Armenian Festival - Vege-style of course. Check it out, I bet you will find something you like.

The Kardashian's may currently be America's most famous Armenians, probably followed by Dr. Kevorkian, whomp whomp.  But Dr. G(arabedian) is slowly gaining a following...so they better watch out!

If you have never had Armenian food by the way, don't be scared.  If you like Mediterranean food and/or middle eastern food you will love it.  Try something new :) 

Armenian food made a pretty regular appearance on my family's dinner table growing up.  Shish kabob, stuffed cabbage, kibbe, rice pilaf, hummus, tabouleh, pita bread, grape leaves, fattoush, lentil stew, lahmajun, lamb bone and green beans, etc were all things that might have been found on the Sunday dinner table, at a cookout, or at lunch with my grandfather. This is the first time that I am making Armenian food since having changed my diet.  What I realized is that Armenian food is actually full of whole foods and plants anyway, so I made a few changes and I think I came up with some pretty good stuff.  

On the menu:

• stuffed cabbage (sarma) - stuffed with lentils, rice, and herbs
• hummus 
• fattoush salad
• pita chips - used both as croutons for the salad and for dipping
• spiced chickpeas
• pita bread, tabbouleh, and grape leaves - those I got at the store.  
• grapes, dried apricots, and pistachios for dessert
• a glass of red wine, of course

Let's start with something that is hopefully familiar to you:

Hummus

3 cups (or 2 15oz cans) chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/4-1/3 cup of lemon juice - don't be lazy, squeeze it yourself, it tastes better and is a good hand workout

1/4 cup of tahini* 

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste

olive oil and paprika for serving

*Tahini is a toasted sesame paste that is easily found at your local grocery store; usually in the salad dressing aisle, "healthy/organic" food aisle, or with the peanut butter.  

If you don't love the taste of raw garlic, throw your garlic cloves in the microwave for 30 seconds, it takes the bite out.  

Put all of your ingredients into a food processor or blender, flip the switch, and let it run until your hummus is nice and smooth.  

Top with some olive oil and paprika and you are good to go.  Seriously, so easy right?

Store bought hummus is wonderful too and there are all kinds of creative varieties available.  But it takes literally 3 minutes to make yourself and keeps well in the fridge for about a week.  

Try hummus as a dip for pita bread or veges, as a spread on sandwiches, or warm on top of rice and vege bowls.  More posts with ways to use hummus to come.  

Spiced Chickpeas

Not a fan of hummus?  How about spiced chickpeas instead? You could actually make this with any bean you like or even tofu.  Think of my recipes as suggestions, eat whatever tastes good to you. 

1.5 cups (1 15oz can) chickpeas

2-3 tablespoons of Armenian 7 spice*

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1/4 cup lemon juice 

1 tablespoon of non-creamy Greek or Italian salad dressing (optional)

1-2 tablespoons of water

*Armenian 7 spice is the only thing in this post that I did not get at a regular grocery store.  If there is an Armenian, Lebanese, or middle eastern market in your area you can likely find a version of this spice mixture there.  If not you can make it yourself with allspice (1 tablespoon), cinnamon (1 tablespoon), cloves (1 teaspoon), black pepper (1 tablespoon), mahlab (1 teaspoon, optional), nutmeg (1 teaspoon), and ginger (1 teaspoon).  

Simply put all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix it together until the chickpeas are coated with the spice mixture and then leave them alone for 20-30 minutes so all of those flavors can get to know one another.  

With a slotted spoon, transfer the chickpeas into a frying pan.  Saute them until the spices are aromatic and the chickpeas brown a little.   

These little guys have some bite to them, but they are delicious. Eat them over rice, on a salad, in a pita, or just with a spoon if you are brave.  

Fattoush Salad

The Salad, it's happening...I'm teaching you how to make salad.

