Fattoush

A vibrant and tasty salad. This is a dish that will please the crowd and satisfy the taste buds at the same time! Try it and you'll fall in love with it :)

Ingredients:
1 cucumber - English seedless cucumber sliced in circles (if it's long cut in half)
1/2 medium red onion - chopped finely
1 tomato - diced in small bite size cubes
1/4 cup chopped mint leaves
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 chopped spring onions
1/2 red bell pepper - diced in small bite size cubes
2 small radishes - sliced in circles
1 blood orange - flesh taken out
1/2 head of Radicchio - chopped into bite size pieces
1 Lavash or pita bread - cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp feta cheese
Dressing:
3 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1/2 Lemon juice
Some Lemon zest
2 tsp Sumac

Method:
1. Wash all the vegetables, cut according to ingredient list and mix in a big salad bowl along with the cheese.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F. Layer the pieces of bread in a single layer. Drizzle a little olive oil, salt and pepper on it and toast until browned and crisp.
3. For dressing, mix olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, sumac and zest and mix well.
4. Toss everything together and serve! 

Moroccan Chicken Tagine

This is a main attraction for any party - a dish that is super easy to cook and will make you look like a star chef!!
If you don't have a tagine, then you can cook the chicken with the same method in any heavy bottomed pan over low heat. The key to develop those flavors is slow cooking.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into medium sized pieces(skinned)
2 onions - sliced finely
2 tbsp coriander powder
2 tsp turmeric
3 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp chilly powder or paparika
4 tsp sumac powder
2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp clove powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 zest of lemon
1 lemon juice
4 garlic cloves - just peeled and crushed(not chopped)
Regular olive oil(or any other oil, like peanut oil)
Salt to taste

Method:
1. In a deep pan, heat some oil and brown the chicken pieces from all sides. Make sure they don't cook, just get colored.
2. In a tagine, layer the chicken at the bottom and put the sliced onions and garlic cloves on the top.
3. In a bowl, mix all the  spices, zest, lemon juice and salt. Pour some water to make sure spices quote the chicken pieces well. The mixture should be a little runnier than a paste.
4. Pour the spice mixture over onions and chicken and mix well.
5. Cover the tagine and cook the chicken at 350F/177C oven for about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Note: If you are cooking over a pan, then add a little chicken stock or water, about half cup, cover with a lid and cook for 1 hour at least. Then check until the meat falls off the bone.
6. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Serve this with warm pita or lavash or you can eat with rice pilaf and salad! It's delicious just the way it is :)
To check out more ideas: Elegant Moroccan Dinner Party post.

Note that I did not add any oil in the tagine itself. That is because first, it's was already lightly coated in oil when I browned the pieces and second the chicken has enough water to prevent it from being dry. If you add oil, the dish will become too oily. Now that's not a pleasing thing for guests to gulp is it ;)

Dates-Cashews cake

Want decadent dates for a fancy date! You should try this dates and cashews cake - small, cute - perfect for two. Makes valentine day extra special while keeping your new year resolution still on track! :)
It tastes delicious warm as well as at room temperature.

Ingredients:
1 egg
50gm All purpose flour
50gm brown sugar
1/2 tbsp dark cocoa
4 tbsp butter
1 tbsp clarified butter(or regular butter if you cannot find clarified butter)
2-3tsp Baking powder
Some Baking Soda(aprox half the qty of baking pwd)
1/4 cup chopped cashews
1/3 cup chopped dates
Pre-heated oven to 325F

Method:
1. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, nuts, dates, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Add the melted butters and egss to the flour mixture and mix well.
3. Transfer the batter into two pre-greased 4" mini springform pan.
4. Bake at 325F pre-heated oven for about 25-30min.

Serving suggestions: Sprinkle raw cane sugar crystals on top for last 10 minutes and bake.
Serve in a heart shaped mould with chocolate sauce drizzled on top or just as is with nice hot tea as breakfast in bed. After all it just take 35 minutes to make it ;)

  --> this is how you can store and pack for picnic at the beach!

Mini wheels with mushrooms and swiss chard

Mini wheel is a very pretty shape of pasta specially when the guest of honor are kids.
This dish will be liked by all - kids or adults - doesn't matter. Ready to break the gold sauce pot!

Ingredients:
Chopped Garlic
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Black pepper powder
Salt
Olive oil
A few cups of  chopped swiss chard
A few cups of sliced mushrooms
Mini wheel pasta
Pecorino cheese
1 egg per person

Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a big pan, start heating olive oil, garlic, peppers and salt.
3. Once the oil mixture is warm enough, add some mushrooms and saute until cooked.
4. Now add the chopped chard and wait until it all wilts.
5. Add about 3/4 cup of water in which you cooked pasta to the pan to make a sauce.
6. Drain and add the remaining pasta and some Pecorino cheese. You can also add Parmesan cheese.
7. Pile the pasta in side and crack eggs to make half fried eggs(this will make the gold sauce pots).

Serving suggestions: In a plate, pile the pasta and top it with half fried egg and cheese. Once you break the yolk, the yellow liquid will make for a delicious pasta sauce.

