The temperatures in Seattle have finally cooled a bit, but inside the house it’s still pretty warm — so we’re still on a “how can we cook without heating up the kitchen” kick. Tonight we made fattoush, a Lebanese/Syrian salad that features a variety of veggies and toasted pita bread — but with a twist. We started with the basic recipe found in Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine, but in order to make it more of a main course rather than a side dish, we tossed it with chopped grilled lemon-pepper shrimp. It worked quite well with the lemon-sumac-herb dressing; that entire bowl was gone in just a few minutes!

Fattoush with Grilled Shrimp
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2 large arabic pitas
8 large romaine leaves
1 cup chopped parsley
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices, halved
3 medium tomatoes, cubed
4 green onions, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 small onion, sliced, halved
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp sumac
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp mint
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
lemon-pepper seasoning

In a large salad bowl, tear lettuce into small pieces. Add the choppeed parsley, green pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, and onion. Toss.
To prepare the dressing, whisk together the garlic, sumac, oregano, mint, olive oil, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Set aside.
Prepare grill on high heat. Arrange shrimp on a grill rack or broiler pan and shake lemon-pepper seasoning over the shrimp. Spray with cooking spray. Place the shrimp on the grill and cook for 4-5 minutes or until done. Lower grill to a low flame and toast pita bread until it is crispy. Remove from grill and break the pita into 1-2 inch pieces.
To assemble the salad, roughly chop the warm shrimp, reserving 3 or 4 whole for garnish. Add the chopped shrimp to the salad, then toss with the dressing. Finally, add the broken pita bread and toss once more. Top with the reserved whole shrimp. Serve immediately.

Makes 2-3 very generous portions.

This parsley and bulgur salad is a great summer side dish. Unlike Americanized versions that contain mostly bulgur, this traditional recipe from The Complete Armenian Cookbook focuses more on the parsley and other vegetables (tomatoes, onions, cucumbers) present.

Tabbouleh
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3/8 cup fine (#1) bulgur
3 ripe tomatoes, minced
1/2 small onion, minced
3 green onions, minced
2 bunches parsley, minced
1/4 bunch mint, minced
1 large cucumber, diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice
salt and hot red pepper to taste
pinch of black pepper

Romaine lettuce leaves for garnish

In a mixing bowl combine the bulgur and the tomatoes with their juice. Let it sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes, until the bulgur is soft and all the liquid from the tomatoes is absorbed. Add the other vegetables and mix thoroughly. Combine the dressing ingredients in a separate bowl and start pouring over the bulgur mixture, stirring as you pour. Stop when the vegetables are well coated (you don’t want it swimming in dressing!) Chill. Surround with Romaine lettuce leaves for garnish… and scooping!

Makes 6 side-dish servings.

If you’re a fan of caramelized onions, here’s a dish for you. Mujadara is a rice and lentil dish that’s heavily flavored with onions. We love how sweet the onions turn after slowly browning. The rice and lentils are cooked with vegetable broth, garlic, more onions, allspice, cumin, and cinnamon. It’s a very fragrant dish that makes the kitchen smell wonderful. Top it with a dollop of yogurt and some chopped mint, along with a side of cucumbers and tomatoes. Tonight we served it with some chicken skewers that had been marinating in yogurt, feta, fresh rosemary, and oregano. Divine!

Both recipes came from RecipeZaar — the mujadara recipe can be found here, and the marinade here.

Lisa made this delicious dish tonight.
Grape leaves, zucchini, and squash stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, rice, and various spices, a garlic and yogurt dipping sauce, and fattoush, a Lebanese bread salad with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

She based it primarily on a family recipe, with a few modifications from the wonderful Complete Armenian Cookbook and Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine.

This is one of my all-time favorite Armenian dishes. Manti are crispy little canoe-shaped dumplings stuffed with ground beef, onion, and allspice. After baking them, you put them in a bowl and add chicken broth to make a delicious soup. You then top it with a garlic-yogurt mixture and some sumac. It’s awesome.

Tabbouleh is a parsley and bulgur salad — in the States you’ll often find it made with way too much bulgur. Traditionally, the parsley is the focus. Tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, lemon juice, and olive oil round it all out.

Both recipes from The Complete Armenian Cookbook.