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I would like to thank dear blogger Kitchen Flavours/Yummy Food Blog, for passing this award to me and to 9 nine other fellow bloggers.
I myself would like to pass to 10 other blogs and they are:
- Culinary Couture
- Passionate about Baking
- Canary Girl
- Farida's Azerbaijani Cookbook
- Hooked On Heat
- Fig & Cherry
- Mimi Cooks
- Ya Salam Cooking
- The Left Over Queen
- Food Stories
And now the awarded bloggers can kindly pass it to 10 other blogs :)

PS; For some reason blogger.com is not showing the links that I've added to the winning blogs. I guess it's a small problem that it might get fixed soon, however all these blogs and their links are on my list of favorites (right bottom of my blog) so the links are working from there. Sorry about that, hope it'll be fixed soon!
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This is a very easy and healthy spinach recipe.

Serves 4-5

Ingredients:
1 big bunch of fresh Spinach, chopped (or frozen, canned etc..)
1/3 cup pine nuts
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/3 cup of olive oil
1 tsp allspice
Juice of a lemon
1 tsp tomato sauce
1 cup of lean minced meat
1 1/2 cups of water
Salt & pepper to taste

- In the cooking pot, add onions, olive oil, garlic, pine nuts and cook for about a minute, then add the minced meat, salt, pepper & allspice. When the meat is cooked, add the spinach. Turn the heat to low and let the spinach cook for few minutes then add the water, tomato sauce and let it all slow cook for another 12 minutes. Add the lemon juice in the last 5 minutes. Serve with rice cooked with vermicelli (the rice recipe is already posted with the red beans/chilli recipe).
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Stuffed Zucchini are usually accompanied by stuffed grape leaves, but since I already posted the stuffed grape leaves in tomato sauce, I've decided to give credit to the bellpepper this time ;)
Serves 4-5
1 pound of small zucchini
3 green bellpepper
1 can of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon of butter
A couple of bay leaves and a couple of cinnamon sticks
About 4 cups of water

Filling:
1 cup of white long or short grain rice
1/2 pound of minced meat
1 small tomato
1 onion
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon of salt

- Wash the rice and drain then put in a bowl. Dice the tomato and onion and add to the bowl, then add the minced meat and the spices as well as salt and mix the ingredients together.
- Cut the heads of the zucchini and empty them (there is a special tool that empties zucchini, usually dounf in middle eastern stores). Wash hem and turn them upside down to drain. Now, cut the in a way to make it look like having a lid (as it shows in the photo, don't completely detach the lid. Empty the inside, then wash them and let them drain too, then start stuffing the bellpepper and zucchini. Allow room for the rice to expand, so stuff them for about halfway each. Transfer the stuffed vegetables to the cooking pot adding the water, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves. Cook on medium-high for about 15 minutes, remove the white foam that comes out of them. When the water is half way evaporated, add the tomato sauce and the spoon of butter and reduce the heat and cook for about another 15 minutes. If you feel that the sauce needs to be more thickened, then stir 1 teaspoon of flour in a 1/3 of a cup of water and add while stirring the sauce. Serve with any king of salad or with plain yogurt. (Don't forget to remove the bay leaves and the cinnamon sticks before serving).
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Finally I'm back!!!! Gosh it's been a long vacation, but now I'm back to cooking and blogging!
Fatteh is a dish that has fried or toasted bread in it, as well as plain yogurt (or as we call it: Laban). We have several kinds of Fatteh not only in Lebanon but in the Arab world too, like Eggplant Fatteh, Chicken Fatteh etc... This one that I choose today has no meat in it, it has whole chickpeas (or hommos as we call it).
This recipe serves 4-5
Ingredients:
1 can of chickpeas (about 400g) (or soak chickpeas overnight then cook them)
1 container of plain yogurt (about 900g)
Flat bread (about 3)
Vegetable oil
2 handful of pine nuts
2 tablespoons of crushed fresh garlic
1 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