Wild rice with bean-squash patty and parsley-yogurt sauce

Wild rice is a versatile variety of carbohydrate that not looks elegant but also tastes much better than regular brown rice. I paired it with some greens and bean-squash patty for a healthy balanced diet at the same time maintaining that pleasing effect on eyes while I eat!

Ingredients:
Bean-squash patty
Cannellini beans, drained and washed
Roasted apricot squash
Bread crumbs
Minced garlic
Dried rosemary
Dried thyme
Grated Pecorino-romano cheese
Chopped walnuts
Salt
Black pepper powder
Crushed red pepper flakes(optional)

Wild rice
You can use any kind of rice. I prefer wild rice for its taste and aesthetics.

Greens
Chopped Garlic
Chopped walnuts
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
A few cups of spinach and arugula mixture

Parsley-yogurt sauce
Yogurt
Almond-parsley Sauce(Recipe: http://greenteaorjamboree.blogspot.com/2016/01/amber-confetti-in-forest.html)

Method:
Bean-squash patty:
1. Mash the beans and squash in a bowl. Bean to squash ratio that I used was about 3:2.
2. Add some bread crumbs, one clove of minced garlic, some grated pecorino cheese along with walnuts, salt, pepper and dried spices. Mix well.
3. Mixture should be solid so we can make patties out of the same.
4. In a non-stick pan heat some oil, brown the patties and set aside.

Wild rice:
1. Soak the wild rice for 30 minutes before cooking.
2. Take a little more water than double the amount of rice and boil on medium for about 30-40 minutes until the rice is cooked.

Parsley-Yogurt sauce:
1. Follow the recipe in 'Amber confetti in forest' to make the almond-parsley sauce.
Note: http://greenteaorjamboree.blogspot.com/2016/01/amber-confetti-in-forest.html
2. In a blender mix some yogurt and sauce. Adjust the salt to taste.

Greens:
1. In a pan put olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. Warm the mixture gently over low heat and add walnuts.
2. Once the mixture is warm, put the greens and wilt them.

Serving: You can plate the sauce at the bottom. Arrange rice and patty like a small mountain and top it with greens.

Who says weekday dinners are boring! ;)

Farfalle with bean-green sauce

Like entertaining a group of health conscious friends or longing for a Tuscan vacation or cooking on a clock! This dish has endless reasons to be tried and tested. With a burst of natural flavors in your mouth and cooking time of only 20 min, this dish has never disappointed me. Perfect dish to get your protein while satiating your carbs craving!

Ingredients:
Bean-green sauce
2 cup canned Cannellini beans, drained and washed
3 cups kale/arugula/spinach(I use a ready to eat salad mixture for this dish)
1 medium tomato, chopped
Olive oil
4 tsp dried Garlic powder
1 and 1/2 cups Grated Pecorino-romano cheese
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
Salt
Black pepper powder
Crushed red pepper flakes(optional)

Recommended Pasta
Farfalle pasta enough for 2

Method:
1. Start cooking pasta based on the package instructions.
2. In a pan, put olive oil, garlic powder, salt and peppers. Turn the gas on low and allow the flavors to warm.
3. Put the diced tomato in the warm oil and cook for a couple of minutes until tomatoes are tender.
4. Now add the greens and cook for a minute or two to wilt them.
5. Add the beans, walnuts and 1/2 cup grated cheese. Mix well. Add some cooking water from pasta to make the mixture more sauce like. Turn the gas off at this point if the pasta is not ready yet.
6. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add 1 cup of grated cheese and some olive oil. Mix it well while still hot.
7. In the pasta bowl, layer the farfalle at the bottom. Ladle the bean and green sauce. Garnish with more grated cheese and chopped walnuts.

Happy entertaining!

Amber confetti in a forest

Some days when I am alone on a weekend, have nothing to do but relax and enjoy a beautiful afternoon, I feel like treating myself with something elegant yet keeping up to that new year resolution of eating healthy. To that, this amber confetti of mushrooms and almond-parsley sauce comes to my rescue. This is a quick and simple dish that makes me feel like a queen of lazy afternoon!

Ingredients:
Amber confetti:
3 cups quartered mushrooms
Olive oil
2 tsp dried Rosemary
2 tsp dried Garlic powder
2 tsp dried Thyme
Salt
Black pepper powder
Crushed red pepper flakes(optional)

Almond-parsley Sauce:
1/4 cup almonds
1 bunch of parsley
1/2 cup grated Pecorino-Romano
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Lime juice
Salt and Black pepper to taste

Method:
Amber confetti:
1. In a pan, put olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, salt and peppers. Turn the gas on low and allow the flavors to warm.
2. Once the oil is warm, put the mushrooms in and cook while stirring until they are cooked through yet have a firm form.
Tip: Make sure you cook on low to medium heat so that the mushrooms don't dry out.

Sauce:
This is the forest part where amber meets greens.
1. In a food processor, put all the ingredients and mix together. Keep this sauce a bit chunky.
Tip: You prep and make the sauce while the mushrooms are cooking.

Serving suggestion:
Although the amber confetti itself is delicious to eat as such, I like it with small amount of rice and a couple of fingerling potatoes as they taste amazing with the almond-parsley sauce.

Have a good afternoon!