Tagged with Middle Eastern

Ingredient of the Week: Carrots // Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I’ve recently had a change of heart about sandwiches. See, I used to firmly believe that there was no way a vegan sandwich could ever taste good. Sandwiches are for cheese, and deli meat, and mayo, and bacon. Not for vegan things. Then I tried a bite of Trevor’s “Vegan Pressed” sandwich from our local bakery, The Biscuit, and now I’m obsessed. It’s got roasted sweet potatoes, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and some kind of amazing tahini spread, that almost tastes better than cheese when it’s all warmed up, if you can believe that. It may even have topped Finale’s California Turkey (bacon, turkey, avocado, chipotle mayo), and Diesel’s Pilgrim (thick slices of turkey, hot stuffing, cranberry sauce, and cream cheese) on my list of all-time favorite sandwiches. OK, not the Pilgrim. But still! It’s really good.

Garden Carrots {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

All of this is just to prime you for the fact that I’m sharing a non-traditional sandwich here, and I want you to keep an open mind about it. Ever since I saw this on Ranjani’s blog, over a year ago, I’ve been intrigued. No, I probably wouldn’t order the “carrot panini” at a deli either, but hear me out. The carrots are thinly sliced, then marinated in a sweet, Moroccan-spiced dressing. You quickly blend up a fresh olive tapenade, layer it on bread with a few thin slices of feta cheese, stuff the middle with the carrot strips, and pan-grill it until it’s hot and melty. It’s a satisfying mix of sweet, salty, and carby, like any good sandwich, but with no bacon in sight. Take a chance on it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Moroccan Carrot Panini with Olive Tapenade

Adapted from Gourmet via 4 Seasons of Food. Serves 4.

  • 6 medium carrots
  • 2 TBS sugar
  • 2 TBS lemon juice, divided
  • 2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp chile powder
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 c. + 2 TBS olive oil, divided, plus more for the pan
  • 3/4 c. pitted kalamata olives
  • 2 TBS capers, drained
  • 1 anchovy fillet
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 8 slices bread
  • 4 oz. of feta cheese, thinly sliced
  1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the carrots and discard the peel. Use the peeler to create thin, wide slices of the carrots. Drop the carrot slices in the boiling water and blanch for one minute – they should be crisp-tender. Drain immediately.
  2. Whisk together the sugar, 1 TBS of the lemon juice, the paprika, cumin, cinnamon, chile powder, and sea salt in a medium bowl. Add 1/4 c. of the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Add the blanched carrots and toss to coat in the dressing. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and up to 2 days.
  3. To make the tapenade, add the olives, capers, and anchovy to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the remaining 2 TBS of olive oil and pulse a few more times.
  4. Assemble the sandwiches: Place 1 oz. of feta cheese on each of four slices of bread. Spread a tablespoon of the tapenade on the remaining 4 slices of bread. Divide the carrots in to four portions and layer on top of the cheese. Top with the tapenade-covered bread. Heat a thin layer of olive oil on a griddle or in a frying pan. Place the sandwiches in the pan, and cook until golden brown on each side and cheese is melty, flipping after about 3-4 minutes. Serve immediately.

Ingredient of the Week: Carrots // Savory Carrot, Feta, and Almond Baklava

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I started an “Ingredient of the Week” feature earlier this year, challenging myself to make the most of a particular in-season ingredient by posting a creative recipe starring that ingredient for 5 days in a row. I managed to feature rhubarb and green peas, and had grand plans for doing blackberries and peaches and zucchini and tomatoes by the end of the summer, but the summer sort of got away from me. Still, just because home grown produce isn’t as bountiful now as it was in August doesn’t mean that there aren’t seasonal ingredients worth celebrating. This week, I’m celebrating one of the last vegetables we were able to harvest from our garden – the carrot.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

