Egypt has been on my mind constantly. It all started when I finally got Cory to watch one of my favorite movies, The Band’s Visit, just after the New Year. Then a couple weeks later, we watched Dr. Zhivago (seeing it made me even more proud to have been an extra in a film that starred Omar Sharif). Now in the wake of the protests in Egypt, I’ve been glued to Al-Jazeera English’s live stream everyday and find myself constantly refreshing certain blogs for live updates.

I miss Egypt. A lot. I spent almost a year there, over the course of three separate visits. Egypt will always have a special place in my heart. It was a place of firsts – first international flight, first time living on my own, first roommates, and the place where I first took an interest in food and cooking. Although I had a lot of frustrating experiences in Cairo (as any woman will tell you), I long for the day I can return and introduce Cory to my favorite bookstores, restaurants, and neighborhoods.

I especially miss the cats. Don’t even get me started on the cats. I have more pictures of cats than pyramids (which is easy, since cats are everywhere).

I loved all of the cats, even the ones that tried escaping my loving embrace. I could totally do without the geckos (bors), though.

And, of course, there’s the food.

I arrived in Egypt a very picky eater and returned to the States with a new love for food and cooking (lentils, fava beans, and chickpeas… where had they been all my life?). With Egypt so much on my mind lately, I started off the week with plans to only make Egyptian and Egyptian-inspired foods. So expect to see lots of Egyptian recipes here in the near future. My produce market was overflowing lots of interesting greens – butter lettuce, dinosaur kale, and brilliantly purple escarole. Once I got home, I wanted to put them all together in salad. For the record, I was never served anything quite like this salad in Egypt. It’s Egyptian-inspired, with a tahini based sauce laced with cumin and coriander. You see, I can’t help but put a somewhat foofy California cuisine spin on the dishes I make.

By the way, if you subscribe via email or RSS take a look at avocado & bravado’s new look. I planned on coding my own WordPress theme from scratch, buuut… I never quite got around to it. Instead, I found a nice minimalist theme to use as a base and customized it myself. I’m still smoothing a few things out, but the blog is finally looking the way I’ve always wanted it to. I love it.

Mixed Green Salad with Tahini Dressing
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For the dressing:

3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup plain yogurt (you could leave this out and add more tahini, but sometimes I find that tahini can be too strong)
2-4 tablespoons water (depending on the thickness of your yogurt. I used full fat Greek yogurt, so I used about 4 tablespoons of water)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon coriander
salt

Chop the garlic and toss into a blender, along with the remaining the tahini, yogurt, 2 tablespoons water, lemon juice, cumin, coriander and salt. Blend until smooth. If the dressing is too thick, add more water, a tablespoon at a time until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

For the salad:

3 cups mildly tart greens (any of the following: endive, escarole, dandelion greens, kale, purslane, watercress), washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 cups mild greens (any of the following: butter lettuce, loose leaf lettuce, Romaine lettuce), washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 onion, diced
1 cucumber diced
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
black pepper, for serving

Toss together the the greens and add to individual bowls. Drizzle the dressing over the greens and add the onions, cucumber, walnuts, and chickpeas. Grind some black pepper over the salad and serve.

Serves 6-8

Try the recipe index recipe index for more ideas.

Related posts:

1. green salad with apples and pecans with buttermilk honey dressing
2. salad with carrot ginger dressing
3. mint and cucumber noodles with tahini dressing

Usually when I go produce shopping, I make a bee-line for the greens and pick up a bunch of kale whenever it’s available.  Kale is sturdy and hearty, which makes it ideal for soups and stews, but it still tastes excellent raw – for those who can stand its mildly bittersweet flavor.  Since I buy kale so often, it sometimes lingers in the fridge a few days longer than I’d like and I don’t know what to do with it.  When that happens, I usually make kale chips.  But once I found a recipe for kale gratin I knew had a new go-to favorite recipe for kale.  I’ve made this gratin a handful of times in the last couple months and it even made an appearance at our Christmas dinner.  It’s such a comforting and satisfying dish, perfect for chilly winter nights.  And of course, this is also an easy way to incorporate some greens into your diet.  And cheese.  Lots and lots of cheeeeeeeeese.

