Tag Archives: lebanese food

Meatless braised artichoke with potato, carrots and peas (suitable for vegetarians)

Posted on March 9, 2020 | Leave a comment

Artichoke is high in fibers and antioxidants, it maintains a healthy heart, reduces bad cholesterol, prevents and treats cancer, improves digestion and acts as a diuretic.

Did you know that if artichoke is left to grow wild, it blossoms into large purple flowers? yes artichoke is a bud of a thistle!

This astounding vegetable can be consumed from leaves to heart and even the bottom, this recipe calls for hearts. Braised artichoke hearts with carrots, potato cubes and peas. It’s usually presented as a side dish, salad or mezza, but if paired with rice you can eat as a main dish.

you will need (serves 4):

medium onion finely diced
400 g artichoke hearts
1 cup carrots, chopped in small cubes
1 cup potato, chopped in small cubes
1 cup peas
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
juice of one big lemon
3 cups water
salt to taste

Sautée the onion in butter until fragrant, add the flower and let it cook a bit until it starts to have a golden shade, then pour the lemon. Whisk the mix the same way of doing the roux then the water little by little. You will obtain a silky and viscous sauce. Add the artichoke, potato, carrots and peas and let it cook on low flame until tender.

As i said you can serve it cold as a mezza or hot with rice, or maybe why not trying it with mashed potato. I am personally a big fan of this dish. I love vegetables and i love everything that has citrus, so it is a heavenly combination. Give it a try and i am sure you will love it.

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Vegan Heirloom beans – Lebanese traditional fasoulia bi zeit

Posted on February 21, 2018 | Leave a comment

I heart our Lebanese cuisine for how versatile and wholesome is. Cooking traditional Lebanese is a pleasure, with few ingredients you can have a surprisingly deep flavor dish. Vegan, vegetarian or with meat the same dish can be presented, and each time as a symphony of blended middle eastern flavors.

Today’s dish is vegan heirloom beans, can be done with also pinto beans. Fasoulia (beans) bi zeit (zeit is oil, meaning meatless), when you say bi zeit immediately you think of eating Lebanese bread to substitute rice. Almost all Lebanese vegan dishes can be presented hot or at room temperature, as main dish or even part of mezze but the one thing for sure, is with bread and lots of vegetables. I told you we eat very healthy 🙂

If you are cooking with dried beans, you need to soak them in water for at least 12 hours and better overnight. I am cooking with green ones, thanks for my parents who sent me some overseas.

One cup can serve 2-4 people depending on how you are serving it. I will make 2 cups in this recipe, (almost half a kilo) to serve 4 as a main dish.

2 cups heirloom|pinto beans
4 cups of water
1 big onion finely diced
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup tomato puree plus 2 tbsp tomato paste (for deeper flavor)
salt to taste

In a deep pot fry the onions and garlic in olive oil until tender and fragrant.If you are not fan of garlic you can substitute with one tsp garlic salt for milder flavor. Add tomato puree and tomato paste and keep cooking for 2-3 minutes. Drain out the beans (if you have them soaked) and add it to the mixture. Pour 4 cups of water and let them boil.

When it starts boiling, reduce to low heat, cover the pot and let it simmer for an hour. If the water reduces feel free to add some more. The level of water should be always 2-3cm above the grains.

Serve it hot or at room temperature as per your choice. Eat like a Lebanese with an endless choice of side vegetables like cucumber, tomato, radish, raw or spring onion… or even pickles!

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Fatteh batenjen – chickpeas, aubergine, yogurt and pita

Posted on October 19, 2017 | Leave a comment

In a previous post i mentioned that Fatteh, that levantine dish, varies from one country to other; could be vegetarian or featuring meat, could also have potato or eggplant, but the main ingredients are chickpeas, yogurt and crushed toasted pita.

The arabic word “Fatteh”means “crushed”, so fatteh or fattet hummos has its name after the crushed toasted pita and so other middle eastern dishes with crushed toasted pita like “Fattoush”.

For this version of fatteh with aubergine you will need: (yield two portions)

2 medium aubergine cut in big cubes
3 pitas toasted and crushed in medium pieces
500g yogurt (or two cups)
2 tbsp tahina
1tsp salt
2 cups chickpeas boiled (could be canned)
1 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves crushed

to top with:

50g butter
1/3 cup pine nuts
chopped parsley or mint for garnish

For a healthy option of this dish we will grill the aubergine in the oven after drizzling on top 2 tbsp of olive oil. and set aside

Same goes for the pitas, instead of frying them i will toast in the oven. When ready, put one layer of the toasted bread in a deep dish.

