Israeli (Palestinian?) salad: cucumbers tomatoes parsley green onions olive oil lemon juice
Tahini sauce: 1/2 cup tahini 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup hot water
Make the salad and tahini sauce ahead of time and chill.
Mix the spices. Combine the seitan and onion slices in a large bowl and sprinkle the spice mixture over them. Add 3 tbs of the olive oil and mix it all together. Grill the seitan and onions in a little bit of oil until browned. Grill the pita bread to give it grill marks and pile everything on top of it.
I have no idea if this tastes anything like chicken or veal scaloppine (or scallopini) but it does taste like good veggie food and it definitely doesn't have 71 grams of saturated fat like the copy cat Macaroni Grill recipe. The sauce was sweeter than I thought it would be (ok I used unsweetened soymilk this time, wtf?) but maybe it's supposed to be sweet.
1/2 ppk seitan recipe, sliced into thin cutlets a few tablespoon of oil, for sauteing seitan 1/2 cup flour 4 oz veggie ham or bacon, diced 8 oz mushrooms, sliced 1 12oz can artichoke hearts, quartered 1 tbsp capers 3/4 cup broth 1/4 cup soymilk 2 lemons, juiced 2 tbsp earth balance 1/2 lb orzo, cooked chopped parsley
I've heard this takes a long time to make, but when you're not worried about authenticity and you use prepared flat bread instead of making the crust from scratch, packaged veggie ground round for the meat, and canned tomatoes, it takes about 30 minutes.
Lahmajoon 6 small flat breads 12 oz veggie ground round olive oil for sauteing 1 onion, chopped 1.5 cups crushed tomatoes garlic powder, sweet paprika, red chili flakes, salt n pepper 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley lemon juice
Saute the onions in the oil until soft and add the ground round. When the ground round starts to brown, add the tomatoes and spices and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.When it has cooled, add the finely chopped parsley and mix.
Preheat the oven to 400. Spread the meat mixture in a thin layer on each of the crusts. Drizzle with olive oil and heat in the oven until the crust is crunchy, about 10 minutes. Squeeze lemon juice over the top and serve.
Having fly-infested barley makes barley tabbouleh kind of unappetizing so I got some bulgur to try to make it traditional and flyless. The package told me to get Bulgur #1 for tabbouleh (I wonder what kind of Mediterranean dish #18 Bulgar is used for) and I trust packages of bulgur so I did.
Tabbouleh 1/2 cup bulgur #1
1 cup hot water
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 small shallot
1/2 hothouse cucumber, diced
1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped
a few leaves fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1-2 lemons, juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put the bulgur in a large bowl and pour in the hot water. Cover with a dish or plastic wrap and let stand for about 30 to 45 minutes to rehydrate. Drain if necessary.
In a mixing bowl, combine the tomatoes, shallots, cucumber, parsley, and mint. Season with salt and pepper. Add the bulgur, lemon juice and olive oil. Fold everything together. Refrigerate for a while before serving.
Red Pepper Hummus 1 red pepper
olive oil for sauteing
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup tahini
3 lemons, juice
salt and pepper
garlic powder
1/8-/1/4 cup olive oil
chopped parsley
Saute the red peppers. Combine all the ingredients except the parsley in a food processor. Adjust seasonings and fold in parsley. Serve with baked pita triangles.
Stuffed Grape Leaves 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup long-grain rice
1 cup broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoons finely chopped dill leaves
1/8 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
15-20 grape leaves
1 lemon, juiced
To make the filling, coat a large saute pan with 1/8 cup of the oil and place over medium heat. Add the onion and lemon zest and stir until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the rice, saute for 2 minutes, stirring to coat. Pour in just 1/2 cup of the broth. Simmer until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente, about 20 minutes, adding more broth if necessary. Add the lemon juice and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Scrape the parboiled rice mixture into a bowl and add the dill and parsley; season with salt and pepper. Allow to cool. While it's cooling, drain the grape leaves and carefully pull them apart. Put them into a bowl and cover them with cold water. Let them soak until you are ready to roll.
To assemble, lay a grape leaf on a work surface, shiny-side down. Put 1-2 tablespoons of the rice filling near the stem end of the leaf. Fold the stem end over the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle, and roll up. Squeeze lightly in the palm of your hand to secure the roll. Repeat with remaining grape leaves and filling.
Place the dolmades in a wide deep skillet, seam-side down in a single layer. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of broth, remaining olive oil, and the lemon juice over the stuffed grape leaves. The liquid should reach halfway up the rolls.
add some water if necessary. Cover the pan and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes until almost all of the liquid is absorbed. Serve at room temperature or cool.
For the berry sauce, combine thawed frozen berries with lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch in a saucepan and stir until thickened. After it cools, mix it with plain yogurt, berry granola, and fresh raspberries.
