Hummus, moutabal, tabouleh, sambousek... having lived in the Middle East for over 10 years I have to say I'm a great fan of the Lebanese kitchen, the so called Arabic food. Apart from it being a healthy kitchen it's the spices and flavoring that really push my taste buds.
I do admit I don't cook it too often myself, just because it's so widely available, freshly made and very cheap.
One recipe I really want to share with any soup lovers amongst you is one of my favorite dishes... Arabic lemon and lentil soup.
I generally love soups, not only because they're easy to make but also because the decent content of your daily amount of veggies. My only reservation for drinking soup in Dubai is that , with temperatures rising to 40 degrees celcius round this time of year it's not exactly a weather appropriate dish. But that's why I love this soup. The freshness of the lemon makes it a perfect summer lunch.
You'll need:
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tomatoes
2,5 liters of chicken stock
1 kg yellow lentils
2 tspn cumin powder
2 tspn ground coriander
1 tspn chilli flakes
1 cup of lemon juice
coriander leaves as garnish
Getting started:
To start off you'll need to soak the lentils. It's best to do this overnight.
Put some olive oil in a pan. Slice the onion and add it to the pan until it starts to caramelize. Then add the lentils, stock, tomatoes, cumin,ground coriander and chilli flakes. Boil for about 30 minutes.
If you like the soup less thick you can add chicken stock to your liking. Season the soup with pepper and salt. Add 1 cup of lemon juice. Once again, you can adjust the amount of juice to your liking. Run the soup in a blender and garnish your bowl with some fresh coriander leaves.
Enjoy!
I do admit I don't cook it too often myself, just because it's so widely available, freshly made and very cheap.
One recipe I really want to share with any soup lovers amongst you is one of my favorite dishes... Arabic lemon and lentil soup.
I generally love soups, not only because they're easy to make but also because the decent content of your daily amount of veggies. My only reservation for drinking soup in Dubai is that , with temperatures rising to 40 degrees celcius round this time of year it's not exactly a weather appropriate dish. But that's why I love this soup. The freshness of the lemon makes it a perfect summer lunch.
You'll need:
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
2 tomatoes
2,5 liters of chicken stock
1 kg yellow lentils
2 tspn cumin powder
2 tspn ground coriander
1 tspn chilli flakes
1 cup of lemon juice
coriander leaves as garnish
Getting started:
To start off you'll need to soak the lentils. It's best to do this overnight.
Put some olive oil in a pan. Slice the onion and add it to the pan until it starts to caramelize. Then add the lentils, stock, tomatoes, cumin,ground coriander and chilli flakes. Boil for about 30 minutes.
If you like the soup less thick you can add chicken stock to your liking. Season the soup with pepper and salt. Add 1 cup of lemon juice. Once again, you can adjust the amount of juice to your liking. Run the soup in a blender and garnish your bowl with some fresh coriander leaves.
Enjoy!
