Like most cultures in the world, Lebanese cuisine has been influenced by the interaction with others through different points in history. Countries like Turkey and France made important contributions to Lebanon’s cuisine, and if we look carefully, we’ll be able to appreciate its multiculturalism.
Lebanese food is prepared with simple ingredients and a wide range of flavors and textures that appeal to any kind of palate. Spices like spearmint give a distinctive touch to every meal. But that’s not even the best part… Lebanese food is surprisingly easy to cook!
Date and Orange Granola Bites
Ingredients:
– 1 cup of of dates (200 grams)
– 1 cup of prunes (200 grams)
– 1 cup of quinoa granola (200 grams)
– 1 tablespoon of orange zest
Instructions:
Mix all the ingredients together until they are thoroughly combined to form a smooth dough. Line a cake pan with plastic film or wax paper, and then spread out the dough onto the plastic surface. You can use a wooden spatula to distribute it evenly. Place in the fridge for an hour and finally cut the cake into small squares. You can also roll the dough into small balls.
Lebanese Sour Cream
Ingredients:
– 1 half-gallon / 1 liter of milk
– 100 g of natural yoghurt
Instructions:
First, boil the milk and then wait for it to cool down to 45 °C / 113 °F. Once it reaches that temperature, pour it along with the yoghurt in an earthenware pot and cover it with a thick dishtowel to ensure it remains warm.
Allow the mixture to settle without moving it for 2 to 4 hours according to weather conditions (2 hours on summer, or 4 hours on winter). After that time has passed, remove the dishtowel and refrigerate the pot during two hours before the meal is served.
Tabouli
Ingredients:
– 1 cup of chopped flat parsley leaves
– 1/2 cup of chopped fresh spearmint
– 1/2 cup of cous cous
– 1/2 onion or 2 scallions chopped
– 3 chopped firm tomato
– 2 fresh limes to use its juice
– 1/4 olive oil
– Salt
Instructions:
Before anything else, be sure to soak your cous cous in salted water because it will absorb the flavors once you mix it with the other ingredients. The onions and tomatoes must be chopped into small cubes, while the spearmint and parsley can be roughly cut into large chunks.
Drain the cous cous from the water and mix in all the ingredients. Afterwards add some lime juice and olive oil.
Lebanese salad
Ingredients:
– 2 peeled cucumbers
– 1/2 lettuce (optional)
– 4 tomatoes
– 1 green pepper
– 1/2 red pepper
– 1 scallion
– Lime juice
– 1/2 cup of parsley
– 1/4 cup of fresh spearmint
– 2 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1 pinch of salt
Instructions:
Shred the lettuce into medium size pieces. You don’t have to use a knife, you can just use your hands. Parsley and spearmint must be finely minced, as well as the scallion, tomatoes, and peppers. Next, cut the cucumber in half, remove all the seed, and slice it into little pieces.
Now you just have to mix all the ingredients in a bowl!
Hummus
Ingredients:
– 2 cups of drained well-cooked or canned chickpeas.
– 2 tablespoons of water
– Lime juice
– 3 tablespoons of olive oil
– 1/4 teaspoon of dry coriander leaves
– 1/2 teaspoon of salt
– 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin seed
– 1/8 teaspoon of paprika
– 2 garlic cloves
– 100 ml / 3.38 oz of Tahini (sesame oil)
Instructions:
Boil the chickpeas. Then put all the ingredients except the olive oil in a food processor and mix it until it becomes smooth. Finally, with the food processor still on, add the olive oil.
You can serve this dish right away with chopped vegetables or some pita bread triangles.
Pita Bread
Ingredients:
– 200 grams of flour
– 1 pinch of salt
– 7g of baking soda
– 100 ml / 3.38 of water
– 200 ml / 6.76 oz of olive oil
Instructions:
Dissolve the baking soda in a bowl of water. Then pour flour, salt, and olive oil. Knead the ingredients until they are thoroughly mixed to form a dough. Afterwards, let the dough rest for about 2 hours until it has doubled in size.
Now you can form each piece of flat bread. Finally, pour some oil in a hot frying pan and lay the pita bread, and cook it until the bread begins to puff up and the bottom has some brown spots.
See? Simple and quick! Now enjoy!
These recipes will make you see that you don’t need to go to Lebanon to get close to its culture. Food has the power to take you to the most amazing and remote places through your senses. If you want to learn more recipes that will expand your horizons, don’t forget to check out these 7 Authentic Guacamole Recipes To Throw The Best Party.
Translated by Andrea Valle
