Mujaddara

People in our region tend to include meat and poultry in their everyday diet. Moreover, meat and poultry tend to be the main ingredient of almost every meal. This healthy delicious meal substitutes animal protein with plant protein coming from brown lentils. This is one of my favourite dishes. It is filling and delicious. It is suitable for summer days as well as those cold winter days. It goes really well with natural yogurt, a salad and some pickles. Try it and enjoy the wonderful taste!

Mujaddara Recipe

(Serves: 3-4 people )

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried brown lentils
• 1 cup white rice
• 2 medium sized chopped onions
• 3 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2-3 cups water
• 1 tsp cumin

Instructions

1. Rinse lentils with cold water.
2. In a medium sized pot add the lentils and the water and bring to boil.
3. Cover the pot, turn the heat down to simmer until lentils are tender but not mushy. (stir occasionally) add salt and cumin. 
4. Wash rice and add it to lentils. Add water to cover the rice and cook on low heat until the water is gone.
5. In a saucepan saute onions in olive oil until completely softened and caramelised.
6. Add half of the caramelised onions into cooked lentils and rice. Use the other half to top your dish before serving.
7. Serve with natural yoghurt and salad.

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Fava Beans with Rice

Have you got bored cooking same food for dinner? Do you feel like trying something new but not sure what? This is an easy, healthy and filling recipe. It consists of only few ingredients but is rich with nutrients. If your kids are picky eaters when it comes to eating green stuff, this is a great recipe that they will happily eat, and maybe even help cutting the Fava beans to smaller pieces.

And the best part is that Fava beans are now in season! - but can purchased canned or dried throughout the year!

Green beans with meat (Fava beans) Recipe

(Serves: 3-4 people)

Ingredients

• 1 kg fresh green beans (Fava beans)
• 300 gr lean meat (beef or lamb)
• 10-15 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp old spices
• 4-5 tbsp vegetable oil
• water

Instructions

1. In a medium sized pot heat the oil, add small cube pieces of meat until brown.
2. Add Fava beans and garlic, stir fry until beans become brighter in colour.
3. Add salt, pepper, tomato paste, old spice and enough water to cover meat and fava beans.
4. Cover the pot and bring to boil. Simmer for 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked and sauce is thickened.
5. Serve with white or brown rice.

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Sweet Potato Casserole

English

وصفة صحية وسهلة التحضير…

طريقة تحضير كاسيرول البطاطا الحلوة مع المارشميلو

المكونات

• ٣ حبات بطاطا حلوة مقشرة ومسلوقة
• ١/٤ كوب زبدة + ملعقة كبيرة زبدة ذائبة
• ١/٤ كوب سكر مطحون + ملعقة كبيرة سكر مطحون
• ١/٤ كوب حليب
• بيضة
• ١/٢ ملعقة صغيرة فانيلا
• ١/٤ ملعقة صغيرة ملح
• ١ و ١/٤ كوب كورن فليكس
• ١/٣ كوب جوز مقطع
• ملعقة صغيرة قرفة
• كوب مارشميلو صغير

طريقة التحضير

• نسخن الفرن إلى ١٨٠ درجة وندهن القالب بالزيت.
• نهرس البطاطا بواسطة شوكة ونضيف ١/٤ كوب الزبدة والبيضة والحليب والفانيلا والملح ونخلط جيداً.
• في وعاء آخر نطحن الكورن فليكس ونضيف الجوز والقرفة وملعقة السكر وملعقة الزبدة ومن ثم نخلط.
• ننقل خليط البطاطا المهروسة إلى وعاء ممكن وضعه إلى الفرن ومن ثم نغلف خليط البطاطا بخليط الكورن فليكس.
• نضع الوعاد بالفرن لمدة ٢٠-٣٠ دقيقة. ثم نضيف المارشميلو ونضع الوعاء بالفرن لمدة ٥ دقائق.

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White Cheese Pastries

White cheese pastries or Fatayer Jebneh in Arabic are widely known and loved by adults and kids alike in the Arab countries. These pastries are great to be served as appetisers, weekend brunch, or picnic snacks.

I baked mine using feta cheese, but any salty cheese you like would do! You can also use different flavourings, for example add cilantro, parsley, mint leaves, nigella seeds...

White cheese pastries Recipe
"Fatayer Jebneh"

Ingredients

• Dough:
• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast mixed with a little bit of warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar
• a pinch of salt
• sesame seeds (optional)
• 
  
• Filling:
• 1 1/2 cups feta cheese or any other salty cheese
• 1/4 cup minced parsley (If you don't like parsley substitute with nigella seeds/black cumin)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°.
2. Gently mix instant yeast with warm water and sugar in a cup (yeast should become bubbly, if it doesn't it means that it has gone bad and you should replace it with another package).
3. In a medium sized bowl mix feta cheese with the minced parsley and/or nigella seeds. Put aside.
4. In another bowl mix the dough ingredients and blend well. Leave the dough for 30 minutes to rest in a warm place and cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap (it should double in size).
5. Cut the dough into egg sized balls and cover again with a clean towel or plastic wrap and let them rest for 10 minutes.
6. Roll each dough ball into oval shape then add filling to the centre.
7. Fold the dough to cover the filling and press the edges to seal it.
8. You can brush the pasties with some olive oil or an egg to give them a golden colour when they bake. Sprinkle the tops with sesame seeds (optional)
9. Bake in the oven until the tops are golden.

Serve with sweet mint or green tea!

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