Carrot with Coriander, Garlic and Cumin - Salatet Sfinari bil Kamoun سلطة جزر مغربية

This Moroccan salad or side dish is full of flavor and requires minimal effort. The marinade is a perfect combination of basic ingredients, easy to put together and versatile as it can be used with most vegetables and fish. In Libya similar salads (steamed or boiled vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, or broad beans and artichokes are some favorites) use the same marinade ingredients but without the cumin.

Serves 4 to 6
3 large carrots
Sharmoula Marinade
1/2 a lemon
1 cup coriander leaves
1/2 parsley leaves
2 medium hot chili peppers
2 garlic cloves
1 table spoon cumin (or to taste)
Generous drizzle olive oil
Salt to taste

Peel the carrots and slice at an angle (more surface area to absorb the marinade)

Cover the bottom of the pan with a few centimeters of water and leave the carrots to cook under a lid on medium heat for 10-15 mins

Meanwhile mix the coriander, parsley, chili peppers and garlic cloves in a mixer (or chop finely). Devein and rinse the chili peppers if you want to reduce the heat.

Add cumin, salt  and lemon 

Drain the carrots well and leave to cool slightly before mixing in the marinade (if the carrots are still steaming the coriander will turn yellow)

Leave to marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours. Take the salad out about 15 minutes before the meal so it has time to get to room temperature and drizzle with olive oil before serving. To serve as a hot side dish: heat a frying pan, pour in some olive oil and stir-fry the carrots for a few minutes. 

Green Broad Bean and Artichoke Salad - Salatet Fool Akhdar - مدمس فول أخضر ليبي

This salad is  healthy, easy to put together and bursting with flavour. It is both simple and versatile. The green broad beans can be served warm with rice, or cold as a fresh tasting side dish eaten with bread to soak up the dressing. Leftovers make an excellent packed lunch.  The artichoke is an optional extra which lifts the dish to another level. We use frozen green broad beans and frozen artichoke bottoms which can be found at middle-eastern grocers. 

Serves 6 as side dish, 2 as main

Ingredients

400g green broad beans

6 artichoke bottoms 

1 red chili

1 green chili

1 garlic clove

Generous drizzle of olive oil 

Salt to taste

Juice of half a Lemon

Boil green broad-beans and artichoke bottoms until fork-tender.

Pulse garlic with red and green chilies in the mixer.

Add salt, lemon juice and olive oil to make the dressing.

Drain the beans and artichoke bottoms, dice the artichoke, then mix in the dressing while the vegetables are still steaming hot. Serve warm or cold.

Dried Fruit Salad: Khoshaf خشاف

Khoshaf is a refreshing fruit salad made of stewed dried fruits, with a sprinkling of nuts and orangeblossom water.  It is served throughout the Arab world during Ramadan.

Khoshaf is typically served in small portions, just to break the fast before Sunset prayers and then the sit-down meal. It can be made in batches and stored in an air-tight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. This khoshaf recipe is from Eastern Libya, but is also popular in the West of the country where the traditional khoshaf is made with just raisins and fenugreek.

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
3 cups dried fruits (figs, apricots, prunes...etc)
1/2 cup pine-nuts or halved blanched almonds
1 cup raisins/sultanas
1 fresh banana, sliced
3 tablespoons orange blossom water
Generous sprinkle of dessicated coconut (optional)

Deseed and chop the dried fruits.

Place in a pan with the raisins, cover with water, bring to the boil then turn off the heat . Leave for 15 minutes, then cool in the fridge for at least an hour.

Add the orange blossom water, pine-nuts/almonds and the banana slices.

Sprinkle with dessicated coconut. Serve chilled in small bowls.

Mild Cucumber and Mint Yogurt Sauce

This cucumber yogurt recipe is served with a variety of meat and rice dishes, such as magluba and mansaf and can also be used as a light and refreshing dip. It is quick and very easy to make.

Ingredients 
Serves 4

250g plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber
1 tablespoons ground dried mint
Salt and paper to taste

Shred the cucumber. 

Add the shredded cucumber and dried mint to the yogurt.

Add salt and paper and mix well. 

Often served with  magloba, grilled meat, and kebab dishes. 

Similar to: Garlic, Chilies and Coriander Yogurt Sauce

Spicy Garlic, Chili and Coriander Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients

Serves 4

250g plain yogurt

2-3 garlic cloves

1-2 chopped fresh chillies

Small bunch of fresh coriander, washed and drained

Salt to taste.

This sauce combines garlic, chilies, and coriander with yogurt. It is served with meat and rice dishes, or can be used  as a dip.

Put all the ingredient in the food processor and mix well 

Add the mixture to the yogurt and mix. Often served with magloba, grilled meat, and  kebab dishes.
Similar to: Cucumber and Mint Yogurt Sauce.

Roasted Salad: Salata Mashwiya سلطة مشوية

For azleena, who requested this one. Thanks to  everyone who has commented or is a follower of the blog. We appreciate your support!

Salata Mashwiya literally means roasted salad, and is known by that name in Tunisia and in western Libya. This salad doubles as a hot sauce, and is served with barbeques in much of the Arab world. When made for a barbeque, the vegetables are grilled over the fire while the meat marinates, and get that smoky distinctive barbeque flavor, but you can just as easily use the grill at home. The salad's color and thickness depends on the vegetables you use. Bell pepper in  Arab countries is generally thinner, so you can use eggplant to thicken the sauce, grill it with the other vegetables and peel it to keep the color bright. Grilled eggplant is used in baba ghanouj and mtabal.

