Falafel

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  This is a fairly authentic version of Middle Eastern falafels. They taste just like the ones I ate in Israel and Egypt!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Prep time: 15 mins
  Bake time: 25 mins
  Total time: 40 minutes
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  • Make cucumber sauce first and chill in fridge while baking falafels. Mix:
  • 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
  • 1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded
  • 1 tsp dried dill weed
  • 1 tbsp mayo
  • salt and pepper to taste
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Falafels:
• 1 (15 oz) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1/2 onion
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• Pitas

1. In a food processor, chop chickpeas, onion, parsley and garlic until very fine. Stir everything together.
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, lemon juice, baking powder and olive oil. Stir into chickpea mixture. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will stay together.
3. Form mixture into small balls, roll into additional bread crumbs, and then flatten between your hands and place on a cookie sheet. HINT: I use a cookie dough scooper to make mine all the same size. It usually makes about 15-20 falafels, which will feed 4 people.
4. Bake patties in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes on the top shelf, flip them over and cook an additional 10 minutes.

Serve in pitas with cucumber sauce and your favorite veggies- tomatoes are our favorite!

Baklava

• Prep time: 45 minutes
• Bake time: 40-50 minutes
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• Pastry:
• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo/filo dough sheets*
• 1 pound chopped nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)
• 1 cup butter
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar

Sauce:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey

*This can be found in the frozen food section of most grocery stores. I found it by the frozen berries at Smiths. It is about $3.25 there.

1. Make sauce first. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then put in fridge to cool (this is key!).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan (Pam).
3. Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon and sugar. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. You may need to cut the whole stack in half to fit, each sheet should be about the size of the pan. Mine was already cut to the right size when I bought it.
4. Place two sheets of dough in pan, brush butter on with a pastry brush**. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered.
5. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top of the 8 layered sheets. Top with two sheets of dough, and more butter and nuts.Continue layering, but save 8 sheets for the top layer.
6. When you have 8 sheets left, layer them two by two with butter in between, just like the bottom layer.
7. When you are done, use a sharp knife to cut the baklava into diamond or square shapes (see bottom picture) all the way to the bottom of the pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp. I did half the time on the middle shelf and half the time on the top to ensure that it gets golden brown and crispy.
8. Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon the cold sauce over it. Let it cool for a few hours. Leave it uncovered so it doesn't get soggy, or you can freeze it.

**NOTE: A pastry brush is ideal to have but not necessary. I made it without and it was fine and much faster. These instructions were for if you have a pastry brush. If you don't, do 4 sheet layers (instead of 2) and just spoon the butter on and spread it around with the back of the spoon. It worked fine :)

If you have any questions or a better way to make this, let me know! Enjoy!!! Thomas said it was the best baklava he has ever had, so I was pretty happy with it :)

Mango Salsa

1/2 sweet onion

1 jalapeno

1 clove garlic

1 ripe mango, peeled and pitted

1 tbsp lime juice

1/4 bunch cilantro

2 (14.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes

salt and pepper

Remove seeds from jalapeno. Using food processor, chop onion and jalapeno and set aside. Mince garlic. Chop mango into small chunks. Snip cilantro into smaller pieces. Put lime juice, cilantro and tomatoes into food processor. Pulse until tomatoes are consistency you want. Add onion, jalapenos, mango and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Store in refrigerator for 1 hour for flavors to blend. Eat with your favorite tortilla chips!!

Chicken Crepes

Crepes:

1 cup flour (I use whole wheat)

1 egg

1 1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

3 tbsp butter

Blend well. Batter should be very thin and will still have some lumps. Cook like pancakes in a greased small skillet over medium high heat- using about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup batter to just cover the bottom. Make sure to not over cook, you want them pliable.

Filling:

1 cup sour cream

1 can Cream of Chicken soup

1/4 cup chopped black olives

1 can rotel (diced tomatoes and chili peppers)

2 cups diced chicken (canned or from cooked chicken breasts)

Optional: any veggies you like- mushrooms, onion, celery, peppers, etc.

Spoon filling into each crepe, wrap like an enchilada and place in a 9x13 pan. Place them close together, they will cover the whole pan. Save a little filling to spread over the top. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes, pull out and cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake about 5-10 more minutes until cheese is melted and inside is hot. Enjoy!