Saturday, August 14, 2010

Mjadra, Tabbuli and Arabic Bread

Sorry it has been so long since I posted a recipe.  I'm posting a recipe I've previously posted before, but adding 2 new ones (non-Slow cooker) to it.

Last night, I had my former trainer and his fiance over for dinner.  (John and Sara, thank you SO much for coming!)  Sara is a vegetarian and since meat doesn't really sound very good to me lately, I knew just what to make!  Mjadra is super easy and it tastes SO delicious!  It's good for you and costs so little!

I needed to use up the parsley in my garden, so I decided to make Tabbuli with the Mjadra.  The longest part of this process is cleaning the parsley.  We were in a hurry, so while we would normally food process the parsley to make it nice and fine, my husband gave it a quick rough chop and tossed it in the bowl!  It tasted just as good!

Arabic Bread is not hard to make and it is SO worth the time spent making it.  It's a 3 step process, but they are not hard steps, just takes time.  This would be good to make on a weekend, but not during the week when you're busy.  (Remember, I'm home for the summer still)

I also served my Mjadra with hummus and fresh carrots.  In our family, we have hummus at every family gathering and we always put out fresh carrots to dip in it.  I think this may have been Ella's favorite part of the meal, although it was hard to tell because she had second helpings of everything!  We were all so impressed!

The Arabic Bread recipe and Tabbuli Recipes are from "Lebanese Cuisine," which is a WONDERFUL cookbook to have!

I know Sara is super excited to get these recipes, so here they are Sarah and the rest of my loyal followers!

Mjadra, Tabbuli and Arabic Bread

Mjadra Ingredients:
2 large sweet onions, roughly chopped
1/2 cup olive oil (or more)
1 cup lentils
1 cup brown rice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Salt
3 cups water

Mjadra Directions:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet until hot.  Add onions, coat with olive oil then turn way down.  Cover and let cook for an hour stirring occasionally.  You are carmelizing the onions, so they will turn brown and take a long time.

Once onions are carmelized, add lentils and rice and coat them with all the yummy goodness of the onions.  Add to the slow cooker.

Add the water, salt, pepper and lemon juice, give a little stir and then cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with Pita Bread or freshly made Arabic Bread!


Tabbuli Ingredients:
3/4 Cracked Wheat (Bulgar wheat)
2 large bunches of parsley, finely choppd (we rough chopped for lack of time!)
1/2 bunch Green Onions, finely chopped
1/8 tsp. Cinnamon
2-3 tsp. salt
Pepper to taste
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 large tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2-2/3 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
Tabbuli Directions:
Rinse Cracked Wheat and let soak for about 10 mins.

In the bottom of a medium sized mixing bowl, mix together the onions, green onions, cinnamon, salt and pepper.  
Drain Cracked Wheat and squeeze out any excess water as you place into your mixing bowl.  
Add the remaining ingredients and toss together.  Taste to be sure you have enough lemon juice/olive oil.

Enjoy!


Arabic Bread Ingredients:
1 pkg. Quick rising yeast
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 Cups warm water
6 Cups flour
2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup milk

Arabic Bread Directions:
Dissolve the yeast, sugar in a 1/2 cup of warm water.  Let stand for 5-10 mins.

Mix the flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl and make a depression in the center.  Combined the remaining water, milk and dissolved yeast and pour into the depression.  Begin mixing the flour with the liquid making sure all the batter on the sides of the bowl is worked into the dough.  Knead until a smooth dough results and the sides of the bowl are clean.  (You will need to dip your hands into water occasionally while kneading to give it a smooth, elastic finish.)

Cover the dough with a towel and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in size (2-4 hours).  Grab orange-sized balls from the edge of the dough and form into smooth balls until all the dough is used.  Cover the dough balls with a cotton kitchen towel and let rise on another cotton cloth for 30 mins.

Roll theb alls into 1/4 inch-thick circles.  Cover and let rise again on a cloth for 30 mins.  

Heat oven to 475 degrees.  Place dough directly on the oven racks, or on a greased cookie sheet.  as soon as the dough rises into a mound, 2-5 mins, place it under the broiler to brown for a few seconds until lightly browned.  (I skipped the browning).

Serve and enjoy!!!

TIPS:  Even though the last two recipes are not Slow Cooker recipes, when you have the time, try them.  They are worth it!  If you don't have the time, buy store bought Tabbuli and some Pita bread.  It will still give you the same feel!
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12 comments:

  1. I can see that you are an expert at your field! I am launching a website soon, and your information will be very useful for me.. Thanks for all your help and wishing you all the success.

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  2. I just found your blog today and after going back through some older posts, I was surprised to see tabbuli! My father's family is Lebanese and tabbuli is one of my dad's favorites! I look forward to following your blog!

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  3. Casey,

    Welcome! Glad to have you! If you're on facebook, I post all updates there and link them to this site as well. It's under the Same title!

    Happy Crock-Potting!
    Hope

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  4. I'm already a fan on facebook!! That's how I found your blog!

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  5. We are having this again for the 6th time tomorrow. LOVE IT. We are having carrots, hummus, and pita bread as a side. Can't wait!

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  6. Yummy Maja! So glad you like it so much!

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  7. When preparing tabbouleh salad, our Lebanese family adds fresh mint and does not use cinnamon.
    It tastes good with hummus as a side dish.

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  8. LOVE fresh mint!!! Hummus is awesome!

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  9. This is STILL one of my favorite recipes! I keep coming back to it again and again!

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  10. Hi,

    Thanks for the recipe. What type of lentils did you use?

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  11. Salaam! I too would love to know what type of lentils you used please x

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