Champilège 2 : amuse-shiitake

Amuse-gueules are small stuff to entertain your snout. The hat of a shiitake is the perfect size.

Shiitake mushrooms.

Soaked bulgur is the base, with red onion, garlic, thyme, olive oil, salt, pepper…

Baked till golden. Serve hot.

Table tricolore. Three taboulés.

Too hot to cook… Let’s just mix, wait and eat.
Taboulé is the king of Summer.

Or couscous ? Both.
To make bulgur green tabouleh (click here).
For the couscous, I simply mix all the veggies, dressing (lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, minced onion and garlic) to the dry grain. I complete liquid with water (for 1 cup of grain, 2 of liquid). I let at least 2 hours in the fridge.

Yellow.

Turmeric, raisins, red bell pepper, chick peas, herbs.

Red.

Tomato paste, chick peas, sweet corn, green bell peppers, herbs.

Green.

Lots of fresh herbs. All the herbs I had that day (parsley, oregano, mint and a little lemon balm).

Yuzu tabouleh and nira falafels

Chunky texture falafels, with a creamy tahini sauce. The local twist is the addition of nira (garlic chives).

Citrus flavored tabouleh. What is special is I’ve used yuzu, the Japanese citrus and different herb. That was really delicious.

Overnight soaked chickpeas pasted with some bigger chunks, littles bits of onion and chopped nira (garlic chives), salt, pepper. I thickened them with oatmeal. Pan-fried.

Home-made tahini in the blender. I’ve added salt and lemon juice to make it a creamy dip. Harissa on the side.

I slightly precooked the bulgur in water (when I have more time, I soak it one night in plenty of water instead), then added everything to the drained grain. I let flavor mix overnight.

A side of cucumber kimchi.

Red bean kibbeh, yellow split pea salad

Another delicious filling plant based lunch.

After the baked kibbeh :

kabocha kibbeh

I tried the fried one.

I’ve added half of the kintoki red beans pureed to the bulgur mix. The other half stir-fried with sesame seeds, hot spices, spinach, mint, onion, garlic and goji berries.
Pan-fried + baked.

The full shape… not a perfect ogive. I’m scared to put a name on the shape. You know what ? My online photo album refused this and a few in the series as their computer suspect it to be obscene.

Inside…

The salad is made with yellow split peas.

I cooked them in the rice-cooker. I added veggies. It’s a balsamico oregano dressing added after the photos as it gives a dirty look to the dish and I don’t want more photos refused by the photo Inquisicion…

Nutrition :
569 calories F15.8g C97.6g P29.9g

Kabocha and carrot kibbeh

I have followed the trend of the pumpkin kibbeh recipe on this blog Hommus w tabbouli. A kibbeh is some dish made of bulgur, and often mixed and stuffed with ground meat. This one is a Lent recipe from Lebanon. It’s meatless. And it’s a baked kibbeh.

When it’s baked it’s a sort of pie. You can see the filling with chick peas.

Overnight soaked bulgur. I’ve added a puree of kabocha pumpkin and carrot, a few spices (mace, ras el hanout, black pepper, flour), and some flour. Let one hour in the fridge.

I’ve used what I had : the chick pea, onions, spinach. The nuts are replaced by sunflower seeds. I’ve cut in small bits the green rind of kabocha. I stir-fried in olive oil, with a little garlic.

The filling is sandwiched between 2 layers of bulgur mix. Baked like a gratin.

That’s crispy on the top, and very filling. I liked it a lot, but I should used more spices. I’ll know next time. That was not a problem as I had a spicy side dish.