Red Lentil and Bulgur Kufteh in Lettuce Leaves

Last night I was lucky to be at the super creative PEM/PM Artopia event doing a demonstration on my meatball cookbook. The theme matches so well with the museum's focus on global cross-clutural exchange that it was a fun fit. They let us pass out samples and make a mess but we couldn't actually "cook" with any flame. Besides that technical issue, it all was fun! I am so glad that so many people came out to see us!  

These Kufteh are a traditional and popular appetizer in many middle eastern homes. They are like a vegetarian meatball, the texture of a chunky hummus made from red lentils and cracked wheat. The lettuce leaf provides an enjoyable crunch and an edible wrapping. They are eaten chilled or at room temperature, and made a delicious lunch or afternoon snack. A sprinkle of finishing salt and lemon juice is usually squeezed over the top. Last night we added a sliver of spicy cucumber pickles as well. 

If the appetizer presentation doesn't suit you, try the kufteh on top a large salad. They are naturally vegan. to make a gluten free version try replacing the bulgur with quinoa (but it would have to be simmered along with the lentils.) 


Red Lentil and Bulgur Kufteh in Lettuce Leaves

makes 20 veggie balls

1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 cup red lentils
2 cups water
1/2 cup bulgur wheat (fine)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 teaspoon aleppo pepper

20+ little gem lettuce leaves
1 handful parsley, chopped fine
lemon juice
spicy pickles (optional)

Toast the cumin seed in a dry pan on high heat. When the cumin becomes fragrant and the seeds darken a little in color.

Combine the lentils and water in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, skim off any foam, reduce the heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Not all of the water will be absorbed. 

Add the bulgur and salt, into the pot with the lentils. Stir together, cover and let sit for 30 minutes, until the bulgur is tender and all the liquid absorbed.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook slowly for 10 to 15 minutes, until transparent and tender. Stir often. Add the ground cumin and stir together for about 30 seconds, then stir into the lentils and bulgur.

Using a wooden spoon or spatula, beat the lentil mixture in the bowl for a few minutes. This makes the mixture creamy. If it seems dry and crumbly, add a tablespoon of water at a time. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, and Aleppo pepper if desired. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Using two soup spoons form the lentil mixture into quenelles, (football shapes). Or, moisten your hands and shape the mixture into small lime-size balls. Moisten your hands again whenever the mixture begins to stick. 

Place on lettuce leaves arranged on a platter. Garnish with parsley and sprinkle with lemon juice and a dash of salt. A small slice of pickle is an untraditional but delicious addition. Serve cold or at room temperature. 

You love it? Its in my book, along with a bunch of other veggie balls and more!

Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar vs. bad back-to-school drivers

It seemed to be a tough week for people, as school started again. M and I have been carpooling in the morning to work on the very early side of the morning. I get to experience the school drop off rush, which features these real things I have seen: crazed parents waving their arms at children also on cell phones running stop signs and  a car driving on the wrong side of the road. Im sure its hard to be you. A tiny woman in a Suburban large enough to be a space shuttle tried to run over my car. I give her a look, like WHHHHAT!- You think you are bigger than me? Ill crush you! People say I communicate very well when I drive.
End of story, thankfully I survived, am still alive, to enjoy tomatoes and zucchini! I hope everybody's tension simmers down by next week. Seriously people.

Obvious to anyone from my pic of the farmers market bounty that this, currently, is the best time of the year in the northeast for fresh foods. My visits to the farm and the farmers market leave my tote bags busting seams. And it means lots of cooking to be done. Such happiness! 

I was totally inspired by a recipe in the Sprouted Kitchen cookbook, grilled zucchini rolls with za'atar. I love any excuse to use use some za'atar spice mix and the zucchini was so young and tender I thought it was the perfect size to make bite size rolls. Of course I made some changes, but I like to give credit where credit is due.  So eat up! They would be really nice as apps at a party. A little messy, I would use toothpicks if people are in nice dresses!

If you are one of those people driving like a maniac on the way to school, you might not have time to make these for your little tot's lunches. You should focus on driving. But if you are a cool and collected cucumber of a parent then this is a real cute lunchbox item.

I used a mix of kefir and goat cheese because thats what I had in my fridge. If you have greek
yogurt, thats what Sprouted Kitchen uses.

Grilled Zucchini Roulades with Goat Cheese, Za'atar, and Sumac

Keffir 1/4 cup
Goat cheese 1/4 cup
Ground sumac 1/2 teaspoon (save some to sprinkle on top)
1 1/2 tablespoons Za'atar
pinch of salt

5 zucchini, about 6"-7" long.
olive oil
sesame seeds


Mix the cheese, kefir and spices in a bowl, the goal is a spreadable sauce, the consistency of mayonnaise. Set aside till later!

Cut the tops off the zucchini. Slice them the very long way, into tongue shapes which are a 1/4" or thinner. But not paper thin, or they will tear when grilled. Put slices into a bowl. Drizzle them all with salt and a little olive oil, toss with your hands to cover.