Ingredients:

5 medium tomatoes

3 large sweet bell peppers 

2 medium onion

1 medium eggplant (optional )
2/3 medium hot chillies 
5 garlic cloves

1 tablespoons (freshly ground) caraway seeds 

 salt to taste

for decoration:

2 hardboiled eggs

olives and olive oil as needed

Prepare the  bell peppers by cutting into thick equal strips, and cut the onions in half, or smaller, depending on size. You might also want to de-vein and de-seed the chillis at this point. Cut the tomatoes in half. If they are large, scoop out the insides into a bowl. This will keep them from becoming soggy. Set the pulp aside.

Heat a grill tray at 250 degrees. When the tray is hot, lay the vegetables on it. It should be hot enough that there is a sizzling sound. It has to be hot, and the vegetables have to be dry, so that you get the roasted taste, otherwise the salad will taste like steamed vegetables. Make sure you put the garlic cloves closest to you as they will need to be removed before the rest of the vegetables.

Remove the garlic cloves once they're done.

Take out the rest of the vegetables. Remove the overly burnt pieces.

Place in a processor. Add the ground caraway and salt. I like to add some of the raw tomato pulp to the roasted vegeatbles. If you like the salad with a chunky consistency, omit the tomato pulp and process just enough to blend.

Cut the hardboiled eggs into quarters. Garnish the salata mashwiya with pitted olives and drizzle generously with olive oil. Serve with mixed grilled meat and freshly baked bread.

Tomato, Cucumber and Olive Salad with Crab Apples - Salata Arabiya bil Tufah Albaladi سلطة عربية بالتفاح البلدي

There are many varieties of salata arabiya in Libya, unified by tomatoes being the main ingredient. This makes the salad very liquid, perfect for eating with barley bread or zumita paste formed into fingers. This version includes small sour apples (which grow wild in libya).

Serves 4 

Ingredients
6 tomatoes 
2 crab apples, diced
1 medium onion or 4 spring onions, chopped
1 cup chopped parsley and / coriander 
1 cup grated or finely diced  Arab cucumbers


Dressing
6 tomato pulps
1/2 cup olive oil
Salt to taste
Lemon Juice to taste
Topping

1/2 a cup of pitted black olives 
extra crab apple slices
Serving Suggestions
Add canned tuna 
Mix in Barley bread cubes
Eat with Zumita paste formed into fingers
Scoop up with flat bread

Finely chop the parsley, dice the apples and onion, and grate the cucumbers.

Remove the pulp from the 6  tomatoes and set aside. Dice the flesh.

 Place the 6 tomato pulps in the mixer, then add salt to taste and lots of lemon juice.

Mix the chopped ingredients together with the tomato dressing,  Drizzle with olive oil before serving and top with olives.

In the Western mountain region they eat Salata Arabiya with Zumita fingers. Zumita is made mainly from barley which is first roasted and then ground to a powder.  Mixed with water and olive oil it makes a nutritious paste.

Adding tuna and bite-size bread pieces makes Salata Arabiya a full meal, often eaten for lunch especially in  hot summer days.

Aubergine and Tomato Salad - Mtabal متبل

Mtabal is an aubergine dish originating from the Levant and popular throughout the Arab world. It is a quicker version of Baba Ghanouj, where the aubergine is roasted until smoky, peeled then blended into a paste with tahini thinned out with lemon. Mtabal on the other hand is chunkier, made by dicing the vegetable up rather than mashing it, and drizzling tahini and olive oil on top.

It is served as an appetizer or side dish, and is eaten as a dip with hot Arabic bread.

Ingredients:

1 large aubergine (or 2 medium)

2 firm tomatoes, pulp removed (optional)

1-2 Chili peppers (optional)

1 large garlic clove, grated

Salt to taste

Lemon juice to taste

3 tablespoons tahini paste

Generous drizzle of olive oil

Handful finely chopped parsley

Roast the aubergine over an open flame until the skin begins to crisp. Alternatively slice thickly, brush with oil and place in a hot tray in the oven until golden on both sides. Leave to cool, then dice and place in a bowl. Grate one garlic clove over the cut up aubergine, add the lemon juice, a pinch of salt then mix and adjust to your taste. For some extra flavor you can add diced tomatoes (flesh only) and/or finely chopped chili peppers, but both are optional.

Drizzle with lots of tahini and olive oil. Make sure the latter is the raw unmixed sesame seed paste, not a ready made dip. Stir well before pouring in, so you don't just take the oil which gathers at the top. Decorate the Mtabal with chopped parsley and serve (warm or cold) with hot fresh bread.

Libyan Pickles - Mseyer المصير'' مخلل ليبي سريع''

Mseyer is a Libyan quick-pickled vegetable  relish served as an accompaniment to many Libyan main courses, and it is an absolute must with Imabwakh (steamed) dishes.

A variety of vegetables such as carrots, cucumber, chilli peppers,  are diced and soaked in lemon juice and vinegar. You can play with the proportions and ingredients of Mseyer according to taste.

The crunchy texture and the tart, refreshing taste gives an extra relish to every meal. Mseyer does not use much salt, so store in the fridge.    

 

Ingredients:
1 carrot

2 Arabic (small) cucumbers
2-4 fresh hot chillies
2 tbsp  finely chopped parsley
1 tbsp finely chopped coriander (optional)
1 large garlic clove, grated
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt to taste
2 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp citric acid salt ( you can double the amount of vinegar and lemon juice instead ) 
Juice of 1/2 a lemon, cut the other half into triangular segments
Cauliflower, seperated into tiny florets (optional)

Prepare the vegetables as shown below 

 

Put the hot chillies in a deep plate, add one teaspoon salt cover with boiling water, leave to soak for five minutes, then drain. Place the chillies in a glass jar, add the rest of the ingredients and enough cold water to cover, then close the jar and shake well.

Ideally Libyan Pickles should be made at least 6 hours in advance, but reality means on many rushed Fridays the pickles are made just before starting the couscous they will be served with.