Okay, onto the food. We had a lot to eat tonight. I initially was just making Tomato Kibbeh, a Bulgar dish, but had some leftover ingredients that inspired some more dishes. 

..the plate..

Here we have Tomato Kibbeh, Mujaddara, Lentil Shwarama, Tumeric Cake, Layali Lubnan, Batata Harra, Baba Ganoush, Banadurah Harrah, Falafel Chickpeas, and Lentil Soup. 

..tomato kibbeh..

I bought a bag of fine bulgar from the international market a few months ago for Turkey I believe. The bag was huge, so I am always keeping an eye out on recipes that use fine bulgar. This one fit that criteria and it looked amazing. I got this recipe from Maureen Abood. Apparently her brother became vegetarian and she wanted to make him something good to eat. The original Kibbeh is made with raw meat. I think this one sounds more appetizing! This dish was chock-full of fresh herbs, and required no cooking! The bulgar sat in the oil/herb mix for about an hour at room temp, then sat in the fridge to set for a while before serving. I had intended on drizzling some oil on top at the table but forgot. It was great without it. This recipe had me use just the outside of the tomato. Usually when a recipe calls for that I’ll make a salsa with the innards. I did a quick search for Lebanese Salsa and found…

..banadurah harrah..

This salsa is meant to be used as an accompaniment to meat or eggplant. I served it aside the kibbeh and also with pita chips. It was really great. The tomatoes were simmered in oil and garlic, and cooked with dried mint. Some cayenne pepper gave it a kick. 

..lentil shwarama..

I was on a leftovers kick this week. I planned on doing shwarama chickpeas, but noticed I had some leftover lentils in the fridge from a previous meal. So lentil shwarama it is! I got loads of complements for this one. I got the recipe from Connoisseurus Veg, and it was super easy. Made with stuff I had on hand already. I whipped the yogurt sauce up with yet another leftover food item in my fridge and stuff I had in my pantry. I’m pretty amazing…

..mujaddara..

Mujaddara is a rice and lentil pilaf dish, topped with sweet caramelized onions, and in this case pine nuts. We had a newcomer tonight, Brandi, and she had a winner with this one. Looking forward to the leftovers tomorrow night. 

..batata harra..

Spiced and spicy potatoes tossed in a cilantro sauce. These were really tasty. Wendy has been the queen on the Patata/Batata! 

..lentil soup..

Wendy made this spicy soup in her crockpot and used an immersion blender to make it smooth and creamy. We served this with lemon and Kite Hill Greek yogurt which has a wonderful sour cream taste. 

..baba ganoush..

Holly has to make her food ahead of time, bc she gets out of work just in time to make it here by dinner bell. No big deal, tons of food can be made ahead, like this baba ganoush. We served this with pita chips, and it was really good. I’ve had baba ganoush before where it’s kind of like hummus, real creamy and indistinguishably an eggplant. I like this bc there was no doubt this was made from eggplant. Lots of garlic and lots of flavor. 

..layali lubnan..

Julie got here in time to be photographed! This dish is called Lebanese nights dessert. Julie made lots of alterations to make this vegan, she used coconut milk fat in lieu of the milk. 

..turmeric cake..

A little surprise for the night, Holly showed up with a bonus dish, turmeric cake. It was awesome! Not a crumb left. 

..falafel chickpeas..

Before I figured out all the leftover food I was going to make, I picked up these falafel chickpeas from the supermarket. It was an impulse buy as I noticed them on my way to the produce department. They were good, very spicy, but a trigger food for me, so I wouldn’t go having these sitting around my house unless I was itching to gain 3 lbs and a stomach ache. These would fall under potato chip for can’t stop won’t stopable. 

That’s it. Next week, Malaysia!