Tahini Vegetable Ratatouille

The vibrant autumn shades of these vegetables and the way they are layered make for a beautiful eye catching dish on your holiday table. My mom got me hooked on gratins. She loves assembling and making them every time we have company over or extra produce in the fridge. She loves to make hers with extra tomatoes and onions. I substitute the tomatoes sauce for a tahini one in the winter months. I love how the earthy flavors of tahini play so well against the natural sweetness of the root Vegetables. The best thing about this dish it can be assembled in advance, eaten at room temperature making it the perfect side dish for your holiday table.

The natural sweetness of the root vegetables like zucchini, sweet potatoes, squash work perfectly with the earthy tahini sauce. Making these roasted vegetables gratin the best side dish ever. and it will cover all your vegatble sides how's thats for an idea..

Tahini Vegetable Ratatoile

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 45-50 minutes

Serving: 6 as a side dish

Ingredients

• 2 medium zucchini squash (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)

• 2 medium yellow zucchini (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)

• 1 sweet potato

• 1 purple chinese eggplant

• 3 to 4 plum or Roma tomatoes

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 small purple onion, thinly sliced

• Few sprigs of fresh thyme

• 2 tbls olive oil

Tahini sauce:

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup tahini

• 1.5 - 2 cups of water

• Juice of two lemons

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper

Directions:

• Heat to 375°F. Lightly coat an 8x8-inch baking dish with olive oil; set aside.

• Use a mandolin or a very sharp knife to cut the zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes, onions, eggplants, sweet potatoes crosswise into 1/8 inch rounds. Place in a large bowl, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and black pepper Toss to combine; set aside.

• Brush your baking dish with a bit of olive oil

• Place the zucchini, squash, eggplant, sweet potato, onions, and tomato slices, arranging them on their sides and alternating the slices as you go. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.

• Bake for 30 minutes.

• In the meantime make your tahini sauce: just mix everything together we are looking for a thin dressing as tahini thickens when it cooks in the oven.

• Uncover your veggies, add the tahini sauce and bake until the vegetables are tender and the edges and topping are browned, 15 to 20 more minutes.

Few things to keep in mind to make sure you have a delicious beautiful gratin every single time:

• The main thing to keep in mind when selecting your vegetables is to try to pick them similar in shape and in size especially width/diameters. This will help in your presentation.

• A mandolin is the best tool to use for making sure your vegetable slices are the same size so they cook evenly.

• Make sure you use a baking dish that will fit all your veggies as they have to be arranged sung together.

• Cooking times might vary depending how thick or thin you slice your vegetables. So make sure you check them for doneness. Just Insert a knife or a fork through your Vegetables to test for doneness if there is no resistance they are ready.

Variations:

• Try playing around with different vegetables, beets, butternut squash, and also regular potatoes would be so good here

• You can also make a marinara sauce instead of tahini

• Change your herbs and add garlic instead of onions

Recipe Notes:

Make ahead: The gratin and the tahini sauce can be assembled 1 day in advance and refrigerated.

Storage: Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Serve: as a main dish with some bread to scoop up the juices or with a roast, fish or chicken.

#sidedish #vegetarian #roastedveggies #tahini #gratin #vegtablegratin #vegan #glutenfree

King of Stuffed Vegetables; Mukhshe

Sheikh el Mahshi. In Arabic the word shiekh could refer to many things among them is leader, chief, old, or an expert of sort. So I am guessing this recipe is called sheikh al mahshi due to the fact that the squash is stuffed with a luxurious mixture of spiced meat and pine nuts compared to the traditional filling of rice and meat. I also think it tastes so delicious crowning itself as the chief of all stuffed vegetables.

This dish is consumed in the Levant with so many different names and variations. My family calls it Mukhshe, or Shaikh El Mahshi. Mukhshe comes from the word "Mahshi" which is the process of stuffing zucchinis or vegetables. Although my recipe uses squash but small eggplants are often used as well. In some variations. the stuffed squash is cooked with yogurt or tomatoes sauce. But I cooked it exactly how my grandmother and mother make it a process thats called “على آدامه" which means cooked in

It’s own broth or fat. No matter how it is prepared and whether you use eggplants or squash, yogurt, tomatoes sauce or it’s own broth I assure you that this recipe is delicious and easy to prepare.

King of stuffed vegetables: Mukhshe

شيخ المحشي أو مخشي

Ingredients:

One pound of ground meat (I used turkey) it’s often done with beef or lamb

1 onion chopped

Salt, Black Pepper

2 tsp Allspice

Few grates of fresh Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cardamom

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

2 tbls Pine Nuts

3 pounds of Mexican squash (about 10-12 small zucchini or Mexican squash 4-5 inches in height and 1 inch wide)

3 tbls Olive oil divided

Bay leaf

Juice of one Lemon

1-2 cups Chicken broth

2 cloves of garlic minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425

Make sure you rinse your zucchini well. Cut off the stem and the bottom.

