Vegetarian Lebanese Stew with Peas and Rice (Bazelle with Riz) for #Food of the World

For this month's Food of the World event, we are going to Lebanon. While browsing through the internet for vegetarian Lebanese dishes, I landed on this page with a ton of recipes to choose from. I finally narrowed the whole list down to about 10 dishes, but more than half of them were desserts and I had to resist the temptation of making those rich and creamy desserts. I have them bookmarked and will pace them out and try them in the future.

At the end, I made this vegetarian version of Lebanese Stew with Peas. Traditionally this dish is made with beef or lamb mince. I used soy granules/ TVP instead. The highlight of the dish is the Baharat spice blend that is added to the stew. It is a mix of ground spices and it adds a nice warmth and lot of flavor to the dish.

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Lebanese Moussaka (Vegetarian Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from A-Z International Marathon

Dishes: Lebanese Moussaka

For Day 2 of blogging marathon, I picked my favorite ingredient and made this delicious Lebanese eggplant dish that I bookmarked long time ago. I made another hearty & comforting Lebanese dish for the mega marathon and mentioned about how I wanted to try this Lebanese Moussaka dish from a local Middle Eastern restaurant.

It so happened that we went to that restaurant a few weeks later and my husband ordered their Lebanese Moussaka and he really liked it. That is a really big compliment coming from an ex-eggplant-hater. It sure was very very tasty and I decided it was time to try the dish at home.

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Lebanon -- Mujadara (Rice & Lentils dish)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: L for Lebanon

Dish: Mujadara (Rice & Lentils dish)

We are going to Lebanon, a country that is located in Western Asia. I think my first experience with Lebanese cuisine was at the local Mediterranean restaurant near my office. It was run by a super active mother-daughter team. They would memorize the orders in their heads and never wrote them down -- no matter how big the order was. They used to have the usual Mediterranean dishes like hummus, baba ghanoush, pita etc., but what I really wanted to order was their Lebanese Moussaka which they said was vegetarian. But unfortunately I never did and now that I'm not working there, I wish I had ordered that dish.

Well today, I didn't make the moussaka, but I made another really filling and comforting Rice & Lentil dish called Mujadara. Mujadara is a humble and comforting dish made with pantry staples, rice and lentils. There is nothing fancy about it, but it is a very flavorful dish with the grown cumin and the crispy fried onions on top. It is also quick dish to make and is usually served with a dollop of yogurt.

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