Get a grill nice and hot (indoor, outdoor or Forman) and lay the zucchini all over it. It takes about 4 minutes for the first slide to become tender and supple, and develop nice black grill marks. The slices should be halfway or more cooked through.
Flip-em-over! Wait for the same nice grill marks on this side. The zucchini will be cooked through and quite floppy which is what we want. Remove them gently with tongs to a plate.

Let them cool before spreading with cheese mixture or you will make soup of it all! Once cool, take one tongue of zucchini, spread with some cheese mixture, not too much, you will figure it out after 1 or 2. Roll up from one end, making a spiral. Set it on one end on a pretty plate.

Once all rolled up, sprinkle the plate with sesame seeds and some sumac which is so pretty and tasty.

I do have to say, they are best the first day, the zucchini let out more juices and it was all a little less perfect as leftovers. But still good. 

Crispy Chickpeas for Salad and Snacking

Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, Garbanzo is a great word to say out loud, gar-ban-zo! Just last week I was in the grocery store, in the canned beans area, picking up some black beans and a guy was staring at the wall of beans and looked so overwhelmed. He caught my eye and asked "can I ask you a question?" I love being asked question in the supermarket because i am full of knowledge in this area. Like the elderly lady who likes to hang around the yarn store to tell people the best way to put fringe on their afghans, (this happens). So back to beans, this guy was so confused if the can marked Garbanzo Beans was the same thing as chickpeas. I assured him they were one and the same, and go by both names. I guess he was British, from his accent. And in the UK the little things are always called chickpeas, and in other areas (Spain, for one, they are garbanzos) We in the USA cannot decide.

Which brings me to think about canned beans, I used to buy many more canned beans, and chickpeas were always canned. I thought they never got soft if you made them from dry ones. Sometime in the last few years this changed, I began making a pot of beans every week or two, and I tried chickpeas a few times, now I alternate beans one week, chickpeas the next. I make hummus and these yummy spiced crispy fried chickpeas. I still make sure to have a few cans of beans in the cabinet for "emergency" food if we need huevos rancheros one morning.  

You can make the spicy crispy chickpeas with either type, you may be like me and think that dried beans and chickpeas in particular take too long to cook and are too much trouble. I will just remind you that dried beans cost pennies compared to canned ones and the trick is to properly soak them. Proper soaking is especially important with chicky-chicky garbanzos. 

I put them in water at night before bed, if i am going to cook them the next evening. I soak most of my beans for 6 hours, but chickpeas (it sounds extreme) I like to soak 12 to 24 hours on the counter. But this is so easy: a bowl, dry beans, water to cover by at least twice the volume. In this time, they plump up and release all these foamy gassy bubbles (see the picture!) After 24 hours they have an almost transparent quality and rattle around like marbles. I like to stir them around with my fingers. 

Before cooking, always pour out the soaking water (the water turns all yellow!), and give them a good rinse until the water is clear. Then it is a matter of boiling them till done. Cover with plenty of water two or 3 times the volume, no need to measure. Bring to a boil and keep at an active simmer for an hour, or until they are tender. When you press one between your fingers it should have some resistance and then smush. More al dente than smushy hummus. 

A few thoughts. If you have hard water, your beans will never really get soft because of the minerals, you might like to use filtered water. If you have a pressure cooker, this is the perfect time to use it! I use my pressure cooker always, I find if I time 15 minutes after the pressure comes up. Then turn it off and let the pressure come down by itself, they are perfect. 

Strain the little beauties through a colander. In order to get the crispy ones crispy, it is helpful to dry them for a bit. So pour them onto a tea towel in a layer and do something else for a half hour.  (The same goes for canned chickpeas, rinse well, lay to dry) 

Good, now the chickpeas go into a bowl with salt and the middle eastern spices; cardamom, cumin and allspice. Tossed around it all sticks to them, beautiful. 

Heat a heavy skillet with enough olive oil to coat the bottom like a puddle. When it is hot and shimmery, add the spiced garbanzos. Shake them about and leave them to fry for 3 minutes or so, come back in and stir them around, repeat. they cook in 10 minutes or so. I like when they start to split open, the frying bubbles will subside and there will be less oil in the pan, this is how you know they are done. Remove with a spoon to drain in paper towels for a moment.

Crispy crunchy chicky chicky! Don't burn yourself, wait a moment. When shaken around they sound terrific. These are an awesome snack by themselves.

They are so awesome they make any salad more awesome. Today I made a salad of fresh green lettuces, kale, cucumbers, and red spring onion. A squeeze of fresh lime and plenty of olive oil made a fine dressing. Then I had a hankering for some creamy tahini dressing on the chickpeas, so I mixed that up really quickly. It did make it that much more delicious. It was a nice dinner, I am eagerly catching up on Game of Thrones, as fast as Netflix can send them. Yes, I often eat on the couch in front of the TV. Quelle horreur! 

