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Showing posts with label chickpeas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chickpeas. Show all posts


Pumpkin Kibbeh is one of my favorite recipes. It's very popular during lent. I personally like it all year long or even for Thanksgiving. This recipe can be made into Kibbeh balls and fried too. This time I decided to bake it in the oven. This vegetarian recipe is healthy and full of nutrients.

Makes about 5 servings (in a 9x9 inch baking pan):

For the kibbeh:
2 cups of cooked pumpkin ( I used the ready spiced canned pumpkin)
2 cups of fine bulgur wheat
1 cups of wheat flour
1 egg
Salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of allspice

For the filling:
2 cups of cooked spinach
2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup of pine nuts or chopped almonds
Some olive oil (about 2-3 tablespoons)

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to rub the bottom of the pan (even if it's non-stick)

- Mix all the ingredients of the kibbeh and refrigerate for half an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a skillet, add olive oil and onions and nuts let all cook for a couple of minutes or until the nuts start to brown a bit, then add the cooked spinach, then chickpeas, spices, salt & pepper. Cook until the ingredients combine together for like another couple of minutes.
- Get the kibbeh mix and divide in 2 parts and spread the first part in the baking pan, add the filling then add the second layer, making sure that the same thickness is applied, same as any kind of pie made.

Bake in a 400F oven until it's fully cooked and golden browned on top, which is from 30-40 minutes depending on the oven.

Serve with any green salad of your choice.
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Dear fellow readers and bloggers, sorry for disappearing again! I just got back from Lebanon! A little change from the crappy weather in Europe :( Now, seems like spring is in the air :) So I guess my energy is back, yes!
This recipe is very simple and very similar to the Hommus with tahini but with a bit more tahini and not as thick as the Hommus mix. So for this recipe you'll need:
- Prepare the Hommus recipe just like you normally do (or check my Hommus recipe if it's your first time) then add to it:
- Half a cup of whole cooked chickpeas, another small spoon of tahini sauce with half a cup of water, and add some cumin. Some chopped parsley for decoration and olive oil on top and voila!
Serve with pita bread and assorted pickles, or a plate of fresh cut vegetables (tomatoes, mint, cucumber, green onions and some radishes).
12




Happy beginning of a new decade! This was the Walima Challenge for the month of December featuring the Moroccan cuisine, but due to the holidays and all, I am late, but it's never too late when it comes to good food ;) So here's the couscous with beef that I made.
The recipe is copied and pasted as given by the Walima site.
I skipped the squash, and the smen and replaced it with canola vegetable oil. I added a small bell pepper too. The couscous I found in the market had a sachet of mixed herbs and garlic that I added to and turned out to be very good. I made couscous with beef before but with more ingredients like turnips, cabbage, potatoes and eggplant. This recipe is pretty good and easy.

COUSCOUS WITH BEEF

Ingredients :
- 1 pound couscous
- 1 pound meat (beef), you can use chicken or lamb.
- 2-3 carrots
- 3 zucchini
- 3 tomatoes
- squash
- 1 big onion
- parsley & coriander
- chickpeas
- 2 Tbs vegetable oil
- 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp turmeric, pinch pf saffron
- water
optional :
- 1/2 tsp smen (butter ghee)

Steps :
Heat the oil at medium temperature, add chopped onion and the meat.
After 15 min, add chopped tomatoes, parsley, coriander and the spices, let cook 10 min, add water, let cook 1hour.
To prepare the couscous :
Add some water and fluff it up with your hands, let it soak.

After the meat has cooked 1 hour, place couscous in the steamer pot and let steam 20 min.
Remove couscous from the heat, let it cool, add water, fluff it with your hands, add salt and oil, if you want, you can add smen (butter ghee).
Put couscous to steam another 20 min.
Add carrots to the meat, after 10 min, add zucchini, squash, chickpeas, let cook.
To serve, place couscous first, then the meat, the vegetables and the sauce.

If you don't have a couscous pot, you can follow the same steps using a microwave.
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Bulgur Bedfeen is a healthy healthy recipe, can be made with chicken, stew meat or simply vegetarian substituting the chicken or meat stock with vegetable stock or water. The one I chose today is with chicken. I used a couple of chicken breasts but you can use half a chicken or even a whole chicken depending on the amount of servings.

