Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpea Quinoa and Arugula Salad with Almonds, Pomegranate and Feta in a Lemony Tahini Dressing

After all of the football snacking in January it was time for some healthier dishes starting with this roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa and arugula salad/grain bowl. I start this salad out with a base of quinoa and arugula and I build it up with some meaty roasted cauliflower and chickpeas. From there I add some toasted almond slivers for crunch, pomegranate for both the colour and the juicy bursts of sweetness and some salty feta before finishing it off with plenty of fresh herbs like parsley and mint. Continuing with the Mediterranean theme I went with a simple lemony tahini based dressing and despite it simply consisting of tahini, lemon juice and salt it is so amazingly good! One of the things that I like most about this salad, other than the fact that it tastes amazing, is all of the vibrant colours from the black quinoa to the green arugula to the white cauliflower and finally the red pomegranate and I also thoroughly enjoy all of the contrasting textures. If you are looking for a healthy light meal (or a side dish) you just cannot go wrong with this tasty roasted cauliflower and chickpea quinoa and arugula salad/grain bowl!

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Baba Ghanoush Burrito Bowl

After enjoying plenty of baba ghanoush over the past few days I could not help but wonder about turning it into a meal, burrito bowl style. Burrito bowls are basically just deconstructed burritos served in a bowl; they usually start with a base of rice, followed by beans, meat, fresh ingredients, cheese, etc. I figured that baba ghanoush would make an excellent base for a 'burrito bowl' and I wanted to keep things with a Mediterranean theme and topped it with a seasoned ground lamb, fresh tomatoes, Greek yogurt and a hit of feta along with plenty of fresh herbs. I have to say that this baba ghanoush burrito bowl exceeded my expectations making for a really tasty meal that is both satisfying and pretty light and healthy at the same time!

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Baba Ghanoush

A while ago I was on a hummus kick and it reminded me of another great dip that is very similar, baba ghanoush. Baba ghanoush is a levantine dish made with grilled eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, garlic and salt which are basically the same ingredients in hummus replacing the chickpeas with roasted eggplant and that makes it a great, lighter alternative to hummus. Another great thing about baba ghanoush is how easy it is to make, you simply need to roast the eggplant and then puree it with the remaining ingredients and you are ready to dig in with pitas or crackers, etc. Baba ghanoush is commonly garnished with olive oil, parsley or cilantro and optionally chili powder. In addition to making a great dip baba ghanoush also makes a nice side dish or even a light meal and I enjoy having it for breakfasts along with whole wheat pitas.

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Shakshuka

Next up in the Taste of Israel tour of the old city of Yafo was a stop at Dr Shakshuka for some Shakshuka. Shakshouka is a dish where eggs are poached in a tomato and pepper sauce and served along with bread making for a pretty tasty meal. I had actually made shakshuka before but this was the perfect opportunity to update the photos for my recipe. Of course there are pretty much as many different recipes for shaksuka as there are people that make it and I like to keep mine nice and simple with tomatoes and peppers along with a touch of cumin and paprika.

Other than that all you really need is some crusty bread for scooping it up and you are all set! I like my eggs sunny side up with runny yolks so I only cook the eggs briefly after adding them, pulling the whites away so that they cook in the sauce, but you can cook them to your desired level of done-ness and you can place a lid on the pan so that the tops of the eggs cook.

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Hummus

With the arrival of the holidays I got distracted from sharing my adventures on the Taste of Israel tour (see part 1: Kanafeh/Künefe)! After an evening out on the town Tel Aviv there was an early morning tour of the old port in Yaffo, along with sampling some of Yaffo's tasty treats. One of the first things that we stopped for was hummus!

Now if you thought that hummus was just a dip that you bought at the grocery store or made at home with canned chickpeas every once in a while, it could not be further from the truth! In fact there is quite a large hummus 'culture' out there with secret recipes, shops dedicated to making hummus and only hummus, that have been been in business for generations, and even great debates on who makes the best hummus, over dinner, which is just hummus and pitas for dipping. Our first food stop was at Abu Hassan which is apparently one of the fore runners for making the best hummus in Israel. I have to admit that the hummus that I had at Abu Hassan's was the best hummus that I had ever had and that of course meant that I would have to work on my hummus recipe when I returned home!

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Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

The Greek style salad, a salad with juicy tomatoes and cucumbers, tangy red onions, and salty kalamata olives and feta in a lemon and oregano vinaigrette, has to be one of my favourites and it is so easy to turn it into a light and yet satisfying meal with the addition of quinoa (or a whole grain) along with some chickpeas! I always enjoy using quinoa in salads like this since it is such a nice source of protein, especially when combined with a bean, and it really makes for a salad that eats like a meal. I particularly enjoy this quinoa and chickpea salad because of all of the wonderful Mediterranean flavours where the juicy tomatoes and cucumbers play brilliantly with the salty olives and feta. Another wonderful thing about this salad is how versatile it is, I always have fun changing up the ingredients and some more that work well are roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and even cool and creamy avocados!