Note: Leftovers are so so, they looks the crispy pop. To refresh them, cook in a hot pan for a few minutes until dry and crisp again. 

Crispy Chickpeas 

1 1/2 cups Cooked Chickpeas (1/2 cup when dry)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cumin

about a 1/4 cup olive oil 

Cook, drain and dry the chickpeas. Toss in a bowl with the salt and spices. Heat a heavy frying pan with olive oil to create a puddle on the bottom. Toss in the chickpeas when the oil is hot (do in 2 batches if your pan is small.) Shake periodically, after about 10 minutes when the bubbles in the oil have subsided and there is less oil in the pan, and the chickpeas begin to split: remove them from the pan to drain on paper towels. 

Add on top of salads or eat with a meze platter of olives and other yummies. 

Fattoush Salad

Fattoush is an excellent summertime salad to utilize the produce of the moment, crisp crunchy vegetables. I came home from the farmers market with cucumbers and radishes. I had pita bread triangles in my freezer, leftover from a dinner party. I will add fresh mint and parsley next time, I didnt have any, and honestly it is good without it. All together it came into a good dinner. Allowing the salad to marinate for 30 minutes is helpful to infuse the crisp veggies with seasoning.

Garlic and salt in mortar and pestle

Very recently while in Pottstown, PA and hungry for dinner before running off to a movie, we found an amazing cafe hidden in a residential street. The iCreate cafe, revels nothing about what is inside.

A row house set up as an endless row of living rooms, with cafe tables and lounging areas. The world cup was playing on a projector. Everything mismatched, clearly homegrown, a space created by the owner, I sank into a couch in front of dishes of hummus and baba ganoush and pita breads, feeling entirely relaxed, happy and at home.

If it wasn't close to closing time, I would have sat there for hours. But it was almost closing time when we arrived, and we were happy to eat something which wouldn't be much work for the owner to prepare, as he was clearly cleaning up when we arrived, when we ordered the pita breads and dips, I wondered aloud if he had any fattoush salad, or something equally fresh. 

Toast pita bread

"You want fattoush?"

"Well, yes, only if it is no trouble, like if you have some made up...?"

"Its no problem." 

Ash began to make the fattoush salad from scratch. I peaked to see him mashing garlic in a morter and pestle, toasting pita breads, making dressing from scratch, tearing mint and parsley, adding more olive oil to the salad at the end. I felt sort of bad, that he was going to the trouble at the very end of the night. If you have worked in a kitchen, you know the feeling. He worked with ease, on the other side of a bar counter, where he chatted with us and the remaining guests who after their dinners had been hanging around like it was their own apartment.

The salad packed up in a large to-go container, we settled the bill and made our goodbyes to new friends. I smuggled the fattoush into the movies in my purse, with crossed fingers the dressing would stay put where it belonged! 

Cucumbers and Radish

The previews are too long these days, but it was devoured before they were over. Big chunks of tomato and cucumber, Loads of fresh mint and parsley. Tangy and fruity olive oil dressing and lots of toasted chewy pita bread torn into it. At that moment I was so grateful he went to the trouble to make this salad, this work of art. That is one of the best salads ive ever had. Defiantly the best ever eaten in the reflected light of a movie theatre.  

Leftover pita bread

The previews are too long these days, but it was devoured before they were over. Big chunks of tomato and cucumber, Loads of fresh mint and parsley. Tangy and fruity olive oil dressing and lots of toasted chewy pita bread torn into it. At that moment I was so grateful he went to the trouble to make this salad, this work of art. That is one of the best salads ive ever had. Defiantly the best ever eaten in the reflected light of a movie theatre. 

Inspired by the fattoush salad at iCreate cafe, and the one in Ottolengi's Jerusalem cookbook, this is my version of the classic salad from the Middle East. 

Fattoush Salad

4 small cucumbers

1 cup cherry tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes

1 bunch radishes

4 garlic cloves

salt, to taste

two whole wheat pita breads, more or less

1/8 - 1/4 cup olive oil, more or less

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup plain yogurt 

1 tablespoon dried mint

handful of fresh mint and parsley (optional)

2 teaspoons ground sumac, to garnish

fresh ground pepper

Chop the cucumber into large bite size pieces. Slice the tomatoes and radish, put all the veggies into a bowl. Put a the garlic along with a pinch of salt into a mortar and pestle. The salt helps break down the garlic into a paste. Scoop the garlic paste into the veggie bowl. Add the dressing ingredients to the veggies, lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil, salt and yogurt. Toss well to mix. Add the herbs, dried mint and whatever fresh mint and parsley you have on hand. Mix them in well, set aside for 30 minutes so the dressing marinates the veggies. 

Briefly toast pita bread, in a toaster, or a skillet. The effect is to dry and toast the outside, but keep the inside soft, we aren't making pita chips here. Keep the pita to the side until ready to eat. 

Tear the pita breads over the salad, garnish liberally with sumac and ground pepper. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top, why not!

Serves at least 4 as a side or 2 as a main course.

Fattoush Salad