Minestrone Soup

Minestrone soup always reminds me of my elementary school days. Though that soup had wheat pasta, you can easily switch it out for rice pasta to make it gluten-free. I made this soup vegan as well. This time around, I included onion, fennel, garlic, carrot, Italian green beans, pink beans, zucchini, spinach, and rice pasta. I added a little tomato paste for color and flavor, as well as basil and fresh oregano.

Red Curry Soup

I made a basic Thai red curry (instructions often on containers of curry paste) with wild shrimp but thinned it out with some water, and then adjusted the flavor with some fish sauce, and extra galagangal, lemongrass, dry kaffir lime leaves, and Thai basil. The galangal, lime leaves, and basil were of the dried variety, because I unfortunately can't find fresh ones in these parts. I served it over rice noodles. That's it!

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh: without any doubt, one of my favorite foods since I was a baby Diana. But, oh, the injustice that has been done to it! If you are someone who is not familiar with Arab food, go to Google and do an image search for tabbouleh. See those pictures that feature a ton of grain? That's not tabbouleh. Inexplicably, much of the tabbouleh made or marketed by non-Arabs has turned into something akin to pilaf. Once, in horror, I watched a television chef making "tabbouleh" by cooking grains in chicken stock and then adding a few tablespoons of parsley.

Real tabbouleh is a verdant, fresh parsley salad. Traditionally it contains bulgur (burghul in Arabic), a wheat product that you add uncooked to the salad. That means traditional tabbouleh contains gluten, making it unsafe to eat. The good news is that tabbouleh can be made gluten-free with no effort! A giant, family-sized salad bowl of traditional tabbouleh contains only a few tablespoons of burghul. So what happens to the texture and flavor of this salad when you leave the burghul out? Nothing! It's still as delicious as it always was! I see no reason to muddy this vibrant salad with quinoa or other gluten-free substitutes for the burghul.

Tabbouleh, being a salad, is easy to make, but does take a little bit of time. Get about two very large bunches of parsley for every 3 people you plan to serve. After washing the parsley very well, remove the leaves from the long stems. You can keep the smaller stems (the ones attached directly to the leaves) on if you like; I usually do. Traditionally, all the parsley is minced by hand. However, if you are short on time, energy, or knife skills, you can divide the parsley into batches and give them quick pulses in a food processor. (I was in a hurry this time around, so that's what I did here.) Be careful not to overdo it. You don't want to turn the parsley into soup. It should be noted that when you mince your parsley by hand, it's fluffier, which is preferable to the sort of pressed-down quality of the machine-chopped results. But either method is fine.

Then, finely chop (by hand, of course) some plum tomatoes (making the pieces about the size of a large bean), mince some onion, and mince a bunch of fresh mint. Dress with extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, sea salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. I usually refrigerate the salad for about an hour, because it tastes best chilled and when all the ingredients have had time to marry. In fact, this is the only salad I know of that tastes better the next day!

Langoustines and Rice With Raisins

Nothing very fancy here. I bought frozen langoustines from Trader Joe's and sauteed them in olive oil with a little onion, lots of minced garlic, and some parsley, with sea salt to taste. I served it over rice cooked with raisins. (If you haven't eaten rice with raisins, you haven't lived.)

Potato and Mushroom Soup

"Something with potatoes and mushrooms," was the request from my sister Grace. And so it was that I came up with this soup as I wandered the produce section.

I sauteed diced onions and fennel bulbs, and minced garlic, in olive oil. Then I added the chopped cremini, shiitake, and white mushrooms, which cooked down as well. I seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and added boiling water. Then I threw in the diced potatoes, fresh tarragon leaves, and some lemon juice to brighten the earthy flavor of the potatoes and mushrooms. Those are chives on top.

(Thanks, Grace, for this placemat! Love it!)

Manaqeesh Za'tar

I always find it amusing when an ordinary Arab ingredient is exotic to Westerners. (And I'm sure I look silly to Southeast Asians for being intrigued by kaffir lime leaves and palm sugar.) It seems that the latest trend is the commonplace za'tar, which is the name for both a variety of species of  thyme and oregano, as well as the name of a mix made with these herbs, salt, sesame seeds, and sumac. On an average morning, it's eaten by dipping Arab pita into extra virgin olive oil and then into the za'tar mix, often accompanied by sliced tomatoes or cucumbers.

When you have more time to prepare or eat, you bake or buy manaqeesh (singular: manqousheh) za'tar, a sort of mini-pizza made with bread dough spread with an olive oil and za'tar blend. Of course, this has always been made with gluteny wheat dough. Until now. Behold, gluten-free manaqeesh:

I have yet to seriously experiment with gluten-free baking, so for now I've been relying on ready-made gluten free products when I occasionally want something bready. One day, I'll develop a gluten-free dough that is suitable for Arab breads and crusts, but for now we'll use Udi's pizza crusts, which worked very well, though they make a manqousheh that is thinner than the classic one.

