Fueling with Veggies - Zucchini Fritters and Cauliflower Salad Recipes

In July 2006, during the Lebanese war, I was unfortunately trapped in my village for more than 10 days. We couldn’t leave and head back to the city fearing for our lives from bombs and sudden air strikes. We were out of bread, canned foods, meat, poultry… We had elders, kids and families to feed. During these hard times, we turned back to our roots.

We had only grown some basic plants in our garden, just for fun, so that kids can play farmers with each other during the summer. Who knew that these plants would be our sole source of food during the war.

Cooking Vegetarian Food is not a strange idea in the Middle East, as it has been an integral part of our cuisine forever. From Mujaddara, Burghul Banadoura, Hendbe, Fool, to Loubya B Zeit, Maghmour and more.

That being said, there are many reasons why a person would go for a vegetarian dish instead of meat / poultry:

1. Poverty – Let’s face it meat is much more expensive then vegetables. Some people cannot afford to buy meat and eating it used to be a luxury in the old times.

2. War – Extreme Living conditions, where food supplies are limited, and one must work their magic in the kitchen with vegetables planted in their small garden.

3. Ethical Reasons – Some People love animals but not on their plate!

4. Health Reasons – Based on a study in Harvard (I googled it), a vegetarian diet (or as they called it Mediterranean diet) is known to be associated with longer life and reduced risk of several chronic illness.

So, for today I have chosen to share two recipes with two very underestimated vegetables: Zucchini Fritters and Cauliflower Salad.

Lets start with Zucchini Fritters:

Ingredients:

- 2 Zucchini (aka Koussa in Arabic)

- 1/2 cup of flour

- 1 Egg

- 1/2 cup of shredded Mozzarella and Parmesan

- 1/2 cup of bread crumbs

- 1 table spoon of coating mix (I use the one from Knorr)

- Italian Seasoning (I use INA PAARMAN'S garlic and herb seasoning)

- Salt & Pepper

For the Dip, you will need:

- 1 cup of yogurt (you can use Greek yogurt or the regular one)

- 1/2 squeezed Lemon

- Dill

- Salt

Directions:

- Start with shredding the zucchini into a bowl

- Pour the rest of the ingredients into the bowl and start mixing them till it turns into an uniform paste

- Take one table spoon from the paste and shape them into a round form

- Pour some olive oil into a medium heated pan

- Place the round zucchini one by one in the pan apart so they don't stick to each other

-Flip them after a couple of minutes, make sure they have this beautiful golden color

-For the dip, you can add all the ingredients into one bowl and mix till its smooth.

Et Voilà !

Cauliflower Salad:

Ingredients:

- 1/2 of a whole Cauliflower

- 1 cup Chickpeas - You need this plant based protein in your life (You can use canned chickpeas or make them from scratch)

- 1 cup of parsley

- 1/2 onion

- Italian Seasoning

- Salt & Pepper

For the tahini sauce, you will need:

- 1/4 cup of tahini

- 1/2 squeezed Lemon

- 1 piece of garlic

- water

Directions:

- Cut the cauliflower into medium cut pieced

- Wash them then leave them to dry

- Heat the oven at 180 C

- Spread the cauliflower apart in a pan, add the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and some olive oil

- Leave them in the oven till they are gold and crispy, Flip them from time to time so they don't burn out on one side. This shouldn't take more than 30 minutes in the oven.

- In the meantime, chop the parsley and the onion then add them into a bowl

- Wash the chickpeas if you got them from a can, then add them into the same bowl

- One the cauliflower are done and toasted, add them into the bowl and garnish with some parsley.

For the Tahini Sauce:

- Smash one clove of garlic into a small bowl with a pinch of salt

- Add the tahini sauce and the lemon and start mixing them till they form a heavy mixture

- Start adding one spoon of water and then mix. Repeat till you get the texture you like in it.

- If you feel that you added too much water and its too light, then add one spoon of tahini sauce to make it thicker again.

Et Voilà! (Again)