This was my first cookbook in my “use only one cookbook per week” adventure. I had already made one of the recipes (the soup) and had been craving it for a few days. Plus, it had just started to be soup season. This was before I decided I wanted to blog what I was cooking and I have to tell you, the photos are complete trash. I’m working on it. I pulled these from my IG stories (enjoy my commentary) and they will simply have to do for now.
This cookbook is a 10/10 for me. Everything I’ve made is fantastic. I will say that I don’t believe this is a very “beginner friendly” book. It has some complicated steps with hard to find (and expensive) ingredients. That being said, the book itself is downright art. The photos are a million times more beautiful than what you see in this post (sorry). The food itself is different than any of the food I regularly cook and is different from all my other cookbooks. I don’t even think any of my other books have anything similar to what’s in here. It’s easily one of my top 5 cookbooks that I own.
Click here to purchase the book!
1. Spiced Vegetable Soup
Click here for the recipe.
In her book, Sabrina Ghayour explains that you can throw whatever you want in this soup – whatever you have on hand. Remember, I am a recipe follower so I don’t do that. Normally, I do put on the herb drizzle on it but had to skip out this time around (because I was lazy). With the amount of veggies needing preparation and the amount of cooking, this soup takes a long time. I would put at least 2 hours aside to prepare/cook. We ate this two nights in a row and froze the rest!
2. Eggplant Stuffed with Lamb and Tomatoes (Karniyarik)
Click here for the recipe.
This is one I had never made, but it was high on my list. I love lamb. I want to say it’s the Greek in me but I think it’s just cause lamb is delicious. As you can see in the photo, I would scoop out the eggplant and chop it up to sauté it with the rest of the veggies. The eggplant was a touch too tough to work with. Otherwise, the flavor was spot on. This recipe was pretty quick. You can make the “insides” while the eggplant roasts.
3. Cod in Tamarind, Cilantro & Fenugreek Sauce (Ghelyeh Mabi) AND Cumin-Roasted Carrots with Honey-Lemon Dressing & Goat Cheese
Click here for the recipe [COD].
Click here for the recipe [CARROTS].
Listen. I violently dislike cooked carrots. I could not tell you what possessed me to make this (I had a lot of leftover carrots). I figured it would, AT BEST, be okay. These carrots blew my freaking mind. They were insanely good. I would not change a damn thing in that recipe. I would 100% eat that weekly. This recipe changed my outlook on carrots. That being said, the fish was also tasty – but I already know that I love fish. Cod can be insanely flavorless. I might try it with a bit more of a flavorful fish, but overall, loved this dish.
4. Chicken Wraps (Ras el Hanout)
After reading, at length, and getting re-assured by Jessica, I have shared this recipe below. In all, I will always try to link to the recipe somewhere else (preferably on the author’s website). But when in doubt, I will share it here (with directions in my own words).
Holy crap. If I could only make one thing from this week again, it would be this one. Listen, those carrots were life changing but I cannot explain the mouth-gasm that went on when I ate this wrap. It was insane. Teamed up with the fact that my husband hand made tortillas to go with it? *chefs kiss*. I love pomegranates and the pomegranate molasses was something I didn’t know I needed in my life. Sure, I don’t know when I’m going to use it again (maybe I’ll just drink it) but the blast of flavor it gives right at the end is perfection. The recipe is below.
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons of ras el hanout
- Olive Oil
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- sea salt
- 4-6 flour tortillas
- 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced into half moons
- pomegranate molasses
- arugula leaves
- pomegranate seeds
- 1 small bunch of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 2 cups of Greek yogurt
- 2 Tablespoons sumac
- freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Mix ras el hanout with ~4 tablespoons of olive oil in a small bowl (creating a paste). Smear this over the chicken (like ALL over). Season each breast with sea salt. Cover this and place in fridge or marinate for however long you can (I did ~8 hours).
- Yogurt Sauce: Mix (well) the mint, yogurt, sumac, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
- Preheat a frying pan over medium heat (I used cast iron). Drizzle in some olive oil. Put in the chicken and cook ~8-10 minutes on one side and ~6-8 on the other (please use a meat thermometer to check if it’s done. There is no “medium rare” with chicken. It’s either done or you have a salmonella infection).
- Once it’s done, put the chick on a chopping board to chill out for a few minutes (this is super important for meat – it always has to rest). Slice it into strips.
- Assemblage is as follows: Tortilla, chicken, onion, yogurt sauce, pomegranate molasses, arugula, pomegranate seeds. Shove it into your mouth immediately.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Like I’ll say a thousand times, I love cooking. Jacob urged me to share what I’m cooking here and my Instagram followers (LOL my friends) have loved me sharing what I’m cooking each week. I hope that I can encourage you to try something new and exciting.
Writes with Wolves 