While not as popular as another sweet, orange fall vegetable (although I do feel like the pumpkin mayhem is a little more under control this year), the carrot is a humble, under-utilized little root. Usually, when I think of carrots I think of them as part and parcel with onions and celery for starting out a soup, or as stubby little dippers for hummus. But they’re so much more versatile than that! Cakes, sauces, juices, roasts – if you take a minute to think about it, you’ll realize that carrots add sweetness and depth to many different meals.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Whenever I kick off an ingredient of the week feature, I first spend an evening sitting on the floor, surrounded by piles of cookbooks, searching for the most interesting recipes I can find. Once I have a big list compiled, I choose the four or five recipes that I think are the most unique and delicious-sounding. The most interesting recipe from this weekend’s cookbook research comes from a new member of my collection, Maria Elia’s Full of Flavor. In her “roots” chapter, amidst more typical presentations like carrot and herb salad and spiced carrot puree, I found this recipe for a savory carrot, feta, and almond baklava. I’d never had a savory baklava before, and loved the idea. The carrots are thinly sliced and stewed with cinnamon, lemon, caramelized onions, and dill, before a portion of them are pureed. Layered with feta and crushed almonds between butter-soaked sheets of filo dough, they are then baked to crusty perfection and drizzled with honey. I loved the sweet and salty play of the honey and feta cheese, and think these would be a great (if a little messy) vegetarian party appetizer at any time of the year. A good start to carrot week, if you ask me.

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Carrot, Almond, and Feta Baklava

Recipe adapted slightly from Full of Flavor. Serves 8-10.

  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled, halved, and thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely minced
  • 2 lb carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 small bunch fresh dill, including roots, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 c. chopped dill)
  • 1 TBS ground cinnamon
  • finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • sea salt
  • 9 sheets filo pastry (about 3/4 of a package)
  • 6 TBS butter, melted
  • 2/3 c. whole almonds
  • 1 2/3 c. crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 TBS honey
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, then add the sliced onions. Caramelize the onions over medium heat until dark and sticky, stirring frequently to prevent burning. This should take 15-20 minutes.
  2. Stir in the garlic, carrots, dill, cinnamon, lemon zest, and lemon juice, and season with sea salt. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 cups of water, and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook over medium heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the carrots are tender, about 30 minutes.
  3. Process the almonds in a food processor until they are the consistency of a coarse breadcrumb, then set aside in a bowl. Mix the feta cheese with the ground almonds. Add 1/3 of the carrot mixture to the food processor and process until smooth, then stir back into the whole carrots.
  4. Unfold the filo dough, and cut to the size of the baking sheet you will be using (ideally around 9×13. Save the extra dough. Cover the sheets you will be using with a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out as you work.
  5. Brush the baking sheet lightly with melted butter, then lay one sheet of filo dough on it. Brush the filo with melted butter, and top with another sheet of filo. Repeat to have three sheets of filo in the first layer. Spread half the carrot mixture gently on top of the filo, pushing it out to the corners. Sprinkle half the feta-almond mixture on top of this, pressing down lightly to smooth. Repeat the filo-butter process with three sheets of filo, then spread the remaining carrot and feta mixture on top. Finish the baklava with another three sheets of butter-brushed filo. Before brushing the top sheet, score gently with a sharp knife to cut the pastry into diamonds. Then brush with the remaining butter and sprinkle with cold water. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature before drizzling with the honey.

Ingredient of the Week: Rhubarb // Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice

Persian Beef with Rhubarb and Rice {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

So we’ve had a little rhubarb cocktail, we’ve folded it into a whipped custard for dessert, and we’ve looked at all the amazing things other bloggers are cooking up with it – now let’s talk a little more about rhubarb as a plant and as a culinary ingredient. Since it’s one of the earliest “fruits” ready for harvest, rhubarb is usually heralded as a spring ingredient, but really it keeps growing all summer, and certainly stays tasty through September. I use “fruit” in quotations since it’s not technically a fruit, although in the U.S. it’s regulated as such, but a member of the knotweed family, which also includes sorrel and buckwheat.

