A Week of Recipes (3/30 - 4/12)
Actually two weeks so there's a lot to cover!
Happy Sunday and welcome back to another week of recipes. I apologize I missed last week, it was quite a busy week with getting videos ready, fulfilling Zawi orders, and needed to help my family with a few things so now that things have slowed down a bit I’m back on the newsletter! Lot’s of recipes to cover this week and I’m so excited for them all!
To start things off I have a salad recipe from Yasemin’s Kitchen, a Turkish food blogger and family friend. I have her link down below so please check out her page. I’m sharing her Red Beet and Green Apple Salad. I say this with no exaggeration, it changed my life. I always hated beets and I’ve already made this recipe for myself 3 times.
And following this beautiful salad I have: Msakhan Rolls, Manti, Amaradeen, Fasoulia, and Falafel so let’s get into each!
The Msakhan Rolls are an adaptation of the famous Palestinian dish Msakhan. The dish is made up of chicken seasoned with allspice, onions seasoned with sumac, lots of olive oil, and taboon bread to bring it all together. This recipe combines the chicken and onions and rolls them up in a thin bread like lavash or marqook bread. Brush them with a bit of oil and bake for a while and you have a beautiful middle eastern flauta. These are very easy to do and are a perfect side to bring to a dinner party or even as finger foods to snack on.
The Manti is my ode to all my Armenian friends. I owe it them for showing me this beautiful dish and having me sit at their dinner tables to share their culture with me. It’s essentially half open beef dumplings served in a garlic tomato broth with garlic yogurt. It’s so simple but so delicious. And it takes a decent amount of effort to pinch all these dumplings so really try to savor each bite. While my recipe is not 100% authentic, I got the approval from some Armenian friends of mine so I feel confident enough to share.
Amaradeen is a very unique apricot juice. It’s made from apricot fruit leather and mixed with orange blossom water. Although traditionally made during the month of Ramadan, it’s a wonderful drink to make for the spring and summer. It really is the easiest recipe in this list, it takes hardly any effort, and is such a unique spin on regular apricot juice.
Fasoulia is the Levantine style green beans and beef stew. Depending on which country you are from there are different names to it. But the important note is that this dish is made with the long green beans and cooked with stew meat in a hearty tomato broth. It’s a dish I notice people either love or hate. But as I get older I think we all start to love it. It’s healthy, very easy to do, and great to make in big batches.
Finally we have Falafel. This is a dish I share every once in a while as a refresher and also because I love it so much. It’s a vegetarian dish made up of chickpeas, parsley, cilantro, onions, and garlic seasoned with a few spices then deep friend until golden brown. My version is similar to the Egyptian style that has a green interior rather than a tan interior like most of the Levant. That’s just my preference but both are incredibly delicious. You have to serve them with a tahini sauce and some shatta for heat. I also love to make wraps with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and parsley.
https://yaseminskitchen.com/red-beet-green-apple-salad/
Msakhan Rolls
These are by far the most loved Palestinian finger foods around the world. Msakhan is a dish made of chicken, onions, taboon bread, and A LOT of olive oil. Palestinians living all around the world took this dish and adapted to what was available around them and very quickly the Msakhan Roll was born. It’s the quicker and easier way to make Msakhan for sharing with large groups. We always made these with any leftovers or even for large parties at the house. Give it a shot I promise they won’t dissapoint.
Manti
This is the kind of dish everyone is in absolute awe over. This version of Manti I only know from my Armenian friends. It’s a dish I was fortunate to have on occasion when I was over at their homes either playing video games, basketball, soccer, or just hanging out. It’s a smell that fills the home with beautiful spices, a warm tomato broth, and is just so gorgeous in its presentation. It is definitely a labor of love. Pinching each of these dumplings closed is no easy job but the results make it so worth it.
Amaradeen
This is a very unique, one of a kind drink that comes directly from the Levant. Amaradeen directly translates to “Moon of the Faith” because it is a drink that is highly consumed during Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. It’s essentially apricot juice mixed with orange blossom water but is unlike regular store bought apricot juice. When you make it this wa…
Fasoulia
This is peak home cooking, the kind of dish that takes the most simple ingredients and turns them into a masterpiece. This is Fasoulia. It’s a dish made up of green beans and slow cooked meat cooked in a well seasoned tomato broth. It’s warm, it’s hearty, and so easy to do. The trick is really in how patient you are. The lower and slower you cook this, the better it all comes out.
Falafel
This might be the falafel recipe that stirs up some controversy. Falafel is one of the most common street foods across the middle east, you’ll find it on almost every corner. From the western most point of Egypt to the Eastern most of Syria, you’ll find falafel (or Ta’amiyeh as they say in Egypt) everywhere. It’s a vegetarian blend of chickpeas, herbs, and a few spices that gets deep fried until golden crispy. They’re typically eaten at breakfast served as you see in the picture above or as a wrap if you’re on the go. I like the inside of my falafel to be green (more herbs) but others like it brown (more beans).