Lebanese Moussakka - مصقعة الباذنجان

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:
1 eggplant
1 big onion sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 can of cooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans
2 cups of canned cut tomatoes along with the juice
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 cup of water
Olive oil
1 tablespoon of all spice (or 7 spices)
Salt and pepper

Take most of the skin of the eggplant by peeling it, leave some stripes and slice it into medium slices. Add salt and pepper, brush it with olive oil and bake it until it's half cooked. Meanwhile, cut the onion in half and slice it, medium slices too not too thin and add to a pan, sprinkle olive oil, some salt and pepper and let it cook until golden, then add the garlic and tomatoes. let all cook until tomatoes are tender then add the allspice, tomato paste and a cup of water and cook on low heat for 10 minutes. Now add the chickpeas, mix all together then add the eggplant and let them simmer for another 8-10 minutes. Voila!

Tip: A lot of people still fry the eggplant (half way) and let them drain on a paper towel then add it to the mix. However, I bake them for less calories, but what I do also is after I take them out of the oven, in a non-stick pan I add some olive oil and add the eggplant to brown them a little bit. This gives them a wonderful flavor, color and texture.

For those who like to fry the eggplant, don't forget to sprinkle salt on those slices and let them drain their water half an hour at least before you fry them so they don't absorb a lot of oil.

Serve with any green salad.

Vegetarian

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Vegetarian green beans over rice (Loubiyeh w Rizz)

Serves 2-4
Ingredients:
1/2 pound of fresh Green beans
1 onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 1/2 cup of canned diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon allspice
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
olive oil, salt and pepper
water

For the Rice:
1 1/2 cup of rice
1 teaspoon of butter and a dash of salt

In a pan, add onions, olive oil (I usually eyeball, just enough to coat the onions), dash of salt and pepper, cook for a couple of minutes then add the garlic, green beans, let them cook for few minutes then add the tomatoes, and keep cooking for another few minutes then add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and water enough to cover what's cooking. Let it all simmer until the beans are cooked. Meanwhile, in another pan, add 1 teaspoon of butter, then add the rice, when the butter coats the rice, add 3 cups of water (or according to directions) and let it simmer.
Serve with any kind of salad.

PS: This recipe is good also if you add meat to it (cubes or minced), if you wish to do so, add the meat with the onions then continue the recipe.

Vegetarian

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Vegetarian Grape leaves (Wara2 Enab Bzeit) - ورق عنب بالزيت

In this recipe, you need to eyeball the amount of grape leaves, depending on the size of the leaves too. So I'm just gonna assume that we're using 100gr of leaves and here's a useful tip: if you roll them all and still have some filling left, very simple: stuff a potato, tomato or a bellpepper!

Filling Ingredients:
1 big tomato or 2 medium ones diced.
1 medium onion diced
3/4 cup of rice (any kind, I prefer white)
1 bunch of fresh parsley chopped
Juice of 1 big lemon or 2 small
1/2 tablespoon of allspice (or 7 spices)
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1/2 cup of olive oil (or a bit more)

Preparing the Pan:
Take few leaves and line them up in the bottom of the pan (why? cause grape leaves stick quickly to any pan! and then add on top of those the sliced potato.

If you are using fresh grape leaves, soak them in hot water and some salt for half an hour, or until completely soft then drain. If you are using the ones that you buy in the jar, soak them in warm water for few minutes then let them drain.

- Mix all the ingredients together and get ready to roll.
Rolling grape leaves:
Cut the stems if there's any and start adding the filling in the middle of the leaf, then fold the sides and roll while pressing a bit to let the juice out and also to make it a bit tight so it doesn't fall apart. (just like spring rolls). Then line them up in the pan on top of the potato layer. After you finish, get a plate that can fit inside the pan, flip it upside down and place it on top of the grape leaves to press them so when they start cooking they don't fall apart. Now add water just to cover them and let them cook on medium for about 12 minutes, if they boil too much reduce the heat. It's optional to add more lemon juice while they cook. Tasting one is always better to check if they're done :)