In cool climates, growing rhubarb is surprisingly easy. It pops out of the ground in early March, and quickly proceeds to become a huge leafy giant. Some varieties always stay green, while others ripen over time to that gorgeous deep red most people expect. Usually, the stalks we harvest in our garden are red partway through but still greenish towards the top – this is totally fine, and they still taste delicious. To harvest rhubarb, reach your hand down to the base of a stalk, inserting a finger a little way into the ground right against the stem, and give a little twist-and-tug to pull the rhubarb stalk up from its base. It should come out fairly easily. Make sure you cut off and discard the leaves – they’re poisonous (to both people and some bugs – it has even been used in insecticides!).

Rhubarb Plant

Rhubarb Harvest

In the United States in particular, rhubarb is known for it’s use in sweet dishes, and I would venture to guess that most people don’t really encounter it beyond its appearance in strawberry-rhubarb pie. So well loved are rhubarb pies that rhubarb is also known simply as “pie plant.” Beyond the classic strawberry-rhubarb pairing, rhubarb also goes well with cinnamon, orange, honey, and cream, all of which are typically thought of as sweet ingredients. However, if you dig back into rhubarb’s history, you’ll find recipes from its places of origin – China, Russia, Mongolia, and other parts of Central Asia – that use these pairings in savory dishes. I was fascinated to learn from Vegetable Literacy that before sugar was plentiful, rhubarb was actually used as a detoxifier and curative herb. It was during this same general time period that rhubarb was considered a luxury good, included in lists of trade goods side by side with rubies, diamonds, silks, and satins.

Rhubarb Harvest

Inspired by all this history, I decided to try out one of these savory rhubarb recipes, this Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice. While Persia/Iran isn’t technically part of Central Asia, it’s right on the border and certainly shares some culinary heritage with the region. Although this is admittedly not the most photogenic of recipes, I really enjoyed the flavors at play in this dish. It’s quite sour, but I thought the rhubarb gave it a lot of depth and character. That being said, as written, I found that the ratio of rhubarb to beef was a little high for my taste, so I’ve shared it here with a little less rhubarb than the original called for. This recipe is a bit adventurous and might not be the best thing to serve a picky eater, but if you like Middle-Eastern food and intense flavors (or you have a bumper crop of rhubarb), definitely give it a try.

Please note: Some of this information came from Vegetable Literacy, a cookbook that also provides a bit of a garden/history/culinary education! I also used information from Wikipedia.

Rhubarb Week Part One: Rhubarb-Prosecco Spritzer
Rhubarb Week Part Two: Rhubarb Custard Fool
Rhubarb Week Part Three: Recipe Round-up from Around the Blogs
Rhubarb Week Part Five: Rhubarb-Ginger Bars

Persian Beef with Rhubarb and Rice {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Persian Rhubarb and Beef with Rice (Khoresht-e Rivas)

Adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Serves 2-3.

  • 3 TBS butter
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 lb. lean stew beef, cubed
  • salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 3/4 c. short grain brown rice
  • 2/3 lb. fresh rhubarb stalks, cut into 2 inch lengths
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1/2 c. chopped flat leaf parsley
  1. Heat 2 TBS of the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add the onion and saute until golden, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Add the beef, season with salt and pepper, and brown on all sides. Add the cinnamon and allspice and stir to coat the beef – cook 1-2 minutes longer, until fragrant.
  2. Add water to cover the beef and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, until meat is tender. Check water periodically and add more to keep beef covered and prevent burning. When it is nearing serving time, allow most of the water to evaporate so that the sauce is thick.
  3. While the beef is cooking, prepare the rice. Add the rice and 1 1/2 c. of cold water to a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to low, cover saucepan, and simmer rice, covered, until all water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 30-40 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork.
  4. Ten minutes before you are ready to serve the meal, heat the remaining 1 TBS butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat. Add the sliced rhubarb and cook until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes, then sprinkle with lemon juice and cook 1 minute longer. Remove pan from heat and add rhubarb to beef. Stir in chopped parsley. Cook entire mixture for 2 minutes longer, then remove from heat and serve over rice.