1 head of iceberg lettuce

1 yellow pepper

1 medium cucumber

1 bunch fresh mint

1 bunch fresh parsley

1 tablespoon of sumac powder (optional)

FYI this is Sumac powder, it tastes citrusy

         

Just chop all of the salad ingredients up and toss them in a bowl, you know, like how you usually make salad.  Sprinkle with the sumac powder before serving.  The dressing and pita chips used for croutons are below...so keep reading!

The Lemon Dressing

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar

1-2 teaspoon agave nectar or honey to taste

1 pinch salt

1 pinch pepper

Put all of the ingredients into a mason jar and shake it up.  Whisking it in a bowl works too.

The secret is out, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar makes all the difference

The Pita Chips 

2 medium pita bread loaves

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 teaspoons garlic powder

sprinkle of salt (optional)

Cut the pita bread into squares then toss them with the olive oil and garlic until they are lightly coated.  Put them in a single layer on a baking sheet (or 2) and bake them in a 350 degree oven until they are toasted, about 5-7 minutes.  Keep an eye on them, they burn quickly.  Then put the warm pita chip croutons on the salad and pour on the salad dressing.  If you are too lazy to make your own pita chips, there is this nice lady named Stacy who sells them in the grocery store.

If you can resist eating them all right off the pan, set a few aside for munching on later and dipping in hummus.


FYI this recipes makes a pretty huge salad. Pair it with the spiced chickpeas and you easily have a meal for 2 or 3.  But, if you are not planning to eat the whole thing in one sitting then only put the pita chips and dressing on what you are planning to eat.  Store the rest of the dressing in an air tight container in the fridge and the rest of the pita chips in an air tight baggie on the counter.  Then you can have leftovers, which you will definitely want.  

Stuffed Cabbage

This one requires a little bit of work.

1 head of cabbage

3/4 cup dry brown rice

1/2 cup dry lentils (black beluga lentils hold their shape better, but use whatever you have)

1 15oz can white kidney beans (aka canellini beans)

1 32oz can tomatoes, whole, crushed, diced, whatever

1/2 onion 

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (use 1/3 cup of dried parsley)

1/3 cup chopped mint (use 1/8 cup of dried mint)

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon pepper

First, you want to cook your lentils and rice.  Follow the instructions on the package or call a friend if you need help with that.  Then cut the head of cabbage in half and throw it into some boiling water until the leaves soften (6-8 mins), crush your tomatoes, and chop up your onion, parsley, and mint.  Finally, smoosh your canellini beans up into a paste...it looks gross, I know. 

Once your cabbage is done, take it out of the water and let it cool so you can handle it, unless you would like to burn your fingertips today.  Then separate the leaves and cut out any of the fibrous ribs so that you have relatively flat and flexible sheets of cabbage.  

When the rice and lentils are done throw them into a large bowl with the smooshed up beans, mint, parsley, pepper, and onions.  Combine everything with your hands so that you can form little sausage shaped logs of the mixture.   

Now it is time to stuff some cabbage.  Grab about a tablespoon of your rice/lentil mixture and form it into a small log.  Then place it on the edge of a cabbage leaf, tuck in the sides so the filling doesn't fall out, and then show off your rolling skills...  

Put a little bit of the crushed tomatoes on the bottom of a glass baking dish and then start lining up your cabbage rolls. Repeat the procedure above about 10 billion times.  Stack on a 2nd layer if needed.  Then dump on the rest of the tomatoes.  Mix the salt and water together and then pour that on top too.  Finally drizzle with a little olive oil.  

Cover these beauties with tin foil and put them in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.  

FYI these freeze and reheat very well so don't worry that this recipe makes a ton of food.  They legit taste better the next day.

The other stuff

Go to the store and check out that area near the deli where they have deli pickles, pre-packed lunch meat and cheese (which you will not put in your cart), the hummus...there is usually a pretty good selection of items like tabbouleh, stuffed grape leaves, bean salads, etc.  Buy whatever looks good and put it on a plate.  No one said you had to make every component of the meal.

Enjoy your Armenian Festival!!

Happy eating and best health,

Dr. G