The preparation is simple. Acquire some za'tar, which you'll find at your local Arab grocery. It may come with the sesame and sumac mixed in, or you may have to add them yourself (in which case, you should pick up some of those too). No Arab grocery in your area? You may find za'tar and sumac at your local gourmet shop, though they are likely to be wildly overpriced. You can play with the ratio of za'tar, salt, sesame seeds, and sumac until it's too your likely, but it should be herby and tangy. This za'tar blend is then mixed with enough extra virgin olive oil to form a loose paste. Spread the paste onto the crusts, and toast them for a few minutes in an oven that's been preheated to 450 degrees. You can eat them somewhat crunchy, but they taste better when they are softer. With these crusts, I found that using them right from the freezer yields a more pliable result. Keep an eye on your manaqeesh as they bake; they can quickly get too dry. Eat with sliced or diced tomatoes, which refreshingly counter the herbs.

Note: In it's classic form, this dish is vegan, and I am labeling it as such. Udi's crusts, however, have egg as an ingredient. If you can't eat eggs, use a crust that is free of them.

Sunchoke and Potato Soup

I remember seeing this soup on Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef, Shauna and Danny Ahern's wonderful blog, and thinking I should make it right away. That was a year ago. Today, I finally made the soup. It was delicious! 

This is the first time I've eaten sunchoke, also known as Jerusalem artichoke. It looks like a cross between potato and ginger, and tastes a little like water chestnut. 

I rarely consult recipes when I cook. When I do, as in this case, I don't follow them precisely. I get the general idea and then I just do it, relying on my own skills, experience, and tastebuds, nary a measuring spoon in sight. In this case, I didn't want to deal with a blender, so I chopped the potatoes and peeled sunchoke extra small, and then gave them a rough mash in the pot once they cooked through. I also omitted the heavy cream, so that it would be dairy-free. Because of these two changes, you'll see that my version is less creamy looking, but I'm sure it's just as tasty.

Spiced Sweet Potatoes

I heart sweet potatoes. And if you want the sweet-potatoiest sweet potato, go for the garnet variety, which I tend to find in the organic section (all the better!).

Here, I peeled and sliced them. (When you do so, be prepared to get some sugary starch on your hands from the potatoes. It's a little difficult to get off, though vinegar and salt helped me scrub it off. Or wear gloves.) Then I placed them in an olive-oiled tray and roasted them.

When the potatoes are almost done, crush a bunch of garlic and grind some (toasted if you like) cumin and coriander. Cook the garlic, cumin, and coriander in some olive oil (or butter) and add to this some chili powder, cinnamon, and salt. This will form a sort of cooked-down paste, which you will then brush on the potatoes. Let the potatoes roast until done and enjoy!

Tortilla Soup

Most tortilla soups are made with chicken, but this is a vegan one.

I started by making a vegetable broth of green and red bell peppers, onions, garlic, pablano peppers, ancho (dried pablono) peppers, salt, black pepper, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, oregano, basil, and chili powder. Sautee all these ingredients in some olive oil until they've cooked down, then add some boiling water and let everything simmer for a while.

Next, add cooked beans (I used black and pinto), corn, fire roasted tomatoes, and some slices of corn tortilla or tortilla chips, and let them all cook in the soup. Squeeze in a bit of lime juice. And that's it!

Many people eat this with cheese or sour cream (or other garnishes), but since I am 98% dairy-free, I added a few more chips, and raw tomato and onion.

Snap Peas With Ginger and Garlic

Ginger and garlic, one of heaven's pairings. This time, I used them to make a quick lunch, combining them with snap peas, tamari sauce, and sesame oil.

Most soy sauces have wheat in them, so you have to choose a wheat-free soy sauce, which is often labeled "tamari" in the American market. But that doesn't mean all tamaris are gluten-free; in fact, I have seen some that contain wheat. Make sure your bottle of tamari explicitly says "gluten-free."

Do these snap peas look a little wrinkly? That's because, once cooked, they are! If you see photos of cooked snap peas that look perfectly green and smooth, then they're stylized, not real. Just like people, real ones have some wrinkles!

Stuffed Grape Leaves

In my last post, I said that if you are presented with the simple sauteed insides of a zucchini, then you should know that something more complicated is not too far away. So here it is, stuffed grape leaves (waraq 'inab) with stuffed zucchini.

This is a labor intensive dish, especially because my family does not make it with ground beef like most people do. Instead, we are among the minority of Arabs who cut the meat by hand into tiny, bean-sized pieces (which takes a bit of time), and then mix it with rice, salt, pepper, olive oil, and spices. If you're including zucchini, you must also hollow those out.