A Day Off // Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

I took today off, not to do anything in particular, but just to have a whole day to myself, to catch up on things, clean, get organized, write, etc. A one day staycation, if you will. I love days like this. It helps that the temperature got up to 50 (50! Spring! I can feel it!) and that after a full week of sneezing I’m finally feeling better.

I wanted to ask – how were everyone’s Valentine’s Days? Mine was just right. Trevor brought me flowers (yellow, my favorite) and chocolate and 9 little airplane bottles of booze with 9 accompanying packets of hot chocolate – boy knows how I like to drink. We had planned on going ice skating, but I got home from work too late. Instead, we meandered downtown just to see if we could find space at a bar for a few drinks. We ended up at Saloon, a very hipster-esque underground bar/restaurant. They were having a singles Swing Dance night, and it was fun to drink our fancy cocktails and nibble on sliders and watch people. It was even more fun to be with my favorite person and just talk and laugh. I feel so lucky to have that.

Valentine's Day Loot

Sorry, enough schmaltz, back to my staycation. No day at home is complete for me without a little bit (or a lot) of cooking, and today was no different. I made another batch of these grapefruit and ginger thumbprint cookies (note to self, always make extra dough so you can whip up a batch of these in 10 minutes!), I worked on a spring salad feature for an online magazine (which you’ll have to wait to hear more about), I’m in the process of testing out Lindsay of Love and Olive Oil‘s new book, Breakfast for Dinner, and I made this roasted carrot and tahini soup, the perfect healthy and tasty treat for an afternoon lunch at home. I’ve tried a lot of different carrot soups over the past years, and never found one that I liked, until I realized that the trick was in roasting the carrots first. Now, I use this technique with most vegetable puree-type soups that I make. This particular soup was inspired by Smitten Kitchen – I used slightly different amounts and spices, I roasted the carrots instead of boiling them, and I went for a yogurt-tahini sauce instead of a thinner tahini-lemon sauce, but the gist of the two recipes is basically the same. The flavors are lovely and bright, the puree smooth and the crunchy spiced chickpeas addictive. I might just have another bowl for dinner.

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas

Inspired by Smitten Kitchen. Serves 3-4.

  • 1 lb. carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch slices
  • 4 TBS olive oil, divided
  • coarse sea salt, to taste
  • 1 small onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3 c. chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 c. cooked chickpeas, or canned chickpeas, drained of their liquid
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • juice from 1/2 lemon
  • 1 6-oz. container plain Greek yogurt
  • 4 TBS tahini
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss the carrots with 2 TBS of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast the carrots for 25 minutes, flipping once, after 15 minutes of cooking.
  2. About 5 minutes before the carrots are done, heat 1 TBS of the remaining olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the diced onion, and saute for 3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the minced garlic, coriander, and red pepper flakes and saute for 2 minutes longer, until the garlic and spices are fragrant. Add the roasted carrots to the pot along with the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 10 minutes.
  3. Add the cooked chickpeas to the same roasting pan you used for the carrots. Add the last 1 TBS of olive oil, to the chickpeas, then sprinkle with the cumin, paprika, and sea salt. Toss to coat evenly, then roast for 15 minutes.
  4. Blend the soup in a blender until it is a smooth puree. If it is too thick, add more broth to the blender. Add the lemon juice to the hot soup and pulse a few times to incorporate. Taste for seasoning and add more lemon or salt if necessary.
  5. Spoon the soup into bowls. Top each with a large spoonful of yogurt and 1 TBS of tahini, as well as a handful of the roasted chickpeas.

