Saturday, October 24, 2009

Mediterranean Things I Love

The Art...

The Beaches....

The Boys...

and the FOOD!

I have to share my new obsession: Dedemed.com. This blog has all the Mediterranean recipes that I've always wanted to try, in one fabulous place. Some of them seem a little complicated (homemade baklava anyone!?!) but one of the cool things is, there are videos for every recipe.

The first thing I made was Baba Ghanoush. IT WAS DELICIOUS. I've never really liked baba ghanoush from resturants (I guess I thought that I was more partial to hummus), but seriously this knocked me on my ass. I loved every second of eating it. Putting it together was insanely easy and the recipe only calls for four main ingredients (eggplant, lemon juice, garlic, & tahini) plus spices that you most likely have on hand all the time. Throw everything in a blender, put some pretty garnish on it, and VOILA! One of the most delicious things you'll ever eat.


Hummus
If you read my very first post, you already know that I love hummus. I've tried making it once before (can't remember which recipe that I used) but it was disgusting. I was a little hesitant to try Dede's recipe because I still feel a little scared from my last experience, but after that delightful baba ghanoush, I was tempted to give it a try....


....and I'm so glad that I did! IT IS FANTASTIC! Lindi and I polished off the whole plate in about 4.5 seconds. I am scared to keep chickpeas in the cabinet because I will eat it constantly.

Here's a Mediterranean dish that I pieced together from a few different recipes:

Stuffed Cabbage

1 lb fake "ground beef" (or real, if that's what you're into)
1 head of cabbage
2 servings brown rice
1 carrot
1 leek
1/2 large onion
4 cloves garlic
handful of parsley
1 can diced tomatoes (with juice)
shredded cheese (garnish)

LARGE dash of each:
cayanne
curry powder
corrinder
cumin
paprika

1. Trim off stem of cabbage (I almost cut my entire hand off doing this....be careful) & boil as a whole for 30 minutes.


2. Get rice cooking
3. Pour out hot water and rinse cabbage in cold water to cool it off
5. Remove large outside leaves from the head an reserve for later, chop the rest


4. Saute chopped onion, cabbage, leek, garlic, carrot, & fake (or real) meat together
5. Mix in cooked rice
6. Stuff the filling (about 1/3 cup) into into the large cabbage leaves and roll
7. Place rolls into a baking dish and cover with sauce and cheese

(I can't believe I call myself a foodie and I don't own a 9 x 13 baking pan....how amateur)


8. Bake until cheese is bubbly (about 15 minutes)


Not exactly pretty....but delicious!!!

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