Ingredients: (About 4-5 Servings)
2 big Chicken breasts cooked, by covering them with water and adding 2 bay leaves, 1 cinnamon stick, small carrot, black pepper, small onion, 2 cardamoms (I saved the broth for the rest of the recipe).
2 cups of Bulgur no.2 (not the fine one we use for tabbouli)
2 cups of cooked chickpeas or garbanzo beans
4 cups of broth
1 medium onion diced
2 tablespoons of tomato sauce
Olive oil (you can substitute with butter)
Salt, pepper, allspice to taste

After you cook the chicken, shred and set aside.
In the cooking pot, add onions, olive oil, spices. cook for a couple of minutes then add the washed and drained bulgur, mix and cook for a couple of minutes then add the chickpeas, tomato paste and broth. Bring to a boil then let simmer just like rice.
Serve with chicken on top. This meal is served with green salad or plain yogurt.
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I love homemade burgers! They're easy and tasty and you can adjust the flavors however you like them!

Makes about 4 patties:
1 cup of cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup small chopped carrots
1/2 cup small chopped bell pepper
1 mashed clove of garlic
1/2 chopped parsley
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg (optional)
1/2 tbsp of cumin
1 teaspoon of mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

In a food processor, add all the above ingredients except the egg and breadcrumbs, pulse few times until all the ingredients are incorporated together, the transfer into a bowl and add the breadcrumbs and the egg and fold all ingredients together. I like to refrigerate them for a bit, then form patties. In a non-stick skillet add about a teaspoon of canola oil (or any vegetable oil) or just enough to coat the skillet and cook the patties, few minutes on each side until done.

For the potatoes: (as much potatoes as you want)
Cut potatoes into wedges without peeling them (after cleaning them well). Marinate in olive oil, fresh thyme or rosemary or both, some garlic powder and some pepper. Let them sit for half an hour in a bowl or in a Ziploc bag. Then empty them on a baking rack and bake them in a 375F oven until golden brown.

To serve:
Cut a Hamburger bun in half and slightly toast it, then add on the bottom side, ketchup, then a lettuce leaf, add the veggie patty, then top with sliced onion and tomato and cover with upper part of the bun. Serve the potatoes on the side. I like it with mango salsa. It is a ready salsa that I buy, made of grilled bell peppers, mangoes, tomatoes and a lot of spices.
Hamburgers can be served in so many creative ways, this was a simple version. Caramelized onions are really good too instead of raw onions etc, etc...
13



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.
6


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.
15


These green chickpeas are very healthy snacks and they are good with drinks. They are also very tasty in salads. They can be found in the produce section in Middle Eastern stores or in Korean grocery stores. You eat those raw, take off the skin or shell and eat the chickpea. Enjoy healthy snacking!
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Serves 4 or more

Ingredients:
1 cup of Fava beans
1 cup of Chickpeas
1 big clove of garlic minced (or 2 small)
1 lemon (juiced)
1/3 cup of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Some chopped parsley

Radishes and green onion (optional)
Pita bread (optional)

Soak the beans for 12 hours or overnight, then cook by boiling them until done. (If you're in a hurry, get them in the can.) Drain, but keep a little bit of the water, then transfer them in a bowl. Add garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt & pepper. Garnish with chopped parsley on top. Serve this warm. Radishes, green onions and Pita bread go well with this dish.
0





Serves a lot! At least 9 sandwiches

Ingredients:
For the falafel mix:
1 1/2 cups of dried fava beans (found in Middle Eastern stores, since I couldn't find it elsewhere)
1 1/2 cups of dried chickpeas
1 cup of fresh chopped cilantro
1 cup of fresh chopped parsley
1 onion chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of allspice
1 teaspoon coriander seeds (fined not whole ones)
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Salt, pepper

For the tahini sauce:
Tahini paste, lemon juice, water, some chopped parsley

* Vegetable oil for frying the falafel patties

Soak the dried fava beans and chickpeas in water for 12 hours or overnight then drain. Put all the falafel mix ingredients (except the baking powder and baking soda) in the mixer until you obtain a paste. Then add the baking soda and powder, fold them all together and let the mix sit for an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the tahini sauce by adding about 3 tablespoons of tahini and 3 tablespoons of water, then the juice of a small lemon and a tablespoon of fresh chopped parsley. You might need to add more or less water, it depends really on the kind of tahini paste you have.
Heat the oil in a frying pan, then with a tablespoon or a small ice cream scoop, take some of the falafel mix and drop in the hot oil, turn after two minutes, until golden on both sides then let them drain on a paper towel.

To make a falafel sandwich:
Put the falafel patties in pita bread, spread some tahini sauce on top, some fresh chopped parsley, sliced tomatoes and some pickled jalapenos. I like mine with Tabbouli on the side.
2



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.
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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.
1

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