- Put some vegetable oil in the pan and fry the bread until it's golden, then remove and transfer to a paper towel to drain. (Another option for less calories, is to brush the bread with olive oil and toast it in the oven or microwave). Once the bread cools off, break it into medium pieces and place in the serving dish. Add the chickpeas on top. In a pan, place about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, garlic and pine nuts and roast them until brown, add salt & pepper to taste. Now add some salt to the yogurt and stir then add it on top of the toasted bread and the chickpeas. Then add the roasted garlic and pine nuts, then sprinkle the parsley on top and serve immediately while the bread is still crunchy.
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Being in Lebanon for the last few weeks has been keeping me from posting recipes. Time just flies here and I am not cooking during my vacation, but I will cook and post some recipes very soon and while I'm still here. Meanwhile, here's a photo of a kind of Lebanese sweet that we were having the other night after dinner with some friends. It's called "KARABEEJ", these are pistachios stuffed cookies like "Maamoul" and you dip them with a specially prepared cream called "NATEF". This kind of dipping cream is not easy to make at home, I would say very difficult to get the main ingredient to prepare it called "soapwart", so everybody here buys this kind of dessert or sweet, or if the cookies are prepared at home, the cream can be bought seperately from the sweet shops or Patisseries. I found a recipe on the net they call it "Karabeej Aleppo" so maybe the origin of this dessert came from Syria. Here's the recipe link just in case anybody would like to give it a try, the site is Discover Lebanon
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I want to thank "Ya Salam Cooking" blogger Noor for passing this award to me, and now I would like to pass it to seven other fantastic blogs and sites:
- Leftover Queen
- Farida's Azerbaijani Cookbook
- Canary Girl
- Culinary Couture
- Fig and Cherry
- Mediterranen Cooking in Alaska
Fellow awarded bloggers please pass it to 7 or more blogs or sites.
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The recipe of preparing hommus is already listed among my previous recipe. Now for the meat and pine nuts topping you'll need:
- Lean minced meat (1 cup)
- Pine nuts (about 1/3 cup)
- Olive oil (or vegetabl oil, which ever you like, about 2 tablespoons
- Finely chopped onions, about 2 tablespoons
- Salt & pepper to taste, and a pinch of allspice (optional)
In a skillet on medium-high, add oil and pine nuts. when the pine nuts start to brown, add the onions, mix and cook for about a minute then add the minced meat and mix them all together and keep cooking until the meat is fully cooked. Serve over the hommus along with pita bread.
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Meghli is a kind of Lebanese rice pudding prepared in special occasions especially when a baby is born. It is a tradition to serve it to guests and friends when they come to offer their congratulations. It is also served on Christmas Eve's dinner along with the Yule Log. Most people nowadays prepare it all the time not only on occasions.

Serves 7-8 (of the same size of the serving bowl shown in the photo)

Ingredients:
1 cup of rice flour
1 cup of sugar
8 cups of water
1 tbsp of ground caraway seeds
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground anis seeds

For the topping:
Raw almonds, pistachios, walnuts and coconut flakes.

In the cooking pot, add the cups of water, rice flour, whisk or stirr until desolved, then add the sugar until it desolves too. Bring to a boil, then reduce to medium heat. Add the spices: caraway, cinnamon, anis seeds. The pudding can easily stick so you can't leave it. Stirr until it thickens then transfer into the serving bowls and let it cool. Meanwhile, add water to the alomds and pistachios and let them sit until they soften (about half to an hour or so). Before serving the pudding, top it with coconut flakes, then almonds and pistachios then serve. Or you can decorate the bowls and leave them in the refrigerator.
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This is my easy version of Siyyadiyeh. The traditional version is a little bit more complicated and requires using whole fish, where you bake it and then remove the head and bones and boil them with water and spices to obtain fish broth. In this version, I make it with fish fillets and use ready fish broth. Therefore, I don't deal with bones nor a longer cooking time.

Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
1 pound of Whiting fish fillets (or Tilapia)
2 cups of white long rice
2 cups of fish broth (or any other broth you like)
2 onions, cut in half and sliced
1/2 cup of pine nuts
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of allspice
1/2 cup of Olive oil
1/2 cup of vegetable oil (I prefer canola)
Salt & pepper to taste

For the sauce:
1 teaspoon of butter
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of flour
1 cup of fish broth
Juice of half a lemon
Salt & pepper to taste

Take the fish fillets and coat them with a mixture of flour, cumin and salt & pepper, set them aside. In a pan, add the vegetable oil and cook the fish on both sides and let drain the oil on a paper towel.
In another pan, add olive oil and the onions. Cook the onions until they are brown. remove from the oil and add the pine nuts to the oil until golden then also remove and transfer on a paper towel to drain the oil.
- In a pot, add the 2 cups of fish broth bring to a boil and then add the browned onions, cook on medium for a couple of minutes and then add the rice with 2 cups of water. Then add the cumin, allspice, salt & pepper, and let it simmer and cook.
Meanwhile prepare the sauce, in a sauce pan, add the butter, then the flour, mix until the flour obtain the roue, then add the broth, cumin, lemon juice, salt, pepper, stir and bring to a boil until it thickens.
Serve the cooked rice with pine nuts on top as well as the fish fillets and top them with the sauce. Any salad is good with it too.

PS: You also have the option to bake or broil the fish fillets but then you skip the flour and cumin coating and you spice them and drizzle some olive oil.
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This is the Lebanese style of making Chili served over rice with vermicelli.

Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
1 onion chopped
Half a pound of lean stew meat
4 sliced cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of butter
2 cups of tomato sauce
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 cup of fresh cilantro
1 cup of red beans soaked overnight and cooked
1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

For the rice:
2 cups of white long grain rice
1/2 cup of vermicelli
1 teaspoon of butter
1 cup of meat stock or chicken bouillon (optional)

In a pan, add the chopped onions, butter, stew meat, salt and pepper. After the meat had browned and the onions cooked, add the garlic then cook for another few minutes then add 1 cup of water and the tomato sauce and slow cook the stew for 15 minutes. Add the beans and then the cilantro in addition to the lemon juice and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the stew is cooking you can prepare the rice:
In another pan, add butter then the vermicelli until they turn brown, then add the rice and 3 cups of water and 1 cup of stock, bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is cooked and the water is absorbed. (Do not stir the rice more then twice so it doesn't get lumpy).

Serve the Chili with the rice.
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I love dandelions! They are very healthy so when I see them at the store I can't help myself. The ones I found this time were very soft and not bitter at all so I decided to make a small fresh salad. This canm be served with pretty much any meal.

Ingredients (very simple):
Washed, drained and chopped dandelions, some chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil, half a teaspoon of sumac spice, salt & pepper to taste.

Place the chopped dandelions in a bowl, then add the tomatoes. I add the sumac spice along with the salt to the onion and mix them all together then add them to the salad. Drizzle the mixed olive oil and lemon juice, then finally add the black pepper.
2


There's nothing better than a simple smoothie after a long hot day!

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 cup of ice
1 cup of frozen watermelon
1 cup of frozen papaya
1 cup of fresh strawberries
1 6oz fat free vanilla yogurt

Put all the ingredients in a smoothie maker or a mixer, once everything is pureed together, pour into glasses and voila!
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This kind of Kibbeh is served as an appetizer, hot or room temperature. The ingredients are the same as the one I listed before the "baked Kibbeh". The difference is in the shape and the way they are cooked. These kibbeh balls are stuffed with meat, onions and pine nuts, same filling as the one listed in the "baked Kibbeh" recipe too. The kibbeh balls are fried and not baked. Deep fry them in vegetable oil until gold or brown, then set on a paper towel to drain for few minutes. Same way as frying Falafel.
They are very good with Hommus on the side. I personally like to dip them in Hommus.
1


