Swiss Chard, Chickpea and Tamarind Stew

This recipe, adapted from Ottolenghi’s Plenty, is very much like the Tunisian ragout of Swiss chard and chickpeas called Morshan. The Swiss chard gets meltingly soft and gets infused, along with the chickpeas, with tangy, hearty flavors that are completely unexpected.  Morshan is heavy on the garlic and coriander. Here, coriander is still dominant, but caramelized onion replaces garlic; caraway and tamarind form an intriguing undertone.

The caraway most surprised me because I associate it with rye bread, but it is a spice used in the Middle East. Ottolenghi calls for caraway in a few of his recipes, including his barley risotto (Jerusalem).

 

Char-Grilled Broccoli with Red Pepper, Garlic and Almonds

This broccoli salad/side dish is a signature dish at Ottolenghi. It comes to Ottolenghi from a Tel Aviv restaurant where Sami Tamimi used to work. The original recipe called for mild chili peppers, which I couldn’t find, so I used red bell peppers and sprinkled over a little hot sauce.

Wordless Wednesday: Ottolengi Mixed Bean Salad

Another good salad for simanin (lubia), this comes from Jerusalem: A Cookbook, by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. It also appeared in Ottolengi’s column in The Guardian. For American measurements and a lower calorie Weight Watcher’s version of the dish, go here.

It is typical Ottolenghi: vibrant melange of vegetables, exploding with flavor from creative use of spices and herbs: Green beans, roasted red pepper, cumin seeds, fried garlic, capers, lemon zest, parsley and scallions.

Other interesting choices from this book for Rosh Hashana:

Chraimeh (fish in spicy red sauce)
Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Onion with Tahini and Za’atar
Baby Spinach Salad with Date and Almonds (well, leave out the almonds)

Ottolenghi Cauliflower “Cake”

I saw this on Smitten Kitchen (originally published in The Guardian).

Changes that I made: left out the cheese and rosemary; used regular sesame seeds, baked in a 9″ round silicone pan (lined both bottom AND sides with parchment); baked it a bit longer than the recipe said; and used 3 extra large plus 4 large eggs instead of 10 medium eggs or 8 large eggs. Oh, I forget to measure the amount of oil before adding it to the onion to saute them. I think I added maybe a couple of Tablespoons of oil to the onions and then I added another 4 Tablespoons of oil to the batter.

Ottolenghi Red Rice and Quinoa Salad

I made the quinoa and rice salad recipe from Ottolenghi which I first spotted on 101cookbooks.  It is also online here.
Thoughts: The qinoa and rice tasted yummy with just the sauteed onions and salt and pepper. The citrus juices gave something more, but I’m not sure that I really needed to add the scallions, nuts, and apricots. The scallions and apricots added welcome color, though.

For next time, I will try just the onions, lots of salt and pepper, with some lemon juice added in.