Ramadan series: Yummy Healthy Salad

by Camy

After a whole day of fast, we need a healthy meal that will fill all of our body's needs. Ramadan is as much about purifying our mind and soul than our bodies to me! Anyways, here is a salad I love to make. It's light but also fills you up and is only composed of ingredients that are super good for our bodies and brain! ;D

Ok so here it goes !

Ingredients - and their health benefits!

• Quinoa - Full of protein for the muscles, magnesium to relax your muscles and blood vessels, fiber to ease the elimination, maganese and copper to get rid of dangerous cancer and disease-causing substances.
• Red or black beans - Full of protein and iron (like meat but low in fat and cholesterol-free!) and antioxidant (they have one of the highest antioxidant rating of all foods) to reduce risk of cancer and heart disease
• Corn - Full of fiber and vitamines!
• Tomatoes - Full of anti-oxydant, lycopene to reduce cholesterol and protect the heart, vitamine C to protect you from immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling, vitamine A to improve vision, vitamine K which is essential in blood clotting and controls bleeding, potassium to maintain nerve health and iron
• Avocado  - Full of fiber, vitamine A, C, E, K, B5 and B6 for your eyes, your imune system, your heart, to prevent inflammations, for blood sugar regulation and to prevent cancer
• Green and/or Yellow and/or Red pepper (I like to put different types to add colours to the salad. In the end I like to put circa 1/4 of a whole peper.) - Full of vitamine A, C and K and antioxydant to prevent cancer and diseases relating to aging, support immune function, reduce inflamations, asthma and arthritis, decrease cholesterol, boost immunity, and reduce the risk of stomach ulcers.
• Garlic (a couple of cloves) - A natural antibiotic
• Onion - For your heart and to fight cancer
• Cilantro (or coriander, however you call it!) - A powerful natural cleansing agent, helps remove heavy metals and other toxic agent from the body, aids stimulate digestion (it also helps relieving stomach gaz... well it helps you stop farting!!)
• Lime or lemon - Full of vitamine C
• Olive oil - Full of anti-inflamatory agents, helps reduce cardio-vascular problems, helps the digestion, supports bone health, improves the cognitive functions, helps prevent cancer.
• Cumin powder - Reduces cholesterol and helps prevent diabet
  
• Salt

 

Step 1:
Put the quinoa to cook: for one cup of quinoa add one and a half cup of water in a pot. Put it to boil, then reduce the flame and let the quinoa cook until there's no water left in the pot. (It takes aproximatively 20 minutes.)


  
Step 2:
While the quinoa is cooking, drain the corn and beans and chop the rest of the veggies and the cilantro. Mix together. Add the cooked quinoa to the salad.

Step 3: The Sauce!
Add the juice of a lime to 4 table spoons of olive oil. Add 2 pinch of salt and a tea spoon of cumin powder. Mix well and add to your salad.

Step 4:
!!!Enjoy!!! :D

Of course you can add things up or remove ingredients you don't like and change the recipe to your liking! :D

Eat with a variety of other fruits and veggies for an even more balanced diet! :)

Algerian Mhajeb

By Za,

Recipe come up soon! 

(they are a bit of a project -far from being easy peasy) 

Full Moon Full Tourte

By Za, 

This is going to be quite easy. If you feel like making salty crust, roll up your sleeves, gather your positive energy, hold your breath and get yourself: 

For the dough: 

• Flour: 1 mug and 1/2 (British mug) 
• Butter: 1 and 1/2 table spoon of butter 
• Oil: 3 table spoons of oil. 
• Baking powder: 1/2 sachet. 
• A pinch of salt. 
• Water (enough to gather all ingredients creating a dough) 

The filling: 

• You really can use anything you like!
• This time I opted for TUNA!!! so the ingredients I got were: 
• A tin of tuna in red sauce (not oil) 
• 1 Onion
• A handful of white rice (cooked/boiled) 
• 1/2 Tea spoon of paprika. 
• Sliced boneless green/black olives. (I used green olives to give a sour-ish taste to it) 
• Grated cheese (Cheddar, or any hard cheese of your liking) 

Method: 

Put your flour (+salt) in a big bowl. Melt the butter and mix it with oil before you pour them on the flour. 