Serves a crowd!
Ingredients:
About a 3 pound roast (Lamb or beef)
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
2 carrots peeled and chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1-2 big onions chopped
10 cloves of garlic, peeled only
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into medium cubes
1 celery stick, chopped
2 cinnamon sticks, 2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of allspice
1/3 cup of wine (optional)
1 teaspoon of salt (or to taste)

The vegetables need to be medium sized and not small or finely chopped because they need to cook with the roast and this will keep them from browning quickly and falling apart. And my technique is that I allow one minute between every ingredient, I don't like to dump everything all at once. So in a pot, add the oil, onions, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, celery and garlic add half the amount of salt and black pepper and cook for few minutes then add the roast, cinnamon sticks and bay leaves.(I usually rub the roast with a bit of salt and black pepper and let it sit for few minutes before I cook it). Once you've added the roast you want it to brown from all sides and absorb all the flavors. Here you can add the wine. Turn the roast every now and then until the sides are browned then you add 2 to 3 cups of water. Once you've added the water, add the rest of the spices, bring to a boil then reduce to medium-low and let it cook slowly. It would probably take about 2 hours maybe more depending on the meat.
Once the roast is cooked take it out of the pot and transfer into the cutting board. Now to obtain the gravy just put everything left in the pot in the mixer for a couple of minutes. I personally leave everything in the pot, take out the cinnamon sticks and the bay leaves and use the handy mixer for few minutes until all the chunks are gone. You'll obtain a thick gravy because of the potato and vegetables so no need to thicken it. After I obtain the gravy, I let it simmer for few minutes and then serve it with the roast.

Tips on how to serve this roast:
1- You can leave it as a whole on the cutting board and when it's time to eat, cut and serve with the gravy on the side.
2- Slice and put back in the sauce or gravy and simmer for few minutes and serve (I recommend this)
3- Slice some and serve on the side as cold cuts and put the rest in the gravy for variety.
4- Serve the roast with Basmati rice and nuts as shown in the photo or serve it with mashed potatoes and sauteed vegetables.

PS: Cooking the Basmati and toasting the nuts can be found in my previous recipes like the Chicken with rice recipe for example.
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I would like to take the opportunity to thanks all the dear food bloggers who are recommending my blog and coming back and visiting it. You are all making my day. I would like to thank Jenn, The Leftover Queen, for recommending my blog in her Finest Foodie Friday, Frida from Farida’s Azerbaijani Cookbook, for the Arte Y Pico Award and Deeba from Passionate about Baking for the You Make my Day Award. Thank you very much, I love you all!!!
5


Makes around 24-25 (I prefer to eyeball or use as much as the filling makes)

This recipe can be served with a green salad and plain yogurt.

Ingredients:
Grapes leaves (24 small or medium, half of that if the leaves are big cause you can cut in half)

Filling:
1 cup of lean minced meat
1 cup of chopped onions or shallots
1/3 cup of small diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of plain white rice
1 teaspoon of allspice
Salt & pepper to taste

2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of flour to be mixed with some water. 2 Cinnamon sticks.

- In a bowl, add the minced meat, onions, tomatoes, wash the rice and drain and add to the bowl too, add the spices and mix the ingredients together.
- If the grape leaves are fresh, soak them in hot water for half an hour, then drain.
- If you are using the ones from the jar, soak in tab water for few minutes, then drain and use. To start filling, take the leaf and spread it on the surface you're using, cut the stem, take a teaspoon or less depending on the size of the leaf and place the filling a bit before the center, fold the sides toward the center and roll tight. In order for them to unravel and fall apart while cooking, I tie them up together. I place three stuffed grape leaves, then two on top, then another one or two like forming a triangle, I tie them up together with a string and place in the pan, add the water and tomato paste, cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil, add the flour mixed with a little bit of cold water then reduce the heat and let them cook slowly for half an hour. Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard when serving the grape leaves.

PS: If you end up with extra filling, keep them in the freezer or stuff a bellpepper, tomato etc... ;)
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In the Arab,Gulf, Levant countries it's Arabic coffee, in the Balkans it's Bosnian coffee, Serbian coffee etc.., in Turkey it's Turkish coffee, in Greece it's Greek coffee, in Cyprus it's Cypriot coffee and so on... Bottom line we all have something in common and we are all proud of it!

We make this coffee in Lebanon in a coffee pot called "Rakweh", found in Middle Eastern stores or online as well as the coffee, I've never tried just any fine coffee because I like the mix of beans that I find in the Middle Eastern store (which is called Najjar Coffee), I'm used to it. The ingredients are simple: Water, coffee, sugar (I personally don't drink coffee with sugar so I discard it and serve it on the side). Cardamom is an Arabic tradition but it's always optional.

- We eyeball the amount of coffee added to the water but the perfect way is the following:
Half a teaspoon for every small cup (like the one in the picture or an espresso cup).
So for example, if you want to make 5 espresso cups, you fill 5 of these cups with water and add to the pot then 5 half teaspoons of coffee.

Boil water in a coffee pot. After water boils add ground coffee into the boiling water, stir well and keep cooking it. Every time it comes to a boil move it away from the stove, stir bring back to boil or cook again, repeat 4-5 times, then serve. We do this process because once it starts boiling it goes all over the place, so you wanna avoid the mess. Medium to low heat is always recommended.

If you like cardamom add some to it or you can buy Arabic coffee with cardamom.
You add sugar after you serve, if some of your guests like it without sugar. If everybody wants sugar, you add the sugar with the coffee and boil or cook. You adjust the sugar quantity upon taste, little sugar, sweet etc...

If you don't have Arabic style coffee cups, any espresso cups work.

*I took this picture in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina last summer, after my husband and I had a wonderful lunch by the river. They served sugar on the side and a piece of Loukoum sweets. I love this handmade coffee set.
8


Lupini beans, we call them in Lebanon "Tormos", are one of my favorite snacks, I love them with beer. You can get them dry or you can get ready to eat in jars soaked in water and salt from Middle Eastern stores or online. They are highly nutritive and close to soy bean protein in content.
Soak Lupini Beans overnight in water (1 cup is enough for few people). Drain and add fresh water and simmer for one hour. Then drain off all the water and add fresh water at least twice a day. Keep changing and adding fresh water till bitterness disappears, which might take up to 5 days or more. Sounds difficult? Well yes it is, cause they are bitter and you have to get rid of all the bitterness until they are soft to chew on and edible. This is why I like to buy them ready to eat. And when they are ready to eat, you can keep them in the refrigerator soaked in water and some salt too, but you still have to change the water every now and then. To serve them, drain the water, sprinkle salt and serve. To eat them, you have to discard the skin and eat the bean only.
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In this recipe I am not gonna give exact serving ingredients because it depends on the amount of dough made or the size of the pies. I made each pie size enough for 1 person this time, I made 3 big pies with this filling. If you have a crowd or a party it's better to make the pies smaller so they can be served as appetizers.

Ingredients:
Ready dough mix (follow instructions on the box)
For the filling:
1 cup of onions, finely chopped
3 cups of chopped swiss chards leaves
4 tablespoons of olive oil
A handful of pine nuts
1 teaspoon of sumac spice (found in Middle Eastern stores or online)
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste.

While the dough is rising, in a pan, add onions, olive oil and the pine nuts and cook for 1 minute then add the chards, once they start wilting, add the sumac spice, salt and pepper. After they cook, add the lemon juice and set aside to cool off.
When the dough is ready, roll to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into rounds (the size you want) place the filling in the middle and fold 3 sides over the filling to obtain the shape of a triangle. Secure your triangle by pressing on the edges that you folded to secure the triangle from openings.
Bake in a 425 degrees oven until it's golden brown. They can be served hot or cold.

PS: You can substitute the chards with spinach. Also the sumac is optional if it can't be found. You can add more lemon juice in this case to substitute the taste.
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Moi!

authorHello, my name is MAG. I've been running this blog since 2007. Follow me on Social Media!!!
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