Ingredients: Salad: 2 whole pieces of pita bread (white or wheat, your preference) 3 heads romaine hearts lettuce 1 large cucumber or 3 small cucumbers 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves 2 large tomatoes 1 medium red onion 2 tablespoons fresh mint or 1 tablespoon dried mint Dressing: 1/4 cup olive oil 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 tablespoon sumac 1/2 teaspoon fresh minced garlic (optional) salt and pepper to taste Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Cut pitas into small squares. Brush them with olive oil and lay them out sparsely on a baking dish. Bake for 6-10 minutes, until light golden brown. Watch them closely because they can burn quickly. Set aside. Chop the romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, onion, and fresh mint (if using dry mint, mix it in the dressing). Toss in a large salad bowl. Prepare dressing: The easiest way to mix dressing properly is to place the ingredients in a sealed jar and rapidly shake the jar for 20 seconds. You can also thoroughly whisk together the ingredients. Using one of the methods, combine olive oil, lemon juice, sumac, garlic, and salt pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Immediately before serving the salad, toss in the pitas. Be sure to do this just before serving so the pitas stay crispy.
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Catfish gets a bad rap for being a bottom feeder but most U.S. catfish is actually farm-raised so they are only eating the fish-food pellets the farmers are giving them, which are made from soy-beans, corn, and rice. It is a good fish to use because it is very mild tasting, lean, and nutritious.
Ingredients 1 ½ pound fish (I used catfish) 1 lemon 2 Tablespoons oil 3 medium or 2 large onions 3 garlic cloves 1 teaspoon curry (more if you want it spicier) 2 dried limes (aka numi bussra) * *Dried limes can be purchased at chaldean markets. If you cannot obtain them, you can substitute the juice of one lemon. ½ teaspoon salt plus some 3 Tablespoons tomato paste ¼ cup parsley leaves Instructions Prep Chop onions Smash garlic with the side of a knife and chop finely Split dried limes open and remove the black pulp from them. If the pulp is in big pieces, chop it Chop the parsley fine Fish Your fish should be scaled and split open. Squeeze lemon over the fish and sprinkle with salt. Bake the fish in the oven at 500 degrees for 20 minutes. While the fish is baking, work on the topping. Tomato/Curry Topping Heat oil in a pot over medium heat Add chopped onions and stir occasionally until they are clear and soft Add the garlic to the pot with the onions and stir occasionally for a few minutes Add the dried lime pulp to the pot and stir for a few minutes. Add salt, curry, tomato paste, and parsley and stir for a few minutes. Remove the fish from the oven and spread on the tomato/curry topping. Bake for another 15 minutes at 500 degrees. Optional step – broil the fish for 5 minutes so the topping gets blackened a bit. Serve with rice 2 1/2 cups Basmati rice
4 cups Water 3 tablespoons oil 5 tablespoons tomato paste 2 1/2 teaspoons salt Rinse rice a couple times to remove excess starch. Soak rice in warm water for about 20 minutes. Heat oil in a pot. Add tomato paste and stir until it melts down a bit. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Add rice and allow it to boil for a minute. Stir rice well to make sure that there are no chunks of tomato paste. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and allow to simmer for about ten minutes. Fluff rice with fork cover and allow to simmer for about 2 more minutes. Serve with salad. Yellow rice is typically topped with slivered almonds that are either toasted or pan fried for a couple of mintues until they brown little. Some like to fry golden raisins for a couple of minutes and top the rice with those too. The rice can be eaten with salad and chicken. It is also very good topped with the Curry chicken recipe posted earlier. In this recipe, I used yellow powder because I didn't have saffron. Yellow powder can be found at Middle eastern or Indian specialty grocery stores. Ingredients 2 cups rice 3 cups Water 1 tablespoon oil 2 teaspoons salt 1/8th teaspoon egg yellow powder or a few strands of saffron 1 tablespoon rose water (optional) Slivered almonds or golden raisins (optional) Directions Rinse the rice in a bowl a couple of times to remove excess starch. Soak the rice in warm water for about 15 minutes. Add oil, water, and salt in a pot and bring to a rolling boil. Add yellow powder or saffron and rose water (if using) to boiling water. Add rice to boiling water. Bring to a rolling boil again. Cover the pot and simmer (low heat) the rice for 10 minutes. Turn off and let sit for a few minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork or spatula. Fry almonds and or raisins for a couple of minutes spread on top of rice. This delicous cool and creamy dish can be eaten alone as a salad, a side dish, used as a dipping sauce, or added to pita sandwiches. It is very healthy and tasty. The recipe can be altered to your taste with different herbs either fresh or dry. I grew up eating this without any herbs. The dish can also be altered by using thicker or thinner yorgurt, or made with lebneh (yogurt strained in a cheese cloth) instead of yogurt. Ingredients:
2 cups plain yogurt 2 Lebanese/Armenian cucumbers or 1/2 of an English cucumber finely chopped 1 garlic clove, mashed then minced 1/8 teaspoon salt Optional: 1 teaspoon dried mint Put yogurt in a bowl and cover with at least 6 layers of paper towels to absorb excess water. Set aside for a 5 minutes. Discard the paper towel, and stir the yogurt. Add the cucumbers, garlic, and salt. Mix well. Add more garlic and salt if desired, but beware, the garlic will become much stronger tasting after the dish sits. This is a very time consuming salad because the parsley has to be trimmed of the stems, washed mulitiple times and finely chopped. All the work is worth it because it tastes amazing. Ingredients
4 Bunches of parsley 2 1/2 Large or 3 medium tomatoes 8 Green onions 1 Tablespoon dried mint leaves 1/2 Cup fine burghal Dressing 1/4 cup olive oil 1 tablespoon salt 3/4 cup lemon juice 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional) Directions Rinse the burghal and soak in one cup of luke warm water for about 15 minutes or until tender. Drain water and set aside. Trim all of the stems off of the parsley. Put the leaves in a bowl of luke warm water for about 5 minutes to to allow the dirt to settle to the bottom. Drain the water and repeat the process about 3 or 4 times until there is no more dirt/sand visible in the bowl. It may be easier to separate the dirt if you transfer the leaves to another bowl and then dump the water out. Chop the parsley very fine. I bunch up the parsley with one hand and chop with the other to make it easier. Chop the tomatoes and green onions. Mix the parsley, tomatoes, green onions, and burghal in a bowl. If you will be eating the salad within a couple of hours go ahead and mix the olive oil, lemon juice and salt in. I like to add the dressing about an hour before to allow the parsley to absorb the dressing. If you will not be eating it immediately, you can add the dressing ingredients later so the salad will not wilt too much. Ingredients
2 Cans Chick Peas (also known as garbanzo beans) 1/4 Cup Tahina (sesame paste) 1 garlic clove (use 2 if you want more garlic taste) 1/2 cup lemon juice 2 teaspoons Extra virgin olive oil salt Paprika, Cayenne pepper, parsley, or olives to garnish (optional) Directions Drain chick peas Add chick peas, tahina, garlic, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of olive oil, and a dash of salt to food processer or blender. Process until it is a smooth consistency. You may need to add more olive oil to make it smoother. Spread on to a plate. Pour the other teaspoon of olive oil on top in a circular pattern (optional) Sprinkle paprika or cayenne on top (optional) Add olives or parsley to top (optional This is a delicious salad that is simple, great tasting, and a Chaldean staple.
Recipe
Dice tomatoes, onions, and cucumber in a large bowl. Add juice of the lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss until vegetables are well mixed and coated with dressing. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. |