Category Archives: Middle Eastern Food

Whole Food Plant-Based Middle-Eastern food Recipes

Wretched Excess

excessWe are home!  We had a wonderful time! And yet are glad to be home: be it ever so humble and all that. . .

We had fabulous ethnic food.  Particularly Middle-Eastern and Vietnamese. The problem in those cases had to do with quantity. Evidently I (conveniently) left my “full button” at home and suddenly felt it absolutely necessary to consume every single morsel on my plate.

It has been a long time since I went to bed at night feeling “stuffed”! But that was almost a nightly occurrence.

by Genene Cote Posted on February 28, 2013
Posted in Breakfast, diary-free food, gluten-free food, Middle Eastern Food, sugar-free food, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Vegan Mujadara–Lentils, Rice and Onions

lentilsIt is sooo cold! Like a lot of people we are enduring a major cold snap. All I have wanted to do for the last week is curl up in front of the fire, read and eat hot heavy food. Never mind salad, exercise or actually trying to think.

I have been craving lentils. Don’t know if it is the protein or the iron my body wants, but whatever it is, I have been fixated on lentils. There is nothing quite like lentil soup on a cold day. But I can’t live by soup alone, so decided to make a lentil and rice dish. It is a loosely Middle Eastern dish called Mujadara that is satisfying and extremely simple to make.  (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on January 14, 2013
Posted in Beans, gluten-free food, Middle Eastern Food, plant based diet, rice, vegan, vegetarian, Whole Food Plant-Based nutrition | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Eating on the Road

We are heading to New Orleans – timing being everything! The trip has started me thinking about what we are going to eat. Airport and airplane food (if you can even get it) are slim pickings! TSA rules limit the liquid you can take and living on protein bars and caffeine seems like a bad option!

We leave here at 7:00 am and get to New Orleans at 5pm, which when you adjust for time means that we will be traveling 8 hours. No matter what we eat for breakfast before we leave we are going to want to eat twice before we get a chance to sit down to real food. I have been racking my little brain trying to figure out what to take. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on September 3, 2012
Posted in Beans, menu, Middle Eastern Food, Protein, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Gluten-Free Tabbouleh

gluten free tabboulehBecause Pasadena, CA (where I used to live) has a large Armenian population, there are several excellent Middle Eastern restaurants within a 5 mile radius.  I ate at a couple of them regularly. Since moving away from Pasadena, the things I have missed most (and been unable to find) are even passable falafel, tabbouleh, hummus, baba ghannouj and baklava.

The absence of good middle eastern cuisine forced me to learn how to make my own. Part of the learning process has been trying out healthier versions of these standards.  I have actually gotten pretty good at it, even if I do say so. I now make oven baked falafel, oil-free hummus and baba ghannouj and gluten-free tabbouleh. The only thing I haven’t bothered with is baklava for obvious reasons. (more…)

by Genene Cote Posted on July 30, 2012
Posted in fresh veggies, gluten-free food, Middle Eastern Food, salad, tomatoes, vegan, vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment