Ta3meya!!!!

While at the local market last weekend, my husband and I found fresh fava beans and so I decided to get some to make falafel for us!  We usually end up using the boxed falafel mix that we get from the Middle Eastern grocery store and then adding our own spice mixes to it.  To be honest, it's never me that makes it, but usually my dad!  He's great at it and they always turn out great.  My mom always makes the tahini sauce to dip them in.  But today, I decided to give it a shot myself!  A few years back, my sister made them from scratch and gave me the recipe her mother in law gave her.  I used that recipe along with a Pinterest one I found as a guide.  Another thing that I discovered while looking up recipes and talking to my sister, was that falafel and ta3meya are NOT the same thing!  I always thought they were and usually just used the term falafel with my North American friends because I knew they would understand that.  But, I came to find out, that they are NOT the same.  Falafel is actually just made with chick peas, but the traditional dish made by Egyptians, is made only with fava beans.  Many cultures actually mix both fava beans and chickpeas to make theirs!  Who knew?!?!?!?

My husband gave today's breakfast a rating of 11 out of 10 today!  He was VERY happy with how the ta3meya turned out!

Here is the Pinterest recipe I used as a guide:
http://www.mamaslebanesekitchen.com/mezza/falafel-from-scratch/#sthash.fSSfauoS.dpbs

Now, I thought 2 tablespoons of salt was waaaaayyyy too much and so I put in 2 teaspoons of salt.  Unfortunately, this was still waaaaayyyy too much for us and so I ended up adding a canned of pureed chickpeas to the pureed fava bean mixture to even out the salt.  This worked perfectly, but I would have preferred to make this the traditional way without the chickpeas. The tahini recipe was what I followed, but I also added some olive oil, a little water, and some parsley to it!

My sister's mother in law's recipe also called for adding an egg to help bind the balls and so I did go ahead and add that too.  I found the mixture to be a little soft and had to add more flour in order to form the balls and found that flouring my hands also helped to form the balls.

To go with the Ta3meya, I made a traditional Middle Eastern salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions, and of course, got some pita bread!

Here are some pics of my recipe today:

Completed dish for breakfast this morning!

Ta3meya fresh out of the fryer

Rolled mixture on a floured plate

Going into the deep fryer

Tahini dressing

 After mixing and adding pureed chickpeas

Herb and spice mixture over the fava bean mixture

Pureed fava beans

My little one helping me shell the fava beans!

Mediterranean Flavors!

After living the island life for the last two weeks and being lucky enough to have others cook for me or eat out, it's time to get back on track and back to cooking!  I'm not one of those people that looks at recipes first and then buys those ingredients when I go to the grocery store.  I usually stock up on the basics and lots of fruits and veggies when I go to the grocery store and THEN find recipes to match the ingredients I have on hand.  While searching through Pinterest today, I came across this recipe for eggplant and a mediterranean salad that looked great!  I decided to give it a try today!

Here's the Pinterest recipe I used:

http://www.themediterraneandish.com/mediterranean-chickpea-salad-with-zaatar-fried-eggplant/

Here's how it turned out!

Crack Slaw

My husband and I decided to try and go as light as possible with regards to food this week leading up to Thanksgiving!  He found this recipe for cabbage and beef on Pinterest last night and sent it to me!  We decided to skip the beef part though and just make the cabbage.  When I went to the recipe, the author wrote that it is actually called "Crack Slaw" because of how good it tastes!  This recipe was super easy to prepare and she's right - it tastes amazing, but is sooooo simple!

Check out the recipe below:
http://www.budgetbytes.com/2016/08/beef-cabbage-stir-fry/?utm_content=buffer090ab&utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_campaign=budgetbytesbuffer

I also added some sliced celery and orange pepper because it's what I had in the fridge!

Here's what it looks like:

The last two weeks....

Well hello there!  It's been a few weeks since I've posted!  But if you follow me on Instagram, you'll know I've been VERY busy with my two little ones and my sister and her little one in town!  I did cook a few AMAZING dishes that I want to share and so I decided to just put up a pic and the link to the Pinterest page that I used for the recipe :)

Here are my zucchini and carrot muffins!  I make these ALL the time because my husband and 2 year old love them!  They're made with no sugar and use maple syrup instead!
http://cupcakesandkalechips.com/healthy-carrot-zucchini-mini-muffins/

Rice stuffed peppers!  I used my mom's recipe for the rice which she usually makes her stuffed grape leaf and cabbage rolls with!
http://dearcrissy.com/ground-turkey-stuffed-peppers-recipe/

We also stuffed some of the peppers with a ground turkey mix that my sister made and topped those ones off with cheese!

The peppers before going into the oven

My sister made us a classic Egyptian breakfast dish called "foul".  This is made with fava beans and some lemon and cumin!  Soooooo Yummy!

This is one of my go-to breakfast dishes when people come into town!  They are crustless quiches made with whatever frozen mixed veg bag I have on hand, eggs, and cheese put into muffin tins and baked!

My sister found a recipe for a veggie burger made with red kidney beans and potatoes mashed together and pan fried. They turned out great!!!! Now, I'm a MEAT EATER, so I wouldn't call this a burger, but it was a good patty and a nice alternative :)
http://www.myfoodandhappiness.com/red-kidney-beans-veggie-burgers/

Mashed kidney bean, potatoes, and seasoning before making into patties

Baked macaroni pie!  This is the West Indian version of mac and cheese!  So yummy with some grated onion, mustard, a can of cream of mushroom soup, carrots, and a seasoning pepper!
Check the Trinidadian Naparima Girls Cook Book I always reference for the recipe!

Stuffed Mushrooms!

I needed another "something" to add to my vegetarian leftovers from yesterday and decided to try this stuffed mushroom recipe!  I've tried it once before and it turned out FABULOUSLY and so I thought I'd give it a shot again.  The first time I did with ricotta cheese and this time I used cream cheese.  I have to say, I liked it with the ricotta better!  Next time, I'll go back to using the ricotta!  They were still yummy, but I think the cream cheese had more salt than the ricotta did, so it gave it a thicker, saltier taste.

Here's the Pinterest recipe I loosely followed:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15184/mouth-watering-stuffed-mushrooms/?e11=cream%20cheese%20stuffed%20mushrooms&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event8=1&e7=Recipe&event10=1

Here's how the stuffed mushrooms turned out:

Right out of the oven

The recipe doesn't call for a "broil" at the end, but I like it to crisp the tops a bit

Before going in the oven

Cheese mixture - I added sauteed spinach to it also

Blending together the cheese mix

Mushroom caps with stems removed

Chana and Potatoes

This is one of my favorite, go-to recipes!  It's super easy and tasty - especially if you have some fresh roti skins to go with it!  I decided to make some white rice to go with it so it would be easier for my 2 year old and my husband to go with for lunch tomorrow!

I use the recipe found in the Naparima's Cookbook (if you like West Indian food - you need to get this cookbook!!!).  I tweaked the recipe a little because I didn't have enough chana (chickpeas) or potatoes so I needed to add a little more to it to make it hearty.  I decided to cut up a sweet potato and some carrots to supplement the one can of chickpeas and the 2 potatoes I had.  I also added about a quarter tin of coconut milk to the pot when adding the water.  I think the coconut milk gives it a richness that's always missing when I don't add it.

My husband also steamed a piece of breadfruit and made an easy eggplant and tomato dish to go along with it!

Here's how the Chana and Potatoes came out!

Complete plate of food: chana and potatoes, white rice and green peas, eggplant and tomatoes, and steamed breadfruit!

Adding the chickpeas at the end and stirring

Adding the potatoes and carrots to the curry mixture

Cooking the curry with some oil, onions, and garlic

Eggplant Parmesan

One of my favorite recipes is this Eggplant Parmesan!  I've checked lots of Pinterest pins on this and watched it made on The Chew and have sort of adopted my own way of making it.  It's actually pretty simple, but there are lots of parts to put together!  I think the most important part is the sauce - use whatever marinara sauce you like the best!  I like to make my own using some garlic, onions, crushed tomatoes, garlic and onion powder, a little allspice, and some brown sugar.  I also add some fresh basil to the mix!  The next component is the eggplant.  I slice up my eggplant and lay it over some paper towels.  I salt each side and leave it for about a half an hour to "sweat" the bitterness out.  While that's "sweating", I boil the spaghetti.  I like to make my spaghetti with half whole wheat and half regular.  Once it's ready, I strain it and leave it on the side until I'm ready to put together the whole thing.  After sweating the eggplant I fry it by dipping it in flour, then beaten eggs, and then seasoned Panko breadcrumbs.  Fry them until they're golden brown!

I place the spaghetti into my baking dish first, add some marinara sauce over top, sprinkle some parmesan cheese over it, then add the fried eggplant, a little more marinara and parmesan, a little mozzerella, and top it off with some fresh basil.  I put this in the oven for about 20 minutes and then broil for another 5.  This dish is huge and very filling!  Usually lasts our family a few days!

Here's how it turned out:

Here's the completed Eggplant Parmesan!

Last layer before the basil

Layer of Eggplant on top

Layer of Parmesan over the spaghetti

Marinara sauce over the pasta

Pasta in the bottom of the baking dish

Fried eggplant

Homemade Marinara

Eggplant slices on a paper towel, salted to "sweat"

My 2 year old's portion of Eggplant Parmesan cut up :)