Tag Archives: yogurt

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.

Minted yogurt pasta a la libanaise

Posted on March 22, 2016 | 1 comment

A very easy and quick Lebanese dish perfect for busy moms, so quick that it’s ready on your table with less than 20 mns. It tastes amazing and kids love it too, it could be served as light dinner as well.

You need (2 servings)

250g pasta could be fusili or penne
500g yogurt
2 tbsp tahini (sesame paste)
1 garlic clove crushed or 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried mint
salt to taste

Cook pasta as per pack directions and set aside to cool. Mix yogurt, tahini, garlic, mint and salt until creamy. Pour over the pasta and toss. Sprinkle on top more dried mint before serving.

If you hesitate which type of pasta to use, check my pasta guide for more information to help you choose the right one.

This hint of tahini gives it the deep and lebanese flavor. I love to serve it cold, so refreshing, light and suitable for people abstaining from meat.

If you like this post give it many 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.

1 Comment

Posted in main dish

Tagged fusili, lebanese food, less than 20 minutes meal, marmite et ponpon, mint, pasta, recipe, tahini, yogurt

homemade mango lassi popsicles – popsicoholic part 2

Posted on May 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

Popsicoholic part 2: mango lassi popsicles, for mango lovers.

Mango lassi is an indian drink like a milkshake, a blend of mango pulp, yogurt and sugar. It’s very delicious and refreshing. Usually served chilled on hot days, the perfect scenario to turn out this succulent drink into popsicles!

In a food processor, puree 1 1/2 cup mango with 2 tbsp yogurt and 1 tsp sugar.

In a seperate bowl whisk 1/2 cup of low fat yogurt with 1 tsp sugar.

Pour them in molds, alternating between the two mix. Let the mango puree layer thicker than yogurt. Make 3 to 4 layers. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl mixtures together in an up-and-down motion.

Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid. Preferably overnight. To remove the popsicles from the molds, run under warm water until they are easily released. This quantity makes 5-6 popsicles depending on your mold size.

Nothing can beat the heat like a fresh fruit popsicle. So try making these, they are worth it! My son loves them! yes they are suitable for kids and nutritious too.

One cup of mangoes (225 g) contains the following:

105 calories
76 percent vitamin C (antioxidant and immune booster)
25 percent vitamin A (antioxidant and vision)
11 percent vitamin B6 plus other B vitamins (hormone production in brain and heart desease prevention)
9 percent healthy probiotic fiber
9 percent copper (copper is a co-factor for many vital enzymes plus production of red blood cells)
7 percent potassium (to balance out our high sodium intake)
4 percent magnesium

(Percentages apply to daily value)

Enjoy!

homemade fresh strawberry popsicles – popsicoholic part 1

Posted on May 19, 2014 | Leave a comment

Cool off doha heat! A healthy refreshing homemade dessert! Suitable for kids! 100% natural! Low in calories!…. and i can keep listing many other reasons… Just to say there’s always an excuse to have a popsicle in my mind, am a big fan of popsicles!

Doha summer is already here and the temperature is getting higher and higher to the 40°C and above. Nothing will refresh you like a fruity popsicle.

I would like to share with you my recipes for fresh fruits popsicles and give a piece of my happiness to popsicoholic people like me 🙂

Popsicoholic part1: strawberry flavor

For these delicious popsicles you need to:

In a food processor puree one cup of fresh strawberries with 1 tbsp of sugar.
whisk 1 cup of yogurt and 2 tbsp of sugar

Pour in a mold, alternating between the strawberry puree and the yogurt, make about 3-4 layers. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, swirl mixtures together in an up-and-down motion. Insert ice-pop sticks and freeze until solid.

You should get 5 to 6 popsicles depending on your mold size. You can freeze up to one week, (but i doubt if they will last more than couple of hours).

To remove the popsicles from the molds, run under warm water until they are easily released. Enjoy!

mouth watering kousa mehche (stuffed zucchini)

Posted on March 14, 2014 | 2 comments

Who said traditional lebanese dishes can’t be presented in a modern creative way?

Mehche kousa or stuffed zucchini is one of the delicious traditional dishes that all lebanese families cook at least twice a month. Kids as adults love it. So succulent that people never bothered themselves to think of the esthetic presentation on the table .

Personally it’s one of my favourite dishes and i want to take it to the next level, by showing you how the presentation can be equivalent to the taste.

Isn’t mouth watering?

Usually kousa mehche is accompanied with wara’ arich or stuffed vine leaves to make the dish a killer.

Recipe:

1 kg kousa
200g ground beef
1 cup rice
2 medium tomatoes chopped
tomato paste
salt & pepper to taste

First you need to empty out the zucchini pulp with a special corer. Carve it as much as you can but try not to break it 🙂

Mix together the meat, rice, salt and pepper to stuff the zucchini to 3/4 full. The same stuffing is used also for the vine leaves.

Put the zucchini in the pot vertically, open side to the top so the rice will not go in the sauce. Add the chopped tomatoes, the paste and salt to taste then cover with water.

Bring it to boil then reduce to medium low flame and cook for 45 mns approx.

My mom is the queen of kousa mehche, she taught me!