Middle Eastern Plater

Some of the best tasting and healthy food comes from the middle east. I make many variations on this platter depending on what I have around the house and can get fresh that day. This one includes homemade hummus, homemade tabbouleh, Greek style yogurt, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, fresh mint and olive oil.

Hummus
1 can of chickpeas
3 medium cloves of garlic, smashed
3 oz of extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon of tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika

Add 2 cups of water to a saucepan and add the chickpeas and the garlic, turn to medium high and bring to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes and turn it off. Add the chickpeas to a food processor with a few tablespoons of water from the pot. Add the remaining ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth. Chill and serve.

Tabbouleh

1/2 cup cooked bulgar wheat (1/4 cup uncooked #2 bulgar)
1/2 cup of fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1 roma tomato, seeded and chopped
1/8 cup cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/8 cup of onions, diced
3 oz of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of cumin

Start 1 cup of water on high in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add bulgar wheat and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir and then turn of the heat and cover. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Drain with a strainer. Mix bulgar wheat and all of the other ingredients. Stir to combine well. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.


I plated up two servings of tabbouleh, hummus and yogurt, then chopped some cucumbers, tomatoes and onions. I finished the platter off with fresh chopped mint, paprika lemons and extra virgin olive oil. Finally I toasted up some whole wheat pita breads and had a healthy and delicious dinner.

Potato and Eggplant Curry with Basmati Rice, Spouts Salad and Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Wow, where to start. I have been trying to make my own curries (dry and wet, green and red) recently and after a lot of research I have made some progress. Since it is Saturday, I was able to go to the weekly organic farmers market in Coconut Grove and pick up some key ingredients.

After the market, Nicole and I went to our friends Josue and Laura's house to try to make some serious vegetable curry. We chose eggplants, white sweet potato, baby sweet potato, vidallia onion and purple potato for the vegetables. I chopped all of the potatoes uniformly about a 1/2 inch square. I also chopped the eggplant and onion uniformly at 3/4 inch square. I laid the veggies out on a sheet tray and baked them for 25 minutes at 315 or until cooked but still firm.

In the meantime I went about making the curry. For the wet green curry I mixed chopped garlic, ginger, Serrano chillies, jalapeño peppers, habanero peppers, coconut water, fenugreek, coriander, salt and black pepper together with a mortar and pestal. For the dry curry I mixed powdered coriander, cumin, cayenne, red chili, mustard seed, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, star anise, nutmeg, bay leaf, thyme and turmeric in a dry sauté pan. I turned the pan on low and waited until the spices became fragrant. I then added the seasoning mix to the wet curry and belended it all together.

We chose to go classic and use basmati rice. Rinse the rice twice in cold water. Then add new water and bring the rice to a boil. Let the rice cook on medium heat until the rice has risen to the water level. Cover the pot using a piece of aluminum foil first the put on the pot lid , this will create a very tight seal. Turn it to low and let it cook another 7 to 9 minutes, set a side and let it rest for at least 5 minutes before fluffing.

I also made a cucumber yogurt condiment which consisted of: sliced cucumber, yogurt, olive oil, curry seasoning, salt and black pepper.

To finish the curry we started a large pot on medium heat. We added the curry and stirred it until fragrant. We then added a can of coconut milk and some coconut water. We let this cook for 10 minutes and then added all of the vegetables. We let that cook for another 10 minutes to get heated through and to allow the flavors to meld.

I served this with a sprouts salad that was a mix of organic sunflower, broccoli and buckwheat sprouts with a sprouted bean mix of 6 different beans. I tossed that with an herb-lime vinaigrette and some vidallia onions.

It turned out pretty good and I enjoyed it as well. I think this curry road is going to be a long a interesting flavor adventure. One I willingly will travel.