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Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Vegan MoFo - Stopover 8 - Lebanon


When the young man drew Lebanon out of the hat, he grinned and said to me, "I think you'll like this one". He was spot on, what's not to love about Lebanese food - falafels, hummus, baba ganoush, pita bread, tabbouleh, ful medames and mujaddara to name a few. The only problem with these foods is that I've made them all before so I searched further to find something new to try.

Kibbeh is a national Lebanese dish typically made of burghul, onions, ground meat and spices. It can be served in a number of ways, the most common form is stuffed and fried in the shape of mini footballs. I had more than enough fried foods last week so when I spotted a baked version in World Vegan Feast by Bryanna Clark Grogan I simply had to try it. Bryanna's version started with a layer of thinly sliced onions drizzled with olive oil which were covered with a bulgar and mashed potato mixture followed by a layer of lentils and topped off with the bulgar and mashed potato.


The most substantial change I made to the recipe was to use quinoa in place of bulgar as it's something I don't keep in the pantry. I loved that the recipe provided several options with regards to the fresh herbs that could be used and as I had mint and parsley on hand that's what I used. The spices in the dish were minuscule by my usual standards which made me wonder whether this meal was going to be flavoursome enough. I needn't have been worried as it turned out to be really lovely, the spices and mint were quite subtle although it was the onions throughout that really made the dish. Using quinoa may not have been the best substitute as the texture of the kibbeh turned out to be rather crumbly which made it impossible to cut squares neatly. I served the kibbeh with pita bread and leftover baked okra as it need to be used up.

During my research I came across a dip I hadn't heard of before called mutabbel before realising that it's a slightly spicier version of baba ganoush. Both of these eggplant dips are common to Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Jordan, Kurdistan, Israel and Egypt even though their names and ingredients vary slightly between countries. I've made baba ganoush plenty of times before using different methods to cook the eggplant and this time I decided to initially blacken the eggplant over a gas flame, stuff it with garlic slivers and finish the cooking in the oven. I enjoy the smoky flavour that roasting eggplants over a flame brings although I find it time consuming and fiddly to completely cook the eggplant this way so I was much happier with the method I chose.



Mutabbel

1 large eggplant (about 750g)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and cut into thin strips
2 tablespoons tahini
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon smoked salt
olive oil, parsley and smoked paprika, for serving

Preheat oven to 200C.

Place the eggplant over a gas flame until the skin is mostly blackened (this step can be skipped if you like and the eggplant roasted a longer time. Make incisions in the flesh of the eggplant and insert slices of garlic in the cuts. Place the eggplant on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 30 minutes or until the eggplant is very tender and collapsing.

When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and discard. Roughly chop the eggplant flesh and place into a food processor bowl with the tahini, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne pepper and smoked salt. Process until it has a smooth texture then transfer to a serving bowl. Make a moat in the middle and fill with olive oil. Garnish with chopped parsley and smoked paprika.

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Did you know?

Lebanon is a unique country in the Middle East as it's the only country that doesn't have a desert.


Do you want to know where else I've been this month? Click here for the round up.

24 comments:

  1. I also never heard of this dip! Cute name and everything in it, what I like! Thanks!
    Best regards, Momo

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    1. Thanks Momo, the name is quite cute. Glad you liked it.

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  2. Ooh, I think I have even made mutabbel before, maybe last year during mofo or the year before but I haven't thought about it since. Yours looks so good on that plate :) Also, the kibbeh looks good too!

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    1. Thanks Mandee, it was all great food but Lebanese food normally is.

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  3. Ooh, I love the idea of stuffing the eggplant with garlic slivers and baking it! Lovely looking plates of food - I do love me some Lebanese food :)

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    1. I think I've stuffed an eggplant with garlic for another recipe ages ago and the idea just came back to me. The garlic mellows a little and also infuses into the eggplant which works really well.

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  4. It is impressive that you are doing more than one dish for a lot of your meals - that is real dedication - love the sound of your baba ganoush and how you cooked the eggplant

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    1. I'm only doing multiple dishes when I have time though! Sometimes it's difficult to decide on one dish as there are so many I would love to try.

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  5. I've never heard of mutabbel before, but I *love* baba ghanouj and all things spicy, so I bet it would be right up my alley! Lovely presentation!

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    1. Thanks Bobbie, if you love baba ganoush and spicy foods you will enjoy this one!

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  6. I just love your theme!

    The Mutabbel looks delicious, and despite an active love of Lebanese food, I've never heard of it. It sounds a little like a kicked up baba ganouj! :) Yum!

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    1. Thanks MeShell, I'm having lots of fun with the theme too! Yes it's definitely just like a spicier baba ganoush.

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  7. The mutabbel looks so good! Lebanese food is one of my favorites too.

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    1. Thanks lazysmurf, I love that Lebanese food is full of so many delicious dishes!

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  8. i didnt even know what mutabbel was, but it looks soo good! cant wait to see your stopovers!

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    1. Thanks Richa, I'm looking forward to the next ones - they should be interesting!

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  9. You totally lucked out with Lebanon - how nice to be spoilt for choice for naturally vegan dishes, and still go and veganise something new and exciting! I've seen kibbeh on menus, but never known what it was - thanks for solving the mystery!

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    1. I know, how lucky was that pick! It was great to find a recipe in World Vegan Feast to try as I've only bought it recently and haven't made much from it yet. The kibbeh in restaurants I've been to have always been the fried version, this style was new to me.

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  10. These dishes look great! Lovin' your theme this month. :)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Kelly, glad you are enjoying the theme!

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  11. Here is your bulgar into quinoa dish :-) And it looks wonderful - what an attractive dish and I also like that it is baked. The muttabel sounds fantastic too, and I love the ingredient list. Lebanese food is still quite a novelty to me and both of these are things I hadn't heard of!

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    1. Yep, this is the one! I'm sure it would have had a different texture with bulgar so I might pick some up someday and try this again. Lebanese food is full of delicious vegan dishes, it's well worth exploring!

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  12. How did this not pop up in my feed reader! Lucky me: I know where to go to find my favourite posts :)

    As I love Baba Ganoush I really have to give your Muttabel a chance!

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    1. Thanks Cara, if you already love baba ganoush you will enjoy mutabbel as well (if you like spicy foods).

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