My Mezze

A free Saturday meant that I got to play with new recipes! I tried a Middle Eastern inspired dinner with chickpea burgers, baba ganoush, cucumber labane, and a side of baked sweet potato fries. I was really happy with the results, and will definitely be making all of this again. Here are the recipes:

Chickpea burgers:

2 15oz cans of chickpeas

1/4 cup white flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

small handful of parsley (chopped)

1/2 yellow onion (chopped)

4-5 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 tsp red chili powder

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp of cumin seeds

1/2 tsp of mustard seeds

1/2 tsp of cilantro powder

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Mash the chickpeas in a large bowl, and add the flour, cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Saute the spices with the onion and garlic in the olive oil for ~5mins. Add that to the chickpea mash, and make small patties that are about a 1/2'' thick. Cook the patties on a non-stick pan, making sure you brown both sides. I served them on whole wheat flat breads with some kale.

Baba ganoush:

1 medium eggplant

2 tbsp sesame seeds

small handful of parsley

1 small tomato

1 lime (zest + juice)

4-5 cloves of garlic (peeled)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Roast the eggplant on a grill or gas stove. You want the skin to char. Place the grilled eggplant, tomato, and garlic on a baking sheet, and bake at 375°C for 10mins and broil for 1 min. Peel the skin off of the eggplant and tomato, and dice both. They should both be pretty soft. Put everything in a blender or food processor and puree. 

Labane:

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1/2 red onion (finely chopped)

small handful of parsley (chopped)

1/2 cup of cucumber (grated)

1/2 tsp chaat masala

salt to taste

This is essentially just raita, but using Greek yogurt instead of regular. Super simple, just mix!

Happy eating!