Rub everything thoroughly with your fingers until the flour starts to look like 'sand'. 

Add the baking powder and combine ingredients. 

Start adding water, bit by bit, while mixing until you get a very soft and elastic/stretchy dough. 

Let it rest for 15 - 30 minutes. 

Meanwhile, chop or grate your onion and put it in a pan with some oil (2 table spoons). 

Let it and stir fry until it goes a little brown before you add in your tuna. 

Mix everything and add olives and (cooked) rice. If it's too dry, add a bit of water and paprika. (the red sauce in which tuna was will give a delicious tomato flavour once cooked with the other ingredients) 

Half your dough and roll the first half flat (5mm) before you lay it on a dusted oven tray (preheat oven 150C) 

Spread the filling all over the flattened dough (it'll look like pizza :-D) don't forget to sprinkle your gratted cheese before you cover the top! 

Flatten the other half on a dusted working surface then lay it on top of the 'pizza-like' dough. PS: don't forget to sprinkle your gratted cheese before your cover the 'pizza' covering everything. 

Press the edges tightly closed and fold/roll them to prevent any leak of the sauce or the  stuffing. 

Dock the dough with a toothpick or a knife. 

Glaze the top with egg yolks or milk (I like to sprinkle some sesame -or black seed- on top too) 

Chuck in the oven. and check from time to time, till it turns golden in colour. (cooked) 

Cut however you like <3 

Bsahatkom - Enjoy - Bon appetit 

Gratin Dauphinois

by Amel

Gratin Dauphinois by Amel

  Ingredients :
1 kg potatoes
  2 onions
3 tablespoons creme fraiche
  20 cl light creme
  Gruyère (grated cheese)
  ½ spoon of curry or nutmeg powder

 

Preparation:

While you cook the potatoes, gently brown the chopped onions. (Quick tip: to avoid burning them, use water instead of oil!)

Add the curry or nutmeg powder, they will give your dish all its flavour.

Once the onions are ready, add the creams and cheese and cook them until the mixture boils (approximatively 3 mins) 

Cut the potatoes in thin slices, and add them and your onion & cream mixture in a dish, sprinkle with cheese and pop it in the oven. Bake it at 210°C / 400°F / thermostat 7 for 10 to 20 minutes depending on how long you prehated your oven.

Bon appétit !!

The Shadwell Omelette

by Youcef

This is THE Shadwell Omelette! 

Okey, this might not be a very healthy dish, and far from being original, but the reason I'am sharing this one is because it's a super cool omelette with loads of cool memories attached to it! Shadwell was were I used to live back in London, and this is a very simple omelette to make!

All you need are 

some eggs (duh! it's an omelette!)

some potatoes 

some herbs of your choice ( I usually use parsley or coriander... although mint also tastes good, but too strong if you put too much), mind you, coriander is the best! 

might also need a bowl, a fork and a frying pan (can't eat those! sorry)

Alright, now we can get started; chuck a couple of eggs in the bowl, a pinch of salt, chop some herbs in there and mix the whole lot using a four toothed stainless steel chrome utensil (ok ok, you can also use a fork)...

Once that's done, leave it to the side and fry some chips in the pan! (Oh and, for the lazy ones, like me, who don't want to bother with the all the dicing and frying of potatoes, just pop into any fast food place and get a portion of chips, no one would know, I promise, hihihi!)

Cool, that's done, now drain the oil out of the pan and replace it with the eggs you mixed earlier! OH AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, put a lid on the pan and put it on low/medium fire; that'll make the omelette cook nice and soft, without burning the bottom and without the need to turn it over! and VOILA!!!!

Yum yum! Get eating!

 And don't forget the mayonnaise!! 

Mahwish tried it!