Drizzle 1 tbls of olive oil all over the zucchini, add a pinch of salt and place them in a baking sheet and put them in the oven to blister the skin and soften the flesh. Toss the zucchini’s half way through the cooking process so they cook evenly.

Cook for 30-40 minutes until charred and slightly softened.

In the meantime let’s make the stuffing:

• sauté the onions In 2 tbls of olive oil until translucent 5-8 minutes

• Add the minced meat and break it apart with the back of your wooden spoon.

• Add the spices and cook until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink. Add the pine nuts and toss to combine

Take the squash out of the oven and let them cool a bit.

With a pairing knife cut a slit in the middle of each squash be careful not to cut through the entire flesh we are just creating a pocket for the meat stuffing.

Fill each of the squash with a generous 1-2 tbls of the meat mixture. Use your fingers to gently push the meat into the cavity of the squash.

Tip:

You might be left with some meat mixture. I have few ideas on what to do with that!

1. Since this dish is often eaten with rice you can add your cooked meat mixture to the rice making ruz hashweh to serve next to the stuffed squash.

2. Top the squash with the remaining meat mixture some will fall to the bottom of the baking dish snd that’s ok.

3. Freeze the extra mixture to use in other recipes. The filling makes a delicios filling for tacos, stuffed between two pita pockets with some cheese or scrambled with eggs.

Place the stuffed squash in a baking dish add 1-2 cups of the chicken broth to the bottom of the dish along with the bay leaf and sliced garlic. The broth shouldnt cover the squash just enough to cover the bottom of the dish.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until everything is warmed through and the sauce thickens slightly.

Finish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

This dish is often served with vermicelli rice and a dollop of plain yogurt.

Sahtain

xo,

Mai

#stuffedvegtables #stuffedsquash #kousa #kousamahshi #palestinianfood #winterdishes #mukhshe #shiekhelmahshi

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Pumpkins and Cumin Mint Yogurt Dressing

When the weather turns cooler and crispier we tend to crave things that are hearty and warm. I pull out my soup pots and roasting pans to welcome the season. But I also look forward to making fall salads. They tend to take on the seasons personality and beautiful colors. Change of seasons also means a whole new line up of produce and ingredients at the market. Apples, squash, kale and pumpkins, you know they are not just for pie. And I love to add hearty legumes and grains they are both filling, and loaded with plant based protein. Warm lentils salad and roasted fall pumpkins all caramelized and slightly sweet. Served with an herby yogurt dressing and earthy fried shallots and crunchy pepita seeds. This salad is a play on one of my favorite dishes “mujadarah” a one pot lentils and rice dish we often ate with plain yogurt and loads of caramelized onions growing up.

Total cook time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Lentils:

• 1 1/2 cups brown or green lentils, rinsed and picked over

• 1 small yellow onion, quartered

• 1 large bay leaf

• 1/2 tsp cumin

To roast the pumpkin:

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1/2 tsp sumac

• 1 small pie pumpkin (1-3pounds usually) often called “sugar pumpkins” or “pie pumpkins seeded, gutted and cut into half moons

• 2 tbls olive oil

Crispy shallots:

• 1 tbls olive oil

• 2 shallots sliced thin

• Sauté until crispy 10 min

Dressing:

• juice of one lemon plus 1 tbls of lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons olive oil divided

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 cup plain yogurt

• 1 garlic clove finely minced

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

• 1/2 tsp dried mint

• 1/4 tsp ground cumin

• 1/2 tsp ground sumac

Directions: mix all the ingredients together and store In an airtight container in the fridge.

Garnish:

• Fresh mint

• 1/4 cup toasted papita seeds

Tip: start by cooking the things that take the longest.

Directions:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400ºF.

• Toss the pumpkin with salt, pepper, sumac and olive oil

• Place on a baking sheet in the oven for 30-40 min until they are tender when pierced with a fork and caramelized.

• To Remove the skin on pumpkins: Remove the pumpkin from the oven, and cool for about 10 minutes. Using a pairing knife Separate the pumpkin flesh from the skin, and discard the skin.

• *Tip: you can also purée leftover pumpkins for soups or sauces.

• To cook the perfect lentils:

• Add four cups of water to every one cup of lentils to a pot. So for this recipe 1.5 cups of lentils to 6 cups of water.

• Add the onion, bay leaf, cumin

bring the mixture to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook for 20-30 minutes or until tender but not mushy. Add salt when you know that lentils are cooked through.

• Drain the lentils, remove the bay leaf and onion.

*Storage: you can store the lentils in the fridge in a tight closed container for 4 days or frozen up to 3 months.

To assemble the salad:

• Toss the lentils with salt, 1 tbls olive oil, 1 tbls lemon juice.

• Add the lentils to a platter

• Arrange the roasted pumpkins on top.

• Garnish with the Pepitas and fresh mint

• Add Sautéed shallots

• Serve the dressing on the side

#fallsalads #fallflavors #lentils #roastedpumpkin