Harira with Israeli Salad

Tonight's meal is another recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook that Brit has fallen in love with. Harira is a traditional North African soup served during Ramadan and is a very hearty and tasty meal. Brit and I cooked most of this dish the night before and let it sit overnight to help soften all of the protein and help the flavors evolve. Brit also quickly chopped up a light and refreshing Israeli Salad that was really nice in this hot weather that we've been suffering through.

Harira

Serves 6

1 cup onion, chopped
4 cups veggie stock
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp grated ginger root
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 cup carrot, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
15 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
1.5 cups potatoes, diced
pinch of saffron (we actually forgot to include this)
1 cup lentils
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper
1-2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (we also didn't include this as a last second decision)
lemon wedges

In a large soup pot, simmer the onions on 1 cup stock for 10 minutes. Mix the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne with a few tbsp of hot stock. Stir the spice paste into the pot and add the carrots, celery, and remaining stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, potatoes, and lentils, recover, and cook for 15-20 min. At this point the saffron should be added (if you remember to do so). Stir in the chickpeas, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. We waited to season with salt and pepper until the following day. At this point we let the pot sit overnight and transferred it to the fridge during the day.

When we were ready to eat, we re-heated the soup, seasoned with salt and pepper, and squirted some fresh lemon juice before eating. We should have also included the cilantro as a garnish, but were too hungry to wait.

Israeli Salad

1 cucumber, chopped
1 tomato, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Handful of parsley, chopped
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.


This soup was fantastic. Really hearty. Really tasty. Really good. And there were a lot of leftovers for future lunches. The next time we make this dish, which we definitely will, we'll add extra lentils and garbanzo beans. The salad that Brit made was actually her own variation on an Israeli salad that she first learned from her Norwegian grandmother. The addition of the tomato makes the dish more similar to an Israeli salad, but the rougher chopped veggies and garlic make this her own unique recipe. Ultimately, it was very tasty and perfect to eat in the heat.

Chickpea Patties with Israeli salad

We originally made this dish before our vacation to Oregon and really enjoyed how well the vegetarian patties turned out. The tzatziki sauce was really flavorful and we had added some chili pepper to give it some more spice. Since the recipe makes more patties than we can eat, we froze the extra patties raw for a future dinner. Thankfully, that meant all we had to do was thaw the patties under running water and we were ready to finish cooking our dinner. Brit made a delicious side of veggies that is very similar to an Israeli salad; details of the salad will come later.
Chickpea Patties with Tzatziki Sauce
(Originally posted on the Macheesmo food blog)

makes 8 patties

Patties
2 15 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup bread crumbs, toasted
4 scallions, minced
1/2 cup greek yogurt (we got the non-fat kind from TJs)
3 tbsp cilantro, minced
Salt

Toast the breadcrumbs in a dry pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes until a light brown color. Then, whisk together the eggs, garam masala, oil, and pinch of salt into a small bowl. Mush the chickpeas in a large bowl with a fork until mixed well. It's ok to have it be chunky.

Stir together the chickpeas, egg/spice mixture, breadcrumbs, and all the other ingredients to make a paste. Divide the mixture into 8 equal parts and form round patties about 3/4 of an inch thick while trying not to press the mixture together too much. Over high heat, add 2 tbsp of olive oil to a pan. When glistening hot, add the patties and cook 4-5 minutes per side until browned.

Tzatziki Sauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 cucumber, shredded
1 tbsp scallions
1/2 tbsp cilantro
salt

Peel the cucumber and shred using a large pored grater into a colander resting over a bowl. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Placing the colander over a bowl is crucial as the cucumber will lose a lot of its moisture while it sits. Mix all the remaining ingredients together in a large bowl and spice with chili pepper powder if you so desire.