Then comes the actual stuffing and rolling of each leaf (about 150 for a large pot), and the filling of the zucchinis. As you make a batch of rolled leaves, you carefully line them up in the pot. This is not so bad when there are 2 or 3 people working together, but because I insist that I prepare every detail of everything featured on this blog, I took on this endeavor by myself last weekend. Needless to say, it was a long Saturday night. But I hope you enjoy the photos of my efforts. :)

The potatoes you see are used to line the bottom of the pot so that the bottom layer of grape leaves doesn't get stuck. They are optional, and if you don't use them, then this dish is totally nightshade-free.

Lib al Kousa

Arabs have a thing for stuffing leaves and vegetables, one of the most common being zucchini. And when you hollow it out, you're left with a bunch of zucchini (kousa) insides (lib), which you sautee in good olive oil with diced onion, garlic, salt, and lemon juice. Also included is a zucchini that didn't make it through the hollowing process intact.

Sure, it looks simple, and it is, but it's also healthy and delicious. And do know that whenever you encounter this humble dish, it signals that something more sophisticated is not far away. But that's for the next post.

New England Clam Chowder

A classic, thin New England clam chowder, made of clams, milk, potatoes, onions, celery, and bacon. Yum! (If you don't eat pork, you can leave it out or use turkey bacon.)

Vegetable Pizzette

A few days ago, I asked some friends what dishes they would like to see on this blog. One answered (specifically on Saturday at 7:36pm), "Something with peppers and onions."

And so begins the peppers and onions series.

The first thing that came to mind is what I'm calling a pizzette, a sauceless, cheeseless pizza. I bought gluten-free pizza crusts, one by Against the Grain and a pair by Whole Foods, both my first foray into pre-baked, gluten-free pizza crusts.

The crust only needed about 10 minutes of baking, which wasn't going to be enough to cook the vegetables through, so I sauteed the peppers, onions, and mushrooms in some olive oil until they were half cooked. I then dressed them with some sea salt, garlic, and lemon juice, and topped the crusts with the semi-cooked vegetables and fresh, diced tomatoes. After they baked, I sprinkled fresh oregano leaves on top.

This is the Against the Grain crust. It's fairly light and crispy, and has some cheese in the dough. It tastes like a cross between a croissant and a cheesey breadstick.

These are the Whole Foods crusts. They taste surprisingly like traditional pizza crusts! And they are denser and chewier than the other one. I'll definitely use both brands again

If I had worked with a raw dough, the vegetables would have baked into the crust. But in this case, they sort of slid off! But that's fine. :) 

Though both of these crusts have dairy, I'm going to tag this dish as "dairy-free" and "vegan," because it could easily be made that way with a vegan crust.

Eggs, Potatoes, and Onions

On weekdays, breakfast is usually a piece of fruit or a cup of gluten-free cereal. On the weekend, it's nice to eat something more breakfasty. 

So this morning I chopped up (with one hand, because I have a fractured wrist in a cast) a small, boiled potato and browned it in some olive oil. Then I added the onions, then the eggs. And for some freshness, tomatoes! And nothing tastes better with tomatoes than olives, in this case, oil cured.

Ful Mudammas

Nothing says breakfast (or lunch...or dinner...) like a warm bowl of creamy, earthy fava beans seasoned with lemon, garlic, and jalapeño pepper, and topped with olive oil. 

Ful Mudammas is an authentic Egyptian dish, dating back millennia, but has long been eaten throughout the Middle East, where it's not only cooked at home, but also sold in many little ful shops. Each area and home has a slightly different recipe and accompanying vegetables, but it is always eaten with warm pita bread and hot tea. Unfortunately, delicious as tea is with ful, it actually blocks the body from absorbing the iron in these beans. 

As I have yet to bake my own gluten-free pita, I ate this with a spoon!

Mushroom and Onion Quiche

Why not use the Whole Foods gluten-free pie crust for a savory dish?

First, I sauteed onions and mushrooms.

Then I added a bit of swiss and white cheddar cheeses, and poured the egg, nutmeg, and half and half mixture in.

Baked!

And sliced!

Lentil Soup, 2

I was introduced to this lentil soup later in life, this being the one I grew up with. With just 6 ingredients (lentils, carrots, celery, onion, salt, and cumin) you can make a warm, delicious, vegan meal. Also yummy with some hot sauce added to it.

Rice Pasta with Pesto, Andouille, and Red Pepper

A fairly simple and quick Friday night dinner, I tossed some rice pasta with a basil and almond pesto, and added some organic chicken and turkey andouille and red bell pepper.

Lentil Soup

Arab lentil soup, simply made with red lentils, leeks (or onions), salt, pepper, and cumin. Add lemon and raw onions before serving. Throwing in a few pieces of (gluten-free) pita or other bread into the bowl is also delicious.