Roasted Carrot and Tahini Soup with Chickpeas {Katie at the Kitchen Door}

Greatist Dinner Party: Chickpea Burgers, Tabbouleh, and Strawberry Lassis

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me an email asking for a few recipes she could use for a dinner party she was hosting with friends.  She wanted two to three recipes, preferably with a theme, and easy enough to prepare with friends on the spot.  She and her friends wanted to use the party partially as a way to learn to cook better, as well as just a chance to catch up and eat good food.  A simple enough plan.

Two catches – one, she’s one of the least kitchen-savvy people I know – cooking is just not really in her interest set.  (Illustration: she once asked me if sauteeing onions in olive oil was one of those fussy things that only I did while we were making soup.)  Two, she’s a health nut.  Like, super fit, eats primarily superfoods, drinks only green tea and water, will only eat one bite of dessert ever kind of healthy.  Actually, I’m a little bit jealous of her self-control and love for vegetables – if I loved leafy greens like she does, I’d probably be 3 times as energetic as I am now.  Anyway, knowing that nothing could be too fancy and that I couldn’t sneak any cheese or butter or cream or bacon (all my favorite ingredients, noooooo!)  into the meal made it a bit more challenging to come up with recipes for her.

As I thought about it, I realized that this was the perfect situation for a Greatist post.  Greatist is all about trying to make making healthy choices easier and more fun, and dinner parties are pretty fun, right?  I imagine there are plenty of people out there looking for simple, healthy recipes to use when entertaining that will still impress their friends.  So, as I was sending recipes back to my friend, Greatist Dinner Party was born.

For this first dinner party, I chose Middle Eastern recipes as the theme, partly because many Middle Eastern recipes manage to pack tons of flavor into a dish with very little fat – that’s the beauty of herbs and spices!  Also, the recipes I chose – baked chickpea burgers with tzatziki, traditional tabbouleh, and strawberry-rosewater-buttermilk lassis – are all dishes that are easy to make ahead and stash in the fridge until go-time.  In terms of health, it’s a super balanced meal – tons of herbs and veggies, protein from the chickpeas and the Greek yogurt, a manageable amount of carbs from the tabbouleh and pita/burger bun, and fruit and cultured dairy from the lassis.  Even though I wasn’t having friends over, I prepared everything as if I was and sat down to a very delicious lunch Sunday afternoon, so I can attest to the fact that this menu is easy and relatively quick to prepare and super, super delicious.  My favorites were the chickpea burgers (so flavorful, and baked to boot!) and the tzatziki (the garlic really kicks it up a notch).  Got leftovers?  Crumble a chickpea burger into a tupperware with leftover tabbouleh and drizzle with tzatziki and you’ll have a filling to-go lunch that will give you something to look forward to all morning.

Head on over to Greatist for the chickpea burger recipe, and see below for all the yummy accompaniments, as well as a little schedule I put together if you need help planning out your prep time!

P.S. My friend reported back that the dinner party was a success – they made and enjoyed all of the recipes.  So maybe she’s not as kitchen-impaired as I thought :-)  Next time, you’re getting a challenge, girl.  xo.

Greatist Dinner Party – Middle Eastern

Dinner party plan of attack (I think I’ve been fairly generous with the time you will need as a single person preparing the meal – with friends, you could easily divide and conquer and take less than an hour overall.  As far as cooking implements, you will need – 1 cutting board, 1 knife, blender, food processor, 1 saute pan, 2 large bowls, fine-mesh colander, 2 medium bowls, utensils/measuring implements):

