Tag Archives: onion

Zucchini fritters

A great way to use some leftover zucchini; in Lebanon, these fritters are made with the zucchini pulp leftover after they have been cored for stuffing. Simply grate or shred the zucchini in a food processor, add a bit of grated onion, garlic paste and lots of chopped herbs and fry them in olive oil [...]
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Eggplant stew (Mussaka)

A traditional vegan eggplant stew, this one is made with winter eggplants (which have very few seeds). In addition, the eggplants slices were merely roasted with a dab of oil, instead of fried as is the tradition. I am happy to report that foregoing the frying does not  take away the flavor; the mussaka (aka [...]
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Lentil and rice pilaf (Mdardara)

There are McDonald’s billboards everywhere in Beirut and the caption says: “YOU DON’T WANT TO EAT MUJADDARA EVERY DAY, DO YOU?”. The photo on the billboard is of a breaded (fried) shrimp sandwich. Call me contrarian, but that billboard immediately made me long for mujaddara or its sister, mudardara. Simpler to make, it is just [...]
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Stuffed onion skins (Salamouni mehshi)

There is a variety of onions called salamouni here, with an elongated graceful shape; they taste just like regular yellow onions but the neat thing about them is that once boiled, their skins stay curled up, making them perfect for stuffing.  This recipe is shared by Asma, my wonderful Kurdish friend, who told me it [...]
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Pita and onion fries

Chef Ramzi Choueiry was the first Lebanese chef to showcase the regional variations in traditional Lebanese cuisine; in his monumental Culinary Heritage of Lebanon he explored the country, stopping at remote villages and transcribing recipes local folks would give him. This happens to be one of them, stunning in its simplicity: just fry pita croutons and [...]
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