Light and Fresh Spinach Salad

Light and Fresh Spinach Salad

This tangy salad makes a great offset for fish and meat dishes. It is a welcome change from lettuce salads and is rich in iron and other nutrients. If you want to make a meal out of it, just add some fresh bread and make a larger quantity of salad, or combine it with Lizabetti's hearty chicken soup or mushroom beef barley soup for a healthy and satisfying meal.

Ingredients

Salad

• 3 cups of fresh spinach or baby spinach
• 1/4 cup of crumbled gorganzola cheese
• 1 tbsp of toasted pine nuts
• 1-2 pieces of crispy cooked bacon, crumbled
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 thinly slices of red onion
• 6 cherry tomatoes (optional)

Dressing

• the juice of one lime or lemon (will probably measure to less than a 1/4 cup)
• 1 tsp of dijon mustard
• 1/4 c of first press olive oil
• salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

Dressing

1. In a small mixing bowl, squeeze all the juice out of the lime.
2. Add the mustard and wisk it into the lime juice.
3. Slowly drizzle the olive oil whiling wisking it into the lime juice
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

   

Salad

1. Trim spinach if necessary.
2. Soak and wash spinach, making sure that all the dirt has been thoroughly removed. The best method is to soak the spinach in cold water for a few minutes. Repeat this at least twice.
3. Spin the spinach dry. Plate the spinach in individual plates or in a large salad bowl.
4. If the pine nuts are raw, roast them in a toaster oven at 350F until golden brown . You know they are ready when you can smell the fragrance of the pine nuts or about 5 minutes. No toaster oven, use a small fry pan on medium/high and brown the pine nuts. It should take just a few minutes and you need to keep the pine nuts moving constantly or they will burn and taste awful.
5. Add pine nuts to the salad.
6. Add the bacon and cheese.
7. Salt and pepper.
8. Just prior to serving, drizzle the dressing over the entire salad and toss. Will serve 2-3 people.
9. Serve before or after the main course.

Variations to the salad

The spinach salad as described above is tasty and a healthy change to your typical salad. You can also change it up and add other ingredients. A tasty addition is grilled portabello mushroom. To prepare the portabello, clean it of any visible dirt and trim the stem down. Drizzle it with olive oil. Slather it with about 1 tbsp of minced garlic. Salt and pepper it to taste. Set it aside to marinade for about 30 minutes. Grill it at medium heat or 375F for about 5 minutes on each side. Slice it into about 6 pieces and added to your salad.

You can also thinly sliced cremini mushrooms. You don't need many, about 2 mushroom per person.

This salad is also great prepared with the mesclyn mix greens.

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Copyright © 2007, 2008 Lizabetti.com, All Rights Reserved

Fool Medamis - Egyptian Style Fava Beans

This nutritious vegetarian dish is the most common meal eaten in Egypt on a daily basis. Most Egyptians eat fava beans as the main course for at least one meal per day. The versatility of the bean makes it good for breakfast with eggs, or spicy for supper.

The beans have a delicious full body taste and leaves you completely satisfied. Fava beans are very high in protein and make an excellent meat substitute, while being one of the most flavorful foods known to man, or woman.

In Egypt it is common to purchase ready made fava bean sandwiches at small traditional restaurants. Yes, fava beans are the original fast food. The same corner stands sell felafel sandwiches, which are also a nutritious vegetarian meal.

Fava beans are commonly eaten with bread. Some people like to scoop them up with small pieces of Syrian bread, while others prefer to eat them in a sandwich. I prefer the sandwich version because it allows me to combine all the tastes of the vegetables and sauces in one package.

I like to serve the fava beans as pictured below with a nice assortment of fresh vegetables and a Tahina Bakdoonisiya , which is a sesame parsley dipping sauce. I published the recipe for the Tahina separately. You can also serve it with hommus for a more substantial alternative.

Medamis is the past tense of the process that the beans are cooked with. They are slow cooked over very low heat. However, you will not need to do this since the great thing about fava beans is that the canned variety is very good. At a later date I will show you how to make them from dry beans, but this recipe assumes that you use canned beans. The canned beans are convenient, economical, and taste very good.

Serves : 4 People along with the side dishes and bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 16 ounce can of fava beans. I find both Cedar and Sahadi brands to have authentic flavor and good quality.
• 1/2 bunch Italian parsley and/or cilantro
  
• 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon Hungarian or Ethiopian Paprica
• 2 scallions
  
• 1 Large Lime
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  

Side Dishes:

• 1 ripe tomato, slices
• 1 Armenian cucumber
• 6 oz of fresh arugula
• 6-10 radishes
• Tahina Bakdoonisiya Dipping Sauce
• 4 loaves of Syrian bread or fresh baked French bread
• Feta Cheese (optional)
  

Directions:

1. Finely chop the parsley and slice the green onion
   
2. Place the beans in a saucepan, add the paprika and 3/4 of the garlic.
3. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer.
   
4. Use a colander to drain the beans.
5. Place the beans in a mixing bowl. Add the scallions, parsley, cumin coriander and the rest of the garlic. Mix thoroughly.
6. Add the juice of one large fresh lime.
• Hint : press the lime down on the counter with your hand and roll back and forth. this will make it easier to squeeze and gets more juice.
  
7. Add the olive oil. Mix thoroughly.
8. Serve in an attractive dish with the vegetables, Tahina dip and bread.

Copyright © 2007 Lizabetti.com, All Rights Reserved

Tahina Bakdoonisiya - Egyptian Sesame-Parsley Dipping Sauce.

This dip is based on Tahini, a Middle Eastern seasame seed sauce. You may have tasted tahini in Hommus or Baba Ghanouj, which are dips. Bakdoonisiya can also be considered a dip, but it is more of a condiment. You can buy tahini in most grocery stores now, and it is available in any Middle Eastern market.

Bakdoonisiya is commonly eaten with fava beans, falafel, shawirma, and shish kebab. The nutty, tangy flavor is one of my favorite tastes and I can eat it simply as a bread dip. You can also dip vegetables in it, serve it with meats, or use it as a salad dressing. It is also nice to have it as an hors devours with fresh vegetables and bread.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons tahini Middle Eastern sesame seed sauce.
• 1 bunch parsley, chopped fine
• 1 large, juicy lime
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 3-4 tablespoon water
• 1 drizzle extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian or Ethiopian paprika
  

Sides:

• Scallions
• Ripe Red Tomatoes
• Radishes
• Cucumbers
• Syrian Bread
  

Directions:

1. Place the tahini in a bowl, mix in 1 teaspoon of water, squeeze in some of the lime. Stir thoroughly.
2. Repeat this process until you have a smooth liquid with the consistency of a milk shake. You should use up all the lime and most of the water.
   
3. Mix in the parsley and salt.
4. Sprinkle paprika over the top and drizzle with olive oil.
   

Copyright © 2007 Lizabetti.com, All Rights Reserved