  • 5:00 – peel, chop and salt cucumbers, leave to drain in colander.
  • 5:05 – prepare tabbouleh ingredients: slice/chop/mince tomatoes, scallions, parsley, mint, mix together with spices, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Set aside in a large bowl.
  • 5:20 – make smoothies: wash, hull, and quarter strawberries, blend with other ingredients, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • 5:30 – remove cucumbers from colander, pat dry, and add to food processor with dill, garlic, and lemon juice.  Process until smooth, mix with yogurt, season to taste, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • 5:40 – rinse bulghur in colander, let drain 5 minutes, fluff with fork, then add to other tabbouleh ingredients.  Mix together, cover, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
  • 5:45 – preheat oven.
  • 5:50 – clean up break: wash blender, colander, and various utensils/measuring items.  Rinse out food processor.  Rinse off cutting board and knife.
  • 6:00 – peel and chop onion.  Saute in pan with olive oil for 5 minutes, then place in large bowl.
  • 6:10 – prepare chickpea burgers: peel and chop carrot, peel garlic, pulse remaining ingredients in food processor.  Mix with breadcrumbs and spices.  Prepare baking sheet, form into patties, brush with olive oil.
  • 6:30 – cook chickpea burgers.  While waiting, clean up remaining dishes, wipe down counters.
  • 6:45 – remove other items from fridge.  Toast hamburger buns.
  • 6:50 – dinner is ready!

Traditional Tabbouleh

I’ve shared a tabbouleh recipe before (actually, it was another Greatist post…), but it was a souped-up all-in-one version with lentils and feta cheese to make it a complete meal on it’s own.  This version is a more traditional version, heavy on the herbs with just a bit of bulghur wheat – although I chose to use a bit more than David recommends to make it a more substantial salad.

Adapted from David Leibowitz.  Serves 4 as a side.

  • 1/4 c. bulghur wheat
  • 20 grape tomatoes, finely diced
  • 4 scallions, roots and dark green tips removed, thinly sliced
  • large bunch parsley – about 3 c. packed leaves
  • 20 large stalks of mint – about 3/4 c. packed leaves
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground allspice
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 c. olive oil
  • kosher salt, to taste
  1. Wash herbs, shake or spin dry, and remove leaves from stalks, leaving as little stalk as possible attached to leave.  Discard stalks.  Gather herbs in a bunch and finely slice into thin slivers, working with a handful at a time.  Add to a large bowl, along with diced tomatoes and sliced scallions.
  2. Place bulghur wheat in a fine-mesh colander and rinse under cold water for about 1 minutes.  Let drain over a bowl for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.  Sprinkle bulghur wheat over salad.  Stir in cinnamon, allspice, lemon juice, and olive oil and check for seasoning.  Salt to taste.  Refrigerate until serving.

Tzatziki

This is hands-down the best tzatziki I’ve ever tried.  Usually, I go the lazy route and just toss some cucumbers and a bit of dill into a bowl of yogurt, but the slight extra effort required for this recipe is 100% worth it – the finely blended garlic, lemon juice, dill, cucumber, and salt makes this a totally addictive and healthy dip.

Recipe adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen.  Makes about 1 cup.

  • 1/2 small cucumber, peeled, and seeds scooped out of center with a spoon
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • 1/4 c. dill fronds, thick part of stems removed
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 c. plain Greek yogurt
  • 2 tsp. lemon juice
  • black pepper, to taste
  1. Finely chop cucumber, and place in colander over bowl.  Sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and let sit for half an hour.  After half an hour, pat cucumber dry with a paper towel, and add to food processor with dill, garlic, lemon juice, and a bit of black pepper.  Process until smooth, then stir into yogurt.  Season to taste with salt, and additional pepper if needed.  Refrigerate until serving.  Will keep in fridge for a few days.

Strawberry and Rosewater Lassis

Adapted from Pairs Well With Food.  Serves 4.

  • 1 1/2 lbs fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
  • 1 1/2 c. cold buttermilk
  • 3-4 TBS honey, depending on sweetness of berries
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 1/2 tsp rosewater
  • 1/2 c. ice
  • chopped pistachios for garnish (optional)
  1. Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth and frothy.  Taste for sweetness and add more honey if necessary.  Serve cold, with chopped pistachios if desired.