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Kanafeh/Künefe (Sweet Cheese Pastry)

A few months ago I got an email inviting me to explore Israel, it's people and it's cuisine on a project called Taste of Israel put on by a group called Stand With Us. At first I was a little leery about the offer but after a bit of research it seemed legit and it was an opportunity that I simply could not pass up and so I went! It turned out to be an absolutely amazing experience filled with lots of great people and of course plenty of amazing food! I enjoyed a lot of dishes in Israel and I just had to try making a few of them at home and sharing them with you!

The adventure started as soon as we got off the plane, after almost 20 hours travel time from Toronto, as we were whisked away to the beautiful Dan Hotel Tev Aviv where after checking in we headed out for dinner at Yaffo Tel Aviv restaurant by Haim Cohen. The meal that we had there was filled with plenty of tasty dishes including a flat bread that was covered in melted garlicky butter and roasted cherry tomatoes but the one dish that really stood out for me was a dessert, the kanafeh.

I had never heard of kanafeh before but as soon as I heard that it was warm cheese in between two layers of light flaky pastry, I was sold! I mean you really cannot go wrong with cheese and I loved the idea of using it in a dessert! This particular künefe was made with goat cheese and it was topped with a sweet apple sauce and the combination of sweet and savoury was phenomenal; I knew immediately that I would have to make kanafeh when I got home!

Kanafeh (aka Kunafeh, aka Künefe, aka...) is a pastry that is common to countries in the Levant region including Turkey, Israel, Greece, etc. and and there are as many different ways of spelling it as there are of making it. It's commonly made with the shredded phyllo like pastry, with the same name as the final dish, and it is usually filled with a neutral, non-salty, stringy cheese and it is baked until the pastry gets nice and golden brown and crispy and it is then smothered in a simple syrup. (Imagine something like a single layered baklava with a cheese filling instead of nuts.)

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Pumpkin Hummus

It's time for another pumpkin recipe and up this time is a super quick and easy pumpkin hummus that is perfect for fall entertaining and and it is nice healthy to boot! Hummus is typically made with mashed chickpeas, tahini and lemon juice but it is easy to add flavour to it like in this case by adding some pumpkin puree. Given the use of pumpkin in this humus it only seemed natural to add a hint of cinnamon to make things a little more exotic. I like to serve the pumpkin hummus topped with pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds) along with some toasted whole wheat pitas for dipping making for one light and healthy snack!

Tahini is made from ground sesame seeds so one option that I enjoy for this pumpkin hummus is the addition of some ground pepitas which adds another layer of pumpkin flavour!

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Moussaka Burgers

With the long weekend coming up I have been thinking about grilling and in particular about these moussaka burgers. Moussaka is a tasty Mediterranean dish that is typically made with layers of eggplant, meat, a tomato sauce and a cheese bechamel sauce and I have been wanting to try making burgers with these flavours for a while now. I started the burgers off by making a tomato sauce with the hints of cinnamon and allspice that moussaka often has and then I moved on to make a simple bechamel sauce with plenty of melted melted cheese. Up next were the patties which I kept nice and simple, once again seasoning with hints of cinnamon and allspice, and the last component was slices of eggplant that I grilled along with the patties.

All said and done these burgers are amazingly good and they definitely taste like moussaka, only better! These burgers take a bit of time to make but you can easily make the sauces and patties a day ahead and then just warm the sauces and grill the patties and eggplant of the day of your get together with minimal effort. I served the moussaka burgers with a fresh Greek salad.

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Green Olive and Preserved Lemon Tapenade

A couple of weeks ago I made a fresh batch of preserved lemons and now that they were ready it was time to enjoy them! I knew exactly what I would be using the first of them in, a green olive tapenade, where they would add an amazing lemony freshness! Other than the preserved lemons this tapenade is pretty much a basic tapenade and it goes great as an appetizer with crusty bread or crostini or as a condiment in other things like sandwiches! I had the first of the preserved lemon green olive tapenade as a snack with some crusty bread and you will have to check back tomorrow to see what I used the rest of the batch for!

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Chicken Souvlaki Salad

Continuing with the themes of both salads and grilling is this chicken souvlaki salad that was inspired by Gina's recent Mediterranean chicken kebab salad. I am a big fan of all kinds of skewered and grilled meats from around the world but Greek souvlaki has to be one of my favourites! There is just something irresistible about char grilled meat on a stick and I knew that you could not go wrong turning it into a nice light summer meal by placing some in a salad. The first thing that I did was dust off my trusty chicken souvlaki recipe which calls for marinating the chicken in a garlic, lemon, yogurt and oregano
mixture before grilling it to impart it with a ton of flavour. The salad is a simple one consisting of a base of lettuce, tomato, cucumber and red onions along with some Mediterranean flavours including kalamata olives, crumbled feta and a tzatziki dressing.

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Artichoke and Green Olive Tapenade with Asiago

I only just discovered artichokes a few years ago and I have been hooked ever since! The other day while I was in the grocery store I noticed a jar or artichoke tapenade and an artichoke tapenade sounded like a great idea! I was already thinking about a recipe for the tapenade while dreaming about the ways that I would use it.

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