This recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites: a hearty vegetarian stew with Mediterranean spices atop a bed of bulgur pilaf. It was nice and filling, and delicious for lunch the following day.

So this *claims* to be an Armenian dish…

Lisa says:

We certainly never made this dish when I was growing up…

Chris says:

Though you guys really didn’t have many vegetarian meals, did you?

Lisa says:

True — but this is good. These are pretty big servings!

Chris says:

Well it’s all good stuff in there… a bunch of vegetables, beans, and spices!

Lisa says:

I love any meal that we can top with garlic-yogurt.

Chris says:

I’ll eat to that…

Armenian Stew with Pilaf
Stew:
2 tsp canola oil
1 cup chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp salt
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ chunks
1 small zucchini, cut into 1″ pieces
1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 15-oz can drained fava beans
1 large bunch swiss chard, torn into bite-sized pieces
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Pilaf:
2 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup bulgur
2 cups water
1/2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

plain nonfat yogurt
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Warm the oil in a dutch oven. Add the onions, garlic, mint, basil, bay leaf, and salt, cover, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften. Add the carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, and tomato juice, cover, and simmer until all of the veggies are tender, about 7 minutes. Add the fava beans and Swiss chard, cover again, adn cook an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, add more salt to taste, cover, and remove from the heat. Discard the bay leaf.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan, warm the olive oil for the pilaf. Add the onions, garlic, and salt, cover, and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bulgur and stir continuously for about 2 minutes. Pour in the water, sprinkle in the rosemary, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until the bulgur is tender.
In a separate dish, mix the yogurt and minced garlic.
When the bulgur is almost ready, reheat the stew, then ladle onto a pile of pilaf, and garnish with yogurt.

4 Servings

Lisa prepared this dish for Carrie’s holiday party; this savory bulgur side dish is loaded with different vegetables.

Lisa says:

I made some modifications from the recipe that Weight Watchers lists — I added onions and mushrooms, and made it with veggie broth instead of chicken broth.

Chris says:

Sigh; the curse of cooking for vegetarians… I kid!

Lisa says:

It wasn’t too bad, though I did have to add some salt… this is yum, but you know what the best part is?

Chris says:

What’s that?

Lisa says:

It’s 1 point!

Savory Bulgur with Vegetables
—————————–
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup zucchini, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup carrot(s), sliced
1/2 cup sweet red pepper(s), chopped
1/4 cup scallion(s), chopped
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup parsley, fresh, chopped
3 cups cooked bulgur

6 servings

We’ve been looking forward to making manti again (okay, I’ve been looking forward to Lisa making manti again), and the first day of fall sounded like a perfect excuse to make this Armenian favorite: Crispy little canoe-shaped dumplings stuffed with ground beef, onion, and allspice, in a bowl of chicken broth, topped with a dollop of garlic-yogurt.

Chris says:

Holy mackeral, I love this stuff. My favorite part is taking some of the leftover manti and just dipping it right into the garlic-yogurt. I could eat that every day and never tire of it. And I like that new side dish with the swiss chard. I’m glad we’re finding more things to do with the bulgur in the pantry.

Lisa says:

I love it too, but how about next time you spend an hour putting the manti together, and I’ll play on the computer. Also, that side dish ruled, but needed more garlic.

Chris says:

I don’t want to ruin perfection, so I think you should continue to be the designated manti-maker. Hey, haven’t we already featured this on the blog?

Lisa says:

Yeah, the very first post — but that’s back when you were lazy and weren’t listing the recipes. Besides, we made a new side dish with it, and have this picture of the manti before it went in the oven. I want to show off my hard work.

Manti
(from The Complete Armenian Cookbook)
—–
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, minced
salt, pepper, and allspice to taste
won ton wrappers
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp butter
sumac

To prepare the filling, combine the ground beef, onion, salt, pepper, and allspice in a large bowl and mix well. Set aside. Cut each sheet of won ton wrappers into four squares. Place a teaspoon of the filling in the center of each square. Pinch the two ends with your fingers to form a canoe-shaped pastry. Arrange the manti close together, meat-side up, in a well-buttered pan. Dot each with a bit of the butter. Bake at 350 degrees about 20-30 minute, or until the manti are golden brown. Keep warm. Heat the chicken broth. Combine the yogurt and garlic in a mixing bowl. To serve, place the manti into individual bowls, add the hot chicken broth and the garlic-yogurt. Sprinkle with the sumac, and serve.

4 Servings

Swiss Chard with Bulgur
(from Secrets of Healthy Middle Eastern Cuisine)
———————–
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, mashed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb Swiss chard, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup #3 bulgur
1 cup water
pepper

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until translucent. Add the swiss chard to the onion and let them cook, over medium heat, for 6 to 10 minutes or until the Swiss chard has reduced in bulk. Make a hole in the center of the Swiss chard, add the bulgur, then cover it with the chard. Cook for 5 more minutes. Season with pepper. Add water and cook over low heat until the water has evaporated.

Serves 4

Here’s another addition to what seems to have become yellow food month (why does yellow food always look so unappetizing?). I’ve been looking forward to trying out a dish based on one of the recipes from The Olive and The Caper, and this one seemed to fit the bill for a weeknight, as it didn’t take very much prep — whisking together the marinade, pouring it over the chicken, and tossing it in the oven. The kitchen smelled fantastic while this was cooking (although at 450 degrees the oven made the kitchen… an oven)! We served it with bulgur pilaf, from the same cookbook.

Chicken Baked in Yogurt
———————–
1 cup plain nonfat Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 bay leaf, finely chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground white pepper
2 1/2 lbs chicken breast, cut into pieces
1 large red onion, quartered and cut into slices
8 grape leaves, cut into 1-inch-wide shreds
2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat the oven to 450F. Whisk the yogurt, mint, bay leaf, cumin, coriander, turmeric, salt, and white pepper in a bowl. Place the chicken pieces into a 16×9 glass baking dish. Add the onion, grape leaves, and yogurt mixture, and turn to coat. Cover with foil and bake until the liquid is boiling and the chicken almost tender, 40 minutes. Remove the foil, stir, and continue baking for 20 minutes or until the chicken is very tender. Sprinkle the zest over the chicken and serve.

Bulgur Pilaf
————
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup coarse ground bulgur
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
salt
pepper

Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bulgur and onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the stock and tomato paste, bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cover. Simmer until the bulgur is tender and the liquid absorbed, about 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff and serve.

Serves 4.

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
———
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.