Spinach and Rice Stew (Middle Eastern Sabanekh)
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Fish Lasagna
Bet you’ve never heard of fish lasagna before this blog post. Well, this isn’t your average red-sauce, ground beef lasagna. It’s so much better. It basically consists of tilapia, lasagna noodles, lots and lots of cheese and a creamy alfredo sauce. This recipe is brought to you by my mother. It’s one of my favorite dishes from home. And I just found out – the day I recreated this dish – that it’s one of my mother’s own creations.
Mom’s Fish Lasagna Recipe
Ingredients
2 jars Light Creamy Alfredo Sauce
9 Lasagna Noodles
2-3 Tilapia Filets
2 tablespoons I can’t Believe It’s not Butter
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Sea Salt, to taste
Lemon Pepper Spice
Mozzarella Cheese, to taste
Grated Parmesan Cheese, to taste
Directions
Rub each tilapia filet with butter and lemon pepper sauce, then broil for 15 minutes until flaky
Meanwhile, boil the lasagna noodles with olive oil and sea salt
Once the lasagna noodles are done boiling, lay flat onto paper towels to dry.
Break the tilapia into pieces.
Layer the Lasagna in a baking dish as follows: Alfredo Sauce, Noodles, Tilapia, Alfredo Sauce, Mozzarella, Parmesan – Noodles, Tilapia, Alfredo Sauce, Mozzarella Parmesan – Noodles Tilapia, Alfredo Sauce, Mozzarella, Parmesan. Don’t put tilapia over the top layer of noodles. Just use Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 20-30 minutes to melt the top layer of cheese.
Servings = 6-8
Nutrition Information: Cals 347. Carbs 23g. Fat 19g. Protein 24g. Sodium 938mg. Sugar 2g.
Stuffed Green Peppers
I found out that the trick to Arabic food, and stuffing specifically is that you can pretty much stuff anything using the same simple stuffing recipe – tomatoes, peppers, grape leaves, cabbage, potatoes – you name it, we stuff it.
And you won’t believe how easy it is to make this all-purpose stuffing. So, how does it work exactly? Well, basically it means that everything you stuff has an Arabic taste to it. Which in my opinion is delicious. Stuffed Green Peppers are super easy to make – done in under an hour.
Stuffed Green Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 Green Peppers
- ½ lb Ground Lean Beef
- ½ Onion, chopped
- ½ teaspoon Allspice
- Salt
- Pepper
- Lemon Juice
- ½ can Tomato Paste
- 1 espresso-sized cup Lemon Juice
- Olive Oil
- Water to taste
Instructions
- Heat oil in a medium-sized pan, add onion and cook until translucent.
- Add ground beef.
- Add Allspice, salt and pepper and brown the meat.
- In the meantime, cut open two green peppers, removing the seeds. You can discard the tops.
- Once the meat is browned, spoon the mixture into each green pepper.
- Mix together tomato paste, lemon juice and water and pour into a baking dish.
- Carefully place each stuffed pepper into the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information: Cals 371. Carbs 11g. Fat 28g. Protein 24g. Sodium 60mg. Sugar 5g.
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Cauliflower Mash
I love mashed potatoes. They’re so creamy and delicious, I always regret it after I’ve devoured more than one serving of mashed potatoes. Aside from the calories that are associated with mashed potatoes, it always seemed like so much work to actually make them from scratch. I’ve definitely cheated with the frozen bag that you add milk and butter to. Amazing.
This post isn’t about mashed potatoes, but rather mashed cauliflower. Cauliflower Mash is definitely an acquired taste but I love cauliflower so it’s perfect for me.
Since my mom’s on a health kick, I decided to treat her to a new recipe. This recipe is super simple and makes for chunky-style mash minus all the calories. The chicken gravy was a whole-nother-story. Apparently adding corn starch to boiling chicken stock creates clumps. Don’t try it at home.
Cauliflower Mash Recipe
Ingredients
1 head Cauliflower 1 can White beansDirections
Wash and cut the Cauliflower into 1-inch pieces. Steam the cauliflower in a steamer. When the cauliflower is soft, mash with a potato masher and add the white beans. Mash to desired consistency.Servings: 6
Nutrition Information: Cals 77. Carbs 16g. Fat 0g. Protein 6g. Sodium 186mg. Sugar 2g.
Weekend Lunch: Falafel
Homemade falafel requires a food processor. I registered for one – a food processor that is – and then realized it didn’t really match our kitchen, and I didn’t have a place to store it. So we returned the food processor in the hopes that I’ll find one I like. I’ve been searching, but they’re either too big or too small or don’t have all the functions I want/need. I’m sure I’ll buy one, eventually.
Despite the small setback, we’re having falafel sandwiches for lunch today. How? Well, a few weeks ago I was browsing the rice/international aisle at the grocery store and I came across this Near East Vegetarian Falafel Mix.
I’m a bit surprised to see falafel labeled “vegetarian,” considering falafel is basically fried ground chickpeas. Which leads me to wonder what non-vegetarian falafel would be like. Falafel mutation thoughts aside, I decided to give this Worcester, Massachusetts-based Armenian family-owned product a try.
After following the frying directions on the package,I usually like falafel with pita bread, some tahini on the insides, andadd pickled turnips. Today, I wasn’t really in the mood for a sandwich so I mixed some of the falafel with spinach, feta cheese and some tahini.
Final verdict – they didn’t taste bad, but they definitely didn’t taste like falafel. Not only that, but they were falling apart as I was frying them. Fail.
Lamb Kabob Patties with Skinny Garlic Aioli
I’m not sure why I was craving Ground Lamb Kabobs, but I took the meat out of the freezer the day and put it in the fridge in anticipation that I was going to use the meat for something delicious. So I decided to make “Lebanese style” ground lamb patties for lunch today.
Unless I’m lying around the house with no plans to leave, I usually put my contacts in first thing in the morning. Well, this week I’m on “Winter Break” so, I wasn’t planning to put my contacts in until I planned the leave the house later this afternoon. (I use the quotes because since the beginning of my winter break I’ve been doing at least four hours of work daily. Some vacation.) Contact-less, I got working on my ground lamb patties. First, I diced the onion. Bad idea. My eyes instantly became sore and started tearing. I didn’t realize that my contacts shielded my eyes from onion-cutting irritation – until today.
Minus the eye irritation, the lamb patties turned out well and my Skinny Garlic Aioli was de-licious!
Lamb Kabob Patties with Skinny Garlic Aioli Recipe
Ingredients
1 lb Ground Lamb ½ Bunch Parsley finely chopped 1 Medium Onion, finely chopped 1 tablespoon Seven Spice (can be found at your local Middle Eastern Grocery)Directions
Mix together ground lamb, seven spice, parsley and onion. Form into round patties. Grill in a grill pan or a cuisineart Panini grill. Serve in Arabic Bread with Skinny Garlic AioliTo make the Skinny Garlic Aioli, mix together 6oz plain fat-free greek yogurt, ¼ cup light mayo and 5 cloves garlic, minced.
Servings: 8-10 patties
Nutrition Information: Cals 123. Carbs 2g. Fat 9g. Protein 8g. Sodium 34mg. Sugar 1g.