Does anyone have some tried and true recipes to share?
Hi there!
Ghallaba (Lebanese stew) is one of my favorite meals of all time, I make it constantly:
Chop whatever vegetables you want. I usually use a couple different color bell peppers, an onion, a few carrots, and a carton of mushrooms.
Saute in olive oil in whatever order you want for however long you want to get the 'doneness' you like. I caramelize the onions and mushrooms first, along with a few small cloves of minced garlic, and then add the peppers and carrots until the peppers are soft and the carrots have just a bit of crunch left to them.
Puree/process 3-4 tomatoes and add to the pan along with:
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of chopped parsley (I often run out of parsley; it's fine without)
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp salt
It's really pretty easy (just a lot of chopping veggies, like you said), and you can adjust it to whatever taste you want. This is really just my take on it, e.g. most recipes call for sumac, which I never have, and tomato sauce/water, when I'd rather use fresh tomatoes, and I put less cayenne in than is usually called for.
After everything's in the pan, you just let it simmer down for a few minutes until it's nice and saucy.
It's typically served with chicken or beef but I usually eat it without. I serve it over rice and with hummus on the side. I think the flavor combination with the hummus is critical, but for someone going strictly paleo, I guess that wouldn't be allowed.
If I had to eat one meal every day for the rest of my life this would be it.
The flavor is just out of this world. Hope you get a chance to try it!
