Hi, foodies in the Hive!

Has it ever happened to you that your food ends up being "vegan by accident"?

I learned the term a couple of years ago as I was searching on the web to see if some of the products commonly consumed in my town were suitable for vegans. Then I came across this expression, “vegan by accident”, and it didn't quite fit. You know, nothing is vegan by accident; something like that is just plant based, but here we go, whasoever, with this dinner that was accidentally vegan 😋💯

As usually happens to me when I dedicate body and soul to finish reading and rereading for my studies, I found myself with a pantry & fridge full of vegetables which freshness was in danger after a very long stay.

I felt it necessary to use everything I had and save large amounts of leftovers to survive the next few days, as I really had a lot of reading to do.

I had a long drive ahead of me and my husband was leaving town for a couple of days the next morning. Being home alone doesn't put me in the best mood for cooking; I have found that cooking for just myself makes me very lazy. Does this happen to you?

So that night we both had a feast: mujadara, tomato, parsley & sweet chili salad, and a smoky eggplant & red bell pepper dip (with pita bread "nachos")... I'd have enough food in the fridge for those two days in complete solitude. Well, there are always the two dogs, the five cats, the three tortoises, and the parrot--and all the visiting wildlife 😂

INGREDIENTS

Mujadara:

2 cups julienned onion
3/4 cups white rice
3/4 cups lentils
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt to taste

Salad:

3 cups tomato (thick juliennes)
1 cup finely julienned sweet chili
freshly chopped parsley
2 tablespoons freshly crushed garlic
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt to taste

Smoky Dip:

3 cups smoked eggplant, charred and peeled
1 small red bell pepper, charred and peeled (without veins/seeds)
2 garlic cloves (about 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil

olive oil and hot paprika to taste for garnish

THE PROCESS

MUJADARA

Mujadara is one of my favorite dishes in the whole world; it's a simple Lebanese dish that would actually constitute a well-rounded meal if that's all you wanted. For me, oh, delicious! I prepare it often at home; it's just super satisfying and flavorful.

I simply peeled and julienned the onions. The juliennes should be thick, as they'd shrink quite a bit until they dried out and toasted a bit. As always I cooked them in the hot wok, with just a drizzle of olive oil, putting and removing the lid a couple of times, to achieve dry cooking (no juices). I added salt, which helps to dry the onion and ironically caramelize them.

Instead of placing them on napkins to dry, I set them aside to the edges of the wok until it's time to place them on the rice and lentils.

I cook the lentils and rice in the same pot. First I put the lentils in water, triple their volume, and when they begin to soften (after about 5 minutes), I add the rice and salt. In just 4 minutes, it was done.

I added ground cumin and stirred a little.

I covered the rice and lentils with the caramelized onions... They were crunchy 😋

And that was it for a good portion of mujadara, enough for 4-5 servings.

TOMATO, PARSLEY & SWEET CHILI SALAD

I washed all the veggies well, peeled the garlic cloves...

...Julienned the tomatos and sweet chilies. I removed the seeds of both.

I put them in a bowl and squeezed the lemon. It'd marinate a little while I prepared the rest of the ingredients.

It was time to add the parsley. I had let it dry and then chopped it.

...And into the bowl...

Time for some garlic; it makes the salad a little spicy 😋 I crushed it in my old mortar and pestle, added olive oil, and into the bowl...

Done.

SMOKY EGGPLANT & RED BELL PEPPER DIP

In my experience, these dips turn out best if I let the vegetables char. I did so; I charred the eggplant and a small red bell pepper directly on the stove.

I peeled the eggplants and the pepper...

...removing as much of the charred skin as I could.

I removed the seeds and veins from the peeled red bell pepper...

...and also removed all the pedicels before I put everything into the blender. I used one garlic clove; I had peeled several for the salad. I cut in half and flattened it with a fork so the blades of the blender wouldn't miss them.