Tabouli
Known as the staple salad of Lebanon, Tabouli may be eaten with grape leaves, cabbage leaves, romaine or head lettuce on the side. Burghul is crushed whole wheat found in Middle Eastern sections of grocery stores. For gluten free diets, quinoa can replace burghul.
2 tablespoons Burghul, #1
2 tablespoons water
4 plum tomatoes (diced)
1/3 cup yellow onion (diced)
3 green onions (chopped)
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 bunches parsley (finely chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
¼ cup lemon juice, or 1 lemon
½ cup olive oil
- Soak Burghul in water for 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, yellow and green onions, black pepper, and parsley. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
- Add salt, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix gently with hands and serve.
Serves 4
How to c
lean and chop parsley:
Gather sprigs of parsley into a bunch and secure stems with a rubber band. Dip in a large bowl of clean water swirling parsley around to remove dirt. Shake off liquid. Refill bowl with clean water and repeat process again 3 times. Place bunch on towel to dry for 30 minutes. To chop, place bunch on cutting board and cut stems above rubber band. Hold parsley tightly while carefully chopping into fine pieces.
When serving Hummus as a side dish, pour in a shallow dish with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle Paprika on top. It can also be used as a dip with baked pita chips on the side. If you are using two 15 oz. cans garbanzo beans to substitute for dried, drain and skip to Step 3.
½ cup dried garbanzo beans
1 large clove garlic, mashed
Dash of salt
¼ cup lemon juice
5 tablespoons Tahini
- Soak the beans in 3 cups water overnight.
- Drain and place in a medium saucepan with 5 cups water. Bring to boil, skimming foam build up and skins that float to the surface. Simmer covered for 40 minutes until tender. Drain.
- In a blender, add beans and remaining ingredients. Process until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.
Yields 2 cups
Baklava
Baklava comes in many shapes and sizes and is available with a variety of nut fillings in bakeries and grocery stores. The following recipe is the traditional
diamond shaped baklava.
2 lbs. chopped walnut or pistachio
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons orange blossom water
2 sticks unsalted sweet cream butter, melted
1 package Filo dough (at room temperature)
2 cups cold Ater (Sugar Syrup)
- In a small bowl combine walnuts, sugar and orange blossom water. Set aside.
- Measure Filo dough and cut length and width according to size of pan measurements 15x10. Count the number of sheets and divide by two, one half to use on bottom of nut mixture and the second half to use on top. Cover Filo with a towel to keep from drying out.
- Place one Filo sheet on bottom of buttered pan. Brush with butter by starting at the edges and working towards the middle. Layer the next
Filo sheet and brush with butter. Continue layering the first half of Filo sheets in this manner. - Spread walnut mixture evenly and press down with back of spoon.
- Repeat layering the second half of Filo sheets by brushing each with butter.
- Cut diagonally into 2 inch diamond shapes.
- Bake at 325° for 40 minutes. Turn down temperature to 300° and continue baking for 20 minutes longer.
- Cool completely and pour Ater evenly over baklava.
Yields 42 diamonds