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Lebaneser Good

1189475_peppers1For the rest of the week here on CheapEats, I’ll be sharing some recipes from Lebanese cuisine.

Most Lebanese food is very straightforward and inexpensive to put together. It’s characterised by abundant herbs, delicate spices, and a naturally well balanced diet full of gutsy pulses, earthy carbohydrates, and fresh meat and vegetables.

And why wouldn’t it be a balanced diet? Agriculture, domestic animals, and the very idea of cuisine and a varied diet emerged from the Lebanon and other peoples of the Middle East’s Fertile Crescent.

I found I had the majority of the ingredients in my cupboard for the following recipe and if you’re a novice cook, this style of cooking is a winner. Most of the ingredients are very standard and are likely to be in your weekly shop.

For Lebanese cooking here are some of the basic ingredients you should have in your cupboard:

1. Pine nuts
2. Lebanese seven spice – cloves, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, pepper, paprika (I had these spices in my larder and just ground them down, mixed them together and popped them in a jar for future use, you can buy the the pre-mixed spice in Middle Eastern stores).
3. Lemons
4. Mint
5. Tahini
6. Nuts (Walnuts, cashew, pistachios, almonds)
7. Sumac (Spice you can get in any middle eastern store)

Khoudar mahshi bil forn

Stuffed baked vegetables

Whether having it as a starter, a side dish or served as Mezze, (similar to the tapas of Spain and antipasto of Italy, mezze is a selection of small dishes), stuffed baked peppers are very tasty. Akin to Greek style stuffed peppers; the ingredients are inexpensive, basic and likely to be in your cupboard. I cooked up a portion for two but this recipe serves six.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon chopped onions
300g minced lamb
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon Lebanese seven spice mix (cloves, cumin, nutmeg, coriander, cinnamon, pepper, paprika).
1 tablespoon pine nuts
4 tomatoes
2 small red peppers
2 small green peppers
2 small yellow peppers
2 tablespoons tomato puree, mixed in 240ml water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c (Gas mark 4).

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the onions and stir until softened. Add the mince and stir until it changes colour. Add the salt, pepper, Lebanese seven spice mix and pine nuts. Stir until the meat is cooked – this will take about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

2. Cut the top off the tomatoes and scoop out the inside. Do the same with the peppers. Fill the vegetables with the mince mixture and put their lids on top. Stand them in rows in a deep baking tray.

3. Pour the tomato puree mixture over the vegetables and season with salt. Cover the dish with kitchen foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes or until cooked.

Tomorrow I’ll be posting a delicious Lebanese soup recipe that will warm your cockles.

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