Tag: Western Asian
Lemon Parsley Bean Salad
Lemon Parsley Bean Salad
This is a simple Mediterranean bean salad that is easy to prepare and quite healthy for you, while still being full of flavor. All the ingredients get mixed together and left in the refrigerator for a couple of hours to allow the juices to commingle with each other.
Ingredients
- 2 cans kidney beans drained
- 1 can garbanzo beans drained
- 1 small red onion finely diced
- 1 rib celery finely diced
- 1 small cucumber peeled, seeded, and diced
- 1 cup parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 lemons juiced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili flakes
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together. Set in the refrigerator for a couple hours before serving.
Ghormeh Sabzi
Ghormeh Sabzi
Ghormeh sabzi is considered the national dish of Iran. The dish consists of stewed lamb and kidney beans with a large amount of fried herbs and onions such as parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, leeks, green onions, and white onions. Traditionally, dried black limes(indigenous to the Middle East) are used as acidity to cut through the richness of this stew. You will probably have a hard time finding black limes, so you can substitute lemon juice. Ghormeh sabzi is best served with basmati rice.
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried kidney beans soaked overnight
- 2 lbs leg of lamb cubed
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 3 bunches parsley chopped
- 1 bunch cilantro chopped
- 4 green onions chopped
- 1 leek chopped
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves
- 4 tbsp lemon juice or 4 dried black limes
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
Instructions
- Heat up a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sauté the herbs for 15 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add 2 tbsp of vegetable oil and sauté the onions for 10 minutes.
- Add in the lamb, turmeric, salt and pepper. Sauté for 8 minutes.
- Stir in the soaked beans, lemon juice, and the fried herbs.
- Pour in 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 2 hours.
- Adjust the seasoning.
Sayadieh
Sayadieh
Sayadieh is simply fish and rice. This Lebanese dish is very easy to make as well as being fairly healthy. The rice contains a large amount of caramelized onions with flavors such as turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, and ginger. The fish is rubbed with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, and baked in the oven. I used tilapia, but you can use any type of firm fleshed white fish such as cod, haddock, pollock, etc.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 cups basmati rice washed
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 4 cups water
- 1/2 cup slivered almonds
Fish
- 2 large tilapia fillets or 4 small
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Garnish
- parsley chopped
Instructions
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Sauté the onions for 15 minutes until they are cooked down and browned.
- Stir in the rice and all of the seasonings. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Pour in the water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub the fish fillets with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place the fillets on a rack on a baking sheet lined in foil.
- Bake the fish for 15 minutes. Let the fish rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Dry toast the slivered almonds for 2 minutes over medium heat.
- Stir the toasted almonds the last minute of cooking.