After boiling the chickpeas, or if you are using canned ones, add the garlic (cloves or powder) while it’s still hot, of course after removing its water, put on top of the pitas layer. Now distribute the aubergine evenly on the chickpeas.

To prepare the yogurt sauce, mix it with tahina and salt then pour it on the chickpeas and aubergine.

Fry the pine nuts with butter and drizzle over the yogurt and garnish with finely chopped parsley or mint.

It’s one of my favorite dishes, and as mentioned before, it is a versatile one. You can enjoy it vegetarian or you can add ground beef or chicken. Very easy and quick, using simple available ingredients and hold so much flavors!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog please let me know the result, I love hearing from you!

And if you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.

Fish tagine in Tahina sauce

Posted on March 13, 2017 | 1 comment

A very simple recipe where Tahina is the main ingredient for the sauce, in which the baked fish will bathe. Onion and lemon juice come to add the deep flavor and sour kick. The added bonus here are the roasted almonds and pine nuts that creates the contrast with its crunchiness.

Whether you are planning to serve it as an appetizer or main dish, you will have everyone licking their lips in anticipation.

You will need:

500g fish fillet or whole fish to be baked, could be sea bass, hamour or red snapper or any available white fish of your choice.
1 cup tahina (sesame paste)
1 1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon
2 medium onion cut a la julienne
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste
roasted almonds and pine nuts for topping
chopped coriander for garnish

First start by oven baking the fish. Set aside the fillets (or deboned whole fish) to prepare the sauce.

Cook the onion with olive oil until tender, keep stirring while cooking as you don’t want them to brown. In a bowl mix together tahina, water, lemon and salt before pouring over the onion, you want the sauce a bit runny because it will thicken a bit while on heat. When you see the first bubble forming, turn off the heat and stir in the fish.

On a serving plate, sprinkle the top with roasted almonds and pine nuts. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve. You can have it warm, at room temperature or cold.

If you want to eat like a lebanese, then serve it with pita bread to seal the deal.

A middle eastern/Lebanese specialty dish that’s full of flavors with few ingredients. If you never cooked your fish this way, you should consider trying marmite et ponpon recipe and you will never regret.

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1 Comment

Posted in appetizers & salads, main dish

Tagged appetizer, beirut, doha, fish, food, food blog, food photography, food porn, how to do, jaymmy food blogger, lebanese food, lebanon, main dish, marmite et ponpon, middle eastern dish, qatar, recipe, sesame paste, tagine, tahina

Fatteh hummos – chickpeas, yogurt and pita

Posted on March 1, 2017 | 3 comments

Fatteh, a wholesome levantine dish, varies from one country to other; could be vegetarian or featuring meat, but the main ingredients are chickpeas, yogurt and crushed toasted pita.

For this simple dish yet flavorful you will need: (yield two portions)

3 pitas toasted and crushed in medium pieces
500g yogurt (or two cups)
2 tbsp tahina
1tsp salt
2 cups chickpeas boiled
1 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves crushed

For garnish:

50g butter
1/3 cup pine nuts
chopped parsley or mint for decoration

You first start with a layer of toasted pitas, some people likes it fried, but i prefer to keep it light and healthy.

After boiling the chickpeas, or if you are using canned ones, add the garlic (cloves or powder) while it’s still hot and pour it over the bread, of course after removing its water.

To prepare the yogurt sauce, mix it with tahina and salt then top the chickpeas with it. Fry the pine nuts with butter and drizzle over the yogurt and garnish with finely chopped parsley or mint.

It can be served as healthy breakfast, appetizer or main dish. You can always save leftovers in the fridge as you can eat it cold, at room temperature or hot. There are many variations to it, but this way is my favorite. Some people add lemon juice to the yogurt, fry the pitas or add cumin powder to the chickpeas, fried ground beef or chicken… no harm in trying!

This vegetarian version is very easy and quick especially if you are using canned chickpeas, it will be served on your table in less than 20 minutes. It’s an ideal dish to keep you full for a long time during lent, for people abstaining from meat.

If you like this post give it some likes and shares to spread the joy. Don’t forget to like marmite et ponpon facebook page and follow on twitter. More interesting posts are yet to come.