Lebanese Salad

A cool fresh salad is perfect for a sweltering summer day.  Who wants to cook when it is so hot.  I eat an abundance of salad all year round.  I am always looking for a different recipe to try.  My favorite salad is the Lebanese salad though.  I eat it with hummus and pita bread.  It makes a delicious lunch or a light dinner meal.  In this tutorial I will also share how to make creamy hummus and how to get the most juice from your lemon without using a electric juicer.

Recipe:

5 Tomatoes chopped
1 Cucumber chopped
1-2  Bunches green onions with tops chopped
1-2 lemons Juiced
2 Bunches fresh parsley finely chopped
1-2  Tablespoon minced garlic
Mint for garnish add more if you want it in the salad
Sea salt to taste
Olive oil optional   

Normally they put Bulgar wheat in this salad but I can't find it in my area.  It makes this salad very healthy.  

Wash all the vegetables

Chop:

• Parsley
• Onions
• Tomatoes
• Cucumber

Measure 1-2 Tablespoons minced garlic
Microwave lemons 20 seconds to get the juices soft.
Let set for a few minutes to cool off.

You need to be careful when you cut into the lemons because they can squirt juice out. They need to cool slightly.

Juice the lemon with a small hand juicer as shown or just squeeze the juice out.
Place the juice in a cup.

Combine all the vegetables in a bowl and mix well.

Add to taste the lemon juice and garlic. You may add a little olive oil  if you like.  

Mix well.

Chill.




 

It is best to use a food processor,  but I have made homemade hummus using a mixer.  I would suggest cooking the chick peas longer to make them softer.  I used canned here and my mixer would not work with the canned.  


Recipe: Serves large family:

• 4 Cans of Chick peas reserving the juice
• 1 Lemon juiced
• Mint for garnish
• 1-2 Tablespoon minced garlic
• 1/4 Cup tahini  "you don't have to use tahini, you may use almond butter or peanut butter,or omit completely." Tahini gives it such a nice flavor though.  
• 1 teaspoon sea salt.
• 2-4 tablespoons olive oil. Season to taste.

This is a type of recipe that you can taste to determine how much salt, lemon, olive oil, and garlic you want.  

The secret to creamy hummus is to carefully remove the thin skin that covers the bean.  This is a time consuming process but it makes the hummus creamy like they serve in restaurants.  You may just use them directly from the can though, it will make the hummus a little more course in texture.  

Preparing the hummus:

• Strain the juice from the chick peas  reserving the liquid.
• Place the chick peas in a large bowl with hot water, not boiling.
• Let set for a few minutes,  then carefully squeeze the beans through your fingers slipping of the skin.
• Place the skinned beans in a small bowl.

Place the hummus and the tahini into the food processor and blend well slowly adding the reserved juice as you go.  
You want the consistency of a thick paste.  Creamy enough to dip but not too runny. 
Add garlic, salt and lemon to taste.

Blend until there are no lumps.

Remove from the processor and place into a bowl.  

Serve on a plate with the salad and pita bread!  

Make a small well and pour a little olive oil in the center.

Garnish with a sliced lemon and spring of mint.  

This dish is a big hit for a party or pot luck.

Making meals from scratch is a good way to reduce trash.  I normally make hummus from scratch.  I thought that If I bought the canned beans they would have been skinned.  I was wrong.  The next time I make this I will be making the hummus from scratch.  It took 4 cans of chick peas to make what I made.  That is just more resources and energy used to recycle when I could have used one small plastic bag.  I am not sure how that calculates with saving energy.   It would be interesting to know.  

Thank you for stopping by and do have a nice day.  

Sunshiine