All posts filed under: quick & easy

Here is a super fast recipe where you can use a ready made pastry sheet and you can accompany it with a salad on a lazy day!

Zucchini Tart

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I decided to mix the art of tart with quiche. I am not fond of thick quiches but love puff pastries so why not having it thin like a tart? Here is a super fast recipe where you can use a ready made pastry sheet and you can accompany it with a salad on a lazy day! Ingredients: 1 Puff pastry sheet 2 zucchinis 1 cup cream 2 tsp Dijon Mustard 1 tsp Mustard seeds 1 egg salt & pepper Thyme to sprinkle Parmesan for topping Sundried tomatoes for topping On a floured surface, roll the dough to a 1 cm thick circle; transfer to a 28cm tart plate. Flute the edge and trim pastry from beyond rim of plate; make holes with the fork and refrigerate while preparing the filling. Cut the zucchinis lengthwise and season then cook in olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until colored and tender Whisk the mustards, cream and egg until blended and season well. Spread the mustard cream over the pastry shell and line up the zucchini …

How to Zoodles (Zucchini noodles)

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I am back to Zoodle! It’s been a while I didn’t share any recipe and for my come back I am sharing my latest kitshy dish: the Zoodles, aka Zucchini noodles. A perfect gluten free and vegan recipe, refreshing for summer, light for the tummy and takes 10 minutes to be ready thanks to the spiral slicer “spiralizer”. I found this handy spiralizer at Crate & Barrel Dubai, press on the link for more details. Ingredients: For 2 servings (as a starter) 3 Zuchinis Bunch of cherry tomatoes 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1 tsp Basic Pesto Parmesan (optional) 1. Spiralize the zucchinis. 2. Cut the cherry tomatoes in halves. 3. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the noodles with the tomatoes for a few minutes (keep it ardent). 4. Stir in the pesto and cook for 2-3 more minutes, until well incorporated. 5. To serve, dish up zoodles and top with basil leaves and shaved parmesan if you are not vegan! Check out my video with Arabic subtitles on …

Flavored Water

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For those who dislike water and those who can’t stop drinking it! Fruit & vegetable infused water is known for belly slimming, anti-bloating, craving control, mood boosting and the list goes on. The best part is that it’s so refreshing and super easy to make. Pick your preferred flavor & detoxifying combination: 1. Strawberry, lime, apple, mint 2. Ginger, lime, cinnamon stick 3. Cucumber, lime, lemon, rosemary 4. Apple, lime, cinnamon stick 5. berries, basil, lemon 6. Make your own mix! General directions: Cut the fruits and put them in a water jar Fill the jar with water and store in in the fridge, you can refill water up to 2 days max. Refresh your senses! The Urban Apron

Feta in the Oven

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Eating the same thing in a similar way gets sometimes boring! Feta in the Oven is a great and easy way to savor Feta in mornings and evenings. Ingredients: 200g Feta 1 Tomato or bunch of cherry tomatoes Fresh Thyme or Zaatar (Middle Eastern mixture of sumac, thyme and sesame seeds) 1 tbs Olive Oil 1. Preheat oven to 120 degrees Celsius (250 degrees F); 2. Dice the tomatoes or cut the cherry tomatoes in half; 3. Toss the Feta cheese in a pyrex baking dish with the diced tomatoes then top with Zaatar and Olive Oil. Bake for 15minutes in the oven until golden on top. This dish is best served with flatbread. Bon Appetit. The Urban Apron

How to peel & store Ginger?

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I consider fresh ginger to be a super food. I like to use it in my cooking, baking and my tea remedies so I need always to have fresh ginger on hand. My first encounter with the ginger was not that fruitful. I actually used a knife to peel it and I ended up having just half of it to be used! Few years back I discovered the real technique on a French channel, it is incredibly… easy: – Break one lobe of the ginger to easily reach all the skin and hold it firmly with one hand. – Hold the bowl of the spoon in the other hand, make sure the convex is towards you. – Scrap away the skin by using the edge of the spoon. Now that you have fresh ginger you can grate them, put them in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer. It will be super handy when a recipe requires freshly grated ginger! Hope it helps! The Urban Aprong    

How to store Cilantro – Garlic

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This mix is used in several dishes especially Mediterranean, whether you are making “batata harry” (spicy potato), “chich barack”  or simple grilled shrimps.. For 1 step faster and less dish washing, you can prepare this mix in advance and put it in the freezer. I usually crush 2 garlic cloves and heat in 1 tbs of olive oil for 1 small cilantro sprig roughly chopped. Cook for 2 minutes until leaves have shrink. > Store in a freezer container (up to 3 months) > I don’t add salt or pepper because it all depends on the dish you’re making. Hope it helps! The Urban Apron    

Chocolate Hazelnut spread

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Last week, I decided to make my own Chocolate Hazelnut Spread and got hooked ever since! Early 2016, I decided to lower my processed food (e.g. Nutella) consumption, which pushed me to search for different hazelnut chocolate spread recipes. My preferred taste combo: less cream & butter, and more chocolate. Note that the dosage hazelnut-chocolate can be changed depending on your taste. The spread lasts 4 weeks in the fridge, just remove ahead of time to let the spread soften. Ingredients for 100g: 1 cup Skinned Hazelnut 2 tbs Cream 2 tbs Unsalted Butter 2 tbs Sugar 100g Milk Chocolate 100g Dark Chocolate 1/4 tsp Sea Salt 1. Preheat oven to 180°C (about 350°F); 2. Spread out the hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 minutes until deep brown color. Make sure to shake them for even toasting and let them cool; 3. Grind the hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor until smoothed, it should take 1 minute for a buttery effect; 4. Melt the chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water; or just put them in the microwave for 15 seconds; 5. …

Baked Salmon & Honey Mustard

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Let me introduce you to my new favorite marinade, the Honey Mustard. It is simply divine on any meat, especially when you do it yourself (no need anymore to buy the supermarket sachets). I was happy to use the honey I brought from my home country, Lebanon. I filled my honey pantry supplies with sample jars from a boutique dedicated to honey: L’Atelier du Miel, known to be distinguished by its honey production method: they move the beehives all year long to follow the blossoming seasons, so that the bees are fed only on nectar of flowers and honeydew of trees. In fact, I tried the Thorns honey (Epines & fleurs d’été) for its intense taste of freshness that would go well with ginger and salmon. Ingredients: 4 Salmon Filets 2 tbs Olive oil 1 tbs grated Ginger 1 tbs Honey 2 tbs Mustard seed (Dijon a l’ancienne) Kosher Salt & Pepper – Combine the marinade ingredients: oil, ginger, