wonderful food

luckily the life I live surrounds me with a great variety of nationalities. this is great in many aspects of course...the aspect I do enjoy over and over again is the never ending story of food...

it's artichoke season here in Cairo and before living here I never saw this kind of vegetable offered fresh on every corner. so last week I bought a few artichokes on the street and felt confident enough to go ahead and well, try...being me, I told my friends when I was picking up my little one and one of my italian friends said: "great, how do YOU make it?" well, I didn't know...was about to check the internet for recipes and advice...now that's exactly where it comes to the point when I am sure my life couldn't be better. my friend just asked if I have time right now, come along to her house and we prepare a simple italian artichoke dish together.
and that's what we did...while our little ones had their "pasta al pesto" I learned how to clean the artichokes and cook them in a very simple but delicious way.

that's also how I got the most delicious Dal recipe yet...a wonderful woman from India making it for me and handing me the recipe with it...introducing me to her friend who does offer group meditation, but that's a different story ;-)

and just like that things just fall in place whenever it is the right time

back to food...I do get a weekly supply of fruits and vegetables again and with that I am on the search for great vegetarian recipes at all times.

my all time favorites:

creamy vegetable soups of any kind...to be topped up with a variety of roasted seeds, olive oil toasted bread or a spoonful of whatever cooked grain you like (rice, barley, couscous, quinoa...)
quick stir fry with noodles...keep it crunchy!
fried vegetables...preferably eggplant and zucchini, thinly sliced and fried in olive oil, make a great sandwich lunch
broccoli, cauliflower, potato gratin
various italian artichoke recipes ;-)
vegetable spring rolls
carrot, zucchini quiche
steamed green beans with (buttery) breadcrumbs...the kids love it!
vegetable risotto
stuffed vegetables
...

I learned how to do stuffed vegetables in Libya, libyan style, of course. meaning, rice, meat, herbs.
I haven't done this dish for quite a while...that's what I did two days ago:

realizing my fridge is full of wonderful big peppers, I cut them open, got them ready to stuff and put them in an oven dish.
my filling: rice (uncooked and washed), champignon, spring onion, tomato paste, olive oil, parsley and coriander, salt and pepper
after you fill the vegetables generously drizzle with olive oil, cover the dish and put it in the oven for 40-60minutes. I also made a tomato sauce to serve it with...yes, the girls did like it, although they are not huge champignon fans :-)

this actually is also good to prepare ahead and in big quantity...

hey, let me know what your favorite vegetable recipe is and leave a comment...