Vegetarian

8

Adas Bi Hamoud (Chards and lentil soup) - عدس بالحامض

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Swiss Chards (sele2 in arabic)
1 big onion (chopped)
2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 cup of lentils
2 medium potatoes diced
2 tablespoons of allspice
1 tablespoon of sumac spice
Salt
1 cup of fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of one big lemon
Olive oil (2-3 tablespoons)

In a pot, add 1liter of water, bring to the boil, add lentils and let them cook for about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, you've washed the chards and chopped them, so you add those to the cooked lentils. In a pan, cook the onions and garlic with olive oil until light golden then add them to the lentils and chards. After that you add the potatoes, sumac, allspice, salt and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes then you add the lemon juice and the cilantro and let it simmer for like 5 minutes, then serve.
This is a great vegetarian soup, healthy and tasty.

Vegetarian

2

Mjaddara (Vegetarian lentil paste) - مجدرة

Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 cup of lentils
1/4 cup rice
1 onion
olive oil
Salt
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of allspice (= 7 spices)

Wash the lentils and put in a pot with 4-5 cups of water, let it boil gently and cook for 15 minutes. Soak the rice in water. After the lentils are cooked all the way, drain the lentils and grind them but keep the water on the side. Meanwhile in a pan, add the chopped onion, olive oil, salt and cook the onions for few minutes on medium flame, don't brown them just until they turn a bit gold.
Add the grinded lentils to their water, then add the onions with olive oil, add the soaked rice, spices and cumin. Cook for another 15 minutes on low. You have to stir it every couple of minutes because it can stick and burn easily. you might need to add a bit more water if you feel that it's too thick to cook the rice. It's done when it thickens. Not too lumpy but not too thick. Pour it in a bowl and let it cool off for few minutes.
Serve with bread and salads. (Fattoush is perfect with Mjaddara).

Vegetarian

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Loubieh B-Zeit (Vegetarian green beans) - لوبياء بالزيت

Ingredients: (4 servings)
450 grs of green beans (fresh or frozen)

2 medium tomatoes (diced)

10 cloves of garlic (peeled only)

2 onions (diced)

1/2 cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon of tomato sauce

1/2 cup of water

Salt and pepper

1 teaspoon of 7 spices or allspice

In saucepan, put the olive oil with the onions and the whole garlic cloves, add some salt. Then add the beans, cook until the beans wilt then add the tomatoes and keep cooking, add the 7 spices and then the tomato sauce followed by the water and let it simmer for another 12-15 minutes.

Serve warm with pita bread.

Vegetarian

5

Lebanese Village Salad

Serving: 2 persons
Ingredients:
1 tomato
1 medium cucumber
1 cup of parsley leaves (not chopped)
1 clove of garlic (crushed)
1 small onion
salt & pepper
olive and juice of 1 small lemon for the dressing.

Chop the tomato, cucumber and onion then add to all the ingredients and mix in a bowl and serve.

Vegetarian

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Potatoes with Cilantro (Batata bi kouzbara) - البطاطا مع الكزبراء

Ingredients:
3 potatoes
1 bunch of fresh cilantro (chopped)
Paprika
3 cloves of garlic (mashed)
Vegetable oil
Salt n' pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
Juice of half a lemon.

Peel the potatoes and cut into medium cubes. Fry them in vegetable oil until golden. Drain them on paper towel.
In a pan, add butter, garlic then chopped cilantro, stir over medium heat (if you feel them dry add some of the vegetable oil, like 1 spoon), after 5 minutes add lemon juice. Now toss the fried potatoes, mix all well, add dashes of paprika, salt and pepper and serve.

Vegetarian

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Hommus (Lebanese chickpeas paste) - الحمص بالطحينة

1 can of chickpeas (or garbanzo beans)

1 clove of garlic

2-3 tablespoons tahini paste (sesame paste)

Juice of half a lemon

Salt to taste
Half a cup of water

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor or blender. If the paste seems too thick, you might need to add a little bit more water, one to two more tablespoons until you get a creamy paste. 
Serve and drizzle olive oil on top right before serving. 

Decoration (optional):
Decorate with few saved cooked chickpeas placed in the middle. Radish slices and some fresh mint. 

Note:
Baba Ghannouj or Eggplant Dip:

Replace the chickpeas with 1 medium grilled and peeled eggplant.

Vegetarian

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