It’s been a mixed bag this week, with a couple of stews, a frittata, desserts and of course falafel!
I can’t believe it’s been three weeks already! The time is flying by, and there are still dishes I want to try making. We seem to have stuck mostly with Lebanese and Persian dishes this week.
Khoresh Kadoo Halvaie – Persian Pumpkin Stew
Day fifteen
Despite having enough leftovers to feed a small army, I wanted to take advantage of having the time and it not being too hot, so I found another dish I wanted to try. This time it was Khoresh Kadoo Halvaie – Persian Pumpkin Stew. It’s another meat dish, and this time I substituted eggplant, but you could just as easily use eggplant, potato, cauliflower, sweet potato, fava beans or chickpeas. It really just depends on what you like. Beautifully aromatic, simultaneously sweet and savoury.
Baked Stuffed Figs
Day sixteen
It was a busy day, as they all seem to be at the moment, and we had stacks of leftovers, which probably comes as no surprise. I’d bought some figs, and wanted to make a nice dessert with them. After looking at various recipes, I decided on my own version of Baked Stuffed Figs. The filling was basically walnuts and spices, which I stuffed into the figs and then baked them. You really don’t need to cook this if you don’t want to, but with Steve’s fruit allergies I decided to play it safe. Served warm with soy vanilla ice cream – oh sooooo good!
Falafel
Day seventeen
After a long and busy day, neither of us felt like cooking. Leftovers came to the rescue, and we finally finished them all off.
Day eighteen
Well no foray into the Middle East would be complete without Falafel, and this was Steve’s challenge. There are many different versions to choose from, and this one was Lebanese, made with chick peas and fava beans. There was also home made Hummus and Tahini sauce, all wrapped in pita bread with some salad. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
Kuku Sabzi, Roast Cauliflower in Tahini & Salad
Day nineteen
It was Steve’s birthday on Friday (day twenty), so a cake was on the to-do list. I opted for a Lebanese Coconut Cake. Not too difficult, and not remotely healthy. You pour a sweet syrup over the top while it’s hot. Usually I try to make my desserts a bit healthier, substituting some or all of the sugar and oil, but I went with the original ingredients since I had no idea what it was meant to taste like. Plus Steve volunteers at our local community gardens on a Saturday, so figured he could take most of it to share. Considering how big the cake turned out to be, sharing most of it around was a very good option!
On the savoury side, I made a Kuku Sabzi – Persian Herb ‘Tofu’ Frittata, loaded with fresh herbs, mushrooms and zucchini plus Roast Cauliflower in Tahini to have with falafel, hummus and salad. Oh my, so much yummy food!
Lebanese Coconut Cake
Day twenty
It rained and rained all day, so we celebrated Steve’s birthday with a quiet day at home watching DVDs. I can’t remember the last time we spent a day doing nothing!
We had some of the Lebanese Coconut Cake for lunch, not even vaguely healthy, but so, so good. Ultra moist and dense, absolutely delicious.
The biggest effort for the day was walking the dogs between downpours and collecting Indian takeaway for dinner.
Yahneh or Llubieh – Green Bean & Mushroom Stew
Day twenty one
Despite the rain Steve went to the garden and took most of his birthday cake to share. None came home with him, so it’s fair to say it was pretty well received.
I had a busy day of study ahead, so I found a dish I could veganise and put in the slow cooker. Called Yahneh or Llubieh – a Lebanese stew of green beans, mushrooms (and the last of the batch of seitan I had in the freezer), in a tomato base.