Kale Gratin
(adapted from Sceptical Cook)
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1 pound kale, washed, stemmed, and cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour (I used all purpose)
1 1/5 cups milk (I used whole)
1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
salt & pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (optional, for color)
a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
a tablespoon of olive oil, for greasing the baking pan

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Wash, stem, and chop up the kale into small pieces. Add a couple tablespoons of water to a large stockpot and add the kale. Cook the kale over medium heat for about 2 or 3 minutes, or just until it’s started to wilt. Drain the kale through a colander and squeeze out a little bit of the liquid. Let the kale continue to drain as you grate the cheddar cheese.

In a skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat. Stir the flour into the butter, then add the milk a couple tablespoons at a time, stirring constantly until the mixture has formed a thick and smooth sauce. Add salt, pepper, turmeric (if using), and nutmeg. Add in the cheese, stirring constantly until melted.

Grease a baking pan (mine was 8″ x 8″) with olive oil and add the kale. Pour the cheese sauce over the kale and tip the baking pan back and forth to make sure all the kale is covered in cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until bubbling. If you’d like the gratin to have a nice brown top, add it to the broiler for 3-5 minutes.

Serves 6-8

Try the recipe index for more ideas.

Related posts:

1. kale chips
2. kale salad with honey dressing and pine nuts
3. pasta with fava beans, kale, and bacon

I’ve mentioned my love for sumac many times in the one year history of this blog (well, it will be one year in a little over two weeks!). Sumac is a spice that I sneak into just about anything. I love its sourness, it’s not as overpowering as lemons can be. Sometimes I even find myself eating small spoonfuls of it just before adding it to dishes. Hey, it’s not nearly as weird as trying to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon. Sumac adds a nice tart kick to vegetable dishes and I’ve been roasting lots of vegetables lately (broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and carrots). Partly as an excuse to keep the oven on for over an hour (our heater is only in one room!), but mostly because there’s no such thing as eating too many vegetables. Or too much sumac. Sumac most likely isn’t available at your local grocery store, but can easily be found at Middle Eastern grocery stores – or places like Amazon.com, if you’re willing to shell out a couple dollars for shipping.

Sumac Carrots
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1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sumac
salt, to taste
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F.

Toss the carrots with olive oil, sumac, and salt on a baking sheet or baking pan. Transfer to the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until tender. Sprinkle with a little bit of parsley before serving, if you’re feeling fancy.

Serves 2

Try the recipe index for more ideas.

Related posts:

1. sumac potato salad
2. carrot salad
3. roasted broccoli

Roasted broccoli
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1 pound of broccoli, cut into florets
1 tablespoon olive oil
a couple pinches of salt

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Arrange the florets in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the florets and sprinkle a couple pinches of salt over the broccoli. Transfer the baking sheet into the oven and roasted for 22-25 minutes, or until the tips of some of the florets have browned.

Serves 4

Try the recipe index for more ideas.

Related posts:

1. roasted cauliflower with tahini sauce
2. vibrant lemon chicken with roasted vegetables
3. broccoli hummus

Pomegranate and Potato Salad
(adapted from AZ Cookbook)
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1 1/2 cups potatoes, boiled and cut into bite-sized pieces
arils from one large pomegranate
1 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh herbs, chopped (any of the following: parsley, dill, cilantro, tarragon, and mint)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (or sour cream or creme fraiche)
salt and pepper, to taste

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Boil potatoes until tender, about 10-12 minutes. Drain and gently rinse and drain potatoes in a colander. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

While the potatoes are boiling, prepare the rest of the ingredients. Extract the seeds from the pomegranate, chop the onion, and the herbs. Mix together all the ingredients into a bowl, and fold in the mayonnaise (or sour cream and creme fraiche). By now, the potatoes should be cool enough to handle, chop them into bite-sized pieces and mix them into the bowl. Add salt and pepper, to taste and serve.

Serves 4, as a side dish

Try the recipe index for more ideas.

Related posts:

1. salad olivieh (persian potato salad)
2. sumac potato salad
3. lentil salad with feta and sun-dried tomatoes