Middle Eastern Salad

Here is a great recipe for a simple and delicious salad that is very common in the Middle East. Some call it an Israeli salad, but I believe it is made (with slight variations) across the region. Enjoy!

Middle Eastern Salad

Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients

• 1 lb cucumbers, diced
• 1 lb tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• salt

Cooking Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together. Add salt to taste.
2. Best served immediately, as the salt will extract the juices from the vegetables and make it more liquidy.

Tzatziki Sauce

Tzatziki Sauce

Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients

• 32 oz plain greek yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• a pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Cooking Directions

1. Place the yogurt in a medium-sized bowl. Add the crushed garlic to the yogurt.
2. Peel the half cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise, remove the seeds with a spoon, and shred the cucumber using a cheese grater. Squeeze out any excess water from the cucumber and add it the yogurt mixture.
3. Add the olive oil, salt, and fresh lemon juice. Stir the mixture well. It is optional to add a tiny amount of fresh parsley for garnish or color.

Guest Post: Ahi Poke

Today is Guest Post Day! Yay! Thanks to Tom Lee for sharing. Sounds delicious.

Tom Lee is a business development associate for the Santa Barbara Fish Market where you can support local fishermen and buy fresh seafood online or buy fresh fish online.

Ahi Poke

As a college student that is health and budget conscience, I am always looking for something that meets these requirements. The best way to do so, is to make something yourself. One of my favorite dishes is Ahi Poke. Ahi Poke is a dish that is enjoyed by many, but made by few. It consists of fresh raw tuna mixed with a few seasonings. Besides being so tasty for how simple it is, it also is very healthy. 4 ounces of tuna (Yellowfin tuna) itself yields about 27 grams of protein in just 123 calories. It’s a great source of lean protein. While the ingredients are simple, some people are a bit scared of handling raw fish, but it’s really no different then another other meat. In fact, most fishmongers at any fish market or fish department will clean the fish and hand you a perfect fillet that is ready to be used for a meal. The only real important requirement for this dish is to have the freshest tuna possible.

Ingredients:
8oz Fresh Tuna
1 Tablespoon Shallots
½ Tablespoon Green Onions
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
1/8 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
¼ Teaspoon Sesame Seeds
¼ Teaspoon Siracha Garlic Chili Sauce
¼ Whole Avocado
½ Whole Cucumber

Instructions:
1. Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, garlic chili sauce, shallots, and green onions into a small
bowl

2. Take the ¼’d avocado and take the seed out and peel the skin off. Cut into to small
¼ inch pieces.

3. Cut the cucumber in slices. You want them thin, but still thick enough to carry the
weight of the Ahi Poke that will be served on it.

4. Make sure to keep the tuna cold until being handled. Cut the tuna into ¼ inch
cubes.

5. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for about 10-15 minutes. It
can be served immediately, but a few extra minutes will let the sauce penetrate a bit
better.

6. Top each cucumber slice with about a spoonful of Ahi Poke, serve, and enjoy!

Tips: What’s great about this recipe is that all the ingredients can be easily adjusted
to taste. If you prefer a spicier sauce, just add more of the garlic chili sauce. Big fan
of avocado? Add more! Cucumber is suggested hear as a lower-calorie alternative,
but Ahi Poke is also great served on top of your favorite crackers or toasted bread.

Asian Sauteed Greens

Got lots of wonderful greens that are just a little too blah to eat raw? Then come on down to Grubby's for some delicious Asian Sauteed Greens. Look, it even comes with a side salad. Any cooked greens will work, but a variety is best. And toss a turnip in for good measure. Enjoy!

Disneyland's Yogurt and Dill Dip

Yogurt and Dill Dip

Aladdin's Oasis

Ingredients

1 C. full fat yogurt
1/4 t. garlic puree
1/2 C. cucumber, peeled and chopped
1/4 t. salt
1 t. fresh dill, chopped
3 lavash bread
1 pita bread

Directions

Sprinkle salt over chopped cucumber and let stand for 10 minutes. Wrap cucumbers in cheese cloth and gently squeeze out the water. Mix all remaining ingredients in a mixing bowl and serve cold in a deep dish as a dip for lavash and pita bread.

Crunchy Pickles

It's pickle time again! Crunchy pickles, mmm. The best thing about these pickles is that they stay crunchy for weeks and weeks. I made these back in August and they're still crunchy here in December. A simple, delicious, awesome snack? Or only a side and topping for burgers? You decide. Enjoy!

Thai Veggie Fried Rice and a Half-Greek Salad

Sometimes too much rice gets cooked. Sometimes way too much. Such was the situation recently. But what to do with all that leftover rice?

You may know how to use up that day-old rice already. In fact, I hope you have a favorite trick or recipe, as I would love to hear about it.

If you're not familiar with how to prepare fried rice (in general), check out the recipe below. Thai versions basically just employ a set of sauces and flavors not found in your other more familiar fried rice dishes.

But I wanted more than just a fried rice dish. I thought it'd be too heavy or something - even if it was all a bunch of glorious (and different) veggies. That's one of the things I love about fried rice and stir fry on the whole, tossing in whatever you please, making it unique to you. That one up in the pictures has asparagus and turnip.

Oh right, so I was saying I wanted something else, something light. What's lighter than a salad? And what's the best salad in the world? Yep, you guessed it: Greek salad! Well, a half-Greek salad. No tomatoes or onions or olives, sadly. But we did add a little something something back in with the spinach and mushrooms. Plus, look at that feta. Wow. So who's ready to eat? Enjoy!

Complete Veggie Dinner + Garlic Bread

The weekend was approaching. We were leaving. And I hate it when good food goes to waste. Absolutely hate it. So many veggies to use and so little time - what's a man to do?

Make a completely vegetarian dinner plus some garlic bread, of course! There were tomatoes, grilled onions, cucumbers, green onions, sweet potatoes, raw mushrooms, and mushrooms cooked in red wine.

I love veggies. I seriously cannot get enough of them, so this was a perfect dinner for me. If I could, I would make 2/3 of my meals more or less completely vegetables/fruit/vegetarian with a huge variety of fresh produce. Magnifique. Enjoy!

Exotic Fruit Sushi Night!

It's hard to tell from these pictures (in fact, it's basically impossible), but there's fruit inside that sushi. Yes, fruit. Sweet and tangy fruit. We made four types of rolls - two with fruit and two without - and it only worked really really well with one of the fruit sushi rolls. But that's the price of experimenting sometimes.

By the way, the sauce you see is eel sauce poured on top and there was also the traditional soy sauce on the side. We also did plain sashimi strips of ahi tuna!

So read on for more. I won't tell you how to make sushi rice or how to roll your sushi - there are plenty of resources out there for that - but below you'll find a mixture of maki that hopefully will inspire some experimentation of your own. And if that's all I've done here, I'll be happy. What kind of sushi have you experimented with yourself? Enjoy!

Sauteed Portobello with Baked Purple Potato Coins

I'm going to let the picture tell the story on this one. If you like what you see, read on. My tummy highly recommends it. Enjoy!

Tahini Sauce

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Yesterday, I experimented with tahini by mixing some with cucumber, garlic, water, and salt. Not bad! If you're looking to make your tahini a little smoother (like I was), then you will be pleasantly surprised. Spread on toast, as a dip, a peanut butter substitute, a dressing, etc. Hope you like this tahini sauce as much as I do. Enjoy!