We grew up exposed to a lot of Middle Eastern food. We could buy them everywhere back in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This recipe is a “simpler” version of quibe or kibbeh since it does not require much assembly and instead of frying small portion, we just bake it, which is much healthier. I like to use bulgur # 2 since the grains are not so finely crushed.

Ingredients:

1 ½ lb lean ground beef
¾ cup bulgur cut #2
½ cup finely chopped onion
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground all spice
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
¼ cup finely chopped green onion

Method:

Soak the bulgur in cold water for approximately 1 ½ hours. Drain the water by squeezing out the excess of water. Mix the bulgur to the ground beef and add all the others ingredients.
In a pyrex, gently press the ground beef and bulgur mix. Bake in 350 F for approximately 35 to 40 minutes. Serve warm with lemon, yogurt or hot sauce.

Did you know that bulgur is a cereal made from a mix of several different species of wheat? Mainly from durum wheat, which is high in protein and gluten, therefore bulgur contains more nutrition than rice. Bulgur is a common ingredient in Turkish, Middle Eastern, Indian and Mediterranean cuisine.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

As you can notice, I love Israeli couscous. I always try to come up with different variations of it. This can be served as a side dish; it is very colorful and the raisins give a festive flavor to the dish. The Israeli couscous has a distinctive “chewy” texture. For some more information about Israeli couscous please see my previous post (Israeli Couscous).

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup of Israeli couscous
1 ½ cup of water
¼ cup chopped onion
1 ½ to 2 cups of mixed frozen vegetables
½ cup of raisins
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 chicken breast
1 clove of garlic
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Cut the chicken breast in small size and marinate with soy sauce, garlic, corn starch, salt and pepper to taste, let it sit for approximately 10 minutes.

In the meantime heat ½ tablespoon of olive oil, sautee the onion and add the Israeli couscous. Once the couscous is coated with olive oil add the water and let it cook, first at high heat, once start to boil bring to simmer until all the water is absorbed. Once it is done, loose the grains by softly stirring it.

Boil the frozen vegetables, just enough so it is not too soft and set aside.

In a wok add ½ tablespoon of olive oil and the raisins. In a medium heat gently stir the raisins until the raisins are puffed.

Remove the raisins and place aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and increase the heat.

Add the chicken breast and sautee until slightly brown. Add all the others cooked ingredients in the wok, add salt and pepper to taste and you have a very pretty dish.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!

This is a totally cool vegetarian dish that looks great and taste even better. It is a great side dish for all kind of meat, chicken and fish. The Israeli couscous has a distinctive “chewy” texture.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup of Israeli couscous
1 medium size carrot, chopped in small size
1/3 cup frozen green peas
1 medium size zucchini, chopped in small size
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a small pot add 2/3 cup of boiling water to Israeli couscous and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Let it simmer until all the water is dry.

In another pot boil the carrot and the frozen peas for 2-3 minutes. Drain and reserve. In the same pot heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and add the zucchini, the carrot and the green peas.

Stir fry for 2 minutes and mix the cooked Israeli couscous and stir gently.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Did you know that Israeli couscous is also called as Ptitim or Ben-Gurion’s Rice? It is a wheat-based baked pasta resembling rice.
Israeli couscous received the name Ben-Gurion because during the Austerity period in Israel, rice was scarce, and in order to provide the need of the population, whose diet was mainly made of rice. The prime minister, David Ben-Gurion asked the largest food company in Israel, Osem, to come up with a wheat-based substitute to the rice. Therefore Osem came up with ptitim, which is made of hard wheat flour and roasted in an oven. Like pasta, ptitim can be used in many type of dishes in both cold and hot.

Thank you for stopping by Simple Recipes and have a great week!