noon or 1pm.

I’m trying something new and completely out of my zone: Iraqi breakfast. Yes, it’s a little different. Iraqis have a couple dishes that aren’t quite like the Palestinian ones I’m used to [see below for my faves]. One of which is Bagila bil Dihin. It sounds like a heart attack, since the translation is “beans with fat.” In reality, it’s just Fried Eggs over Broad Beans over soaked pita bread and topped with hot oil. Bagila is the Iraqi word for beans, broad beans or lava beans to be exact. Aside from Bagila bil Dihin, they also have a sweet dish Kahi and Geymar. What is it exactly? It’s layers of flaky pastry drowned in a sweet syrup topped with clotted cream. I used the recipe from Sara over at Add A Little Lemon. It’s delicious and super easy to follow. Trust me, you’ll love it with some freshly brewed tea.

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Sautéed Dandelion Greens [Elet]

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…)

Mediterranean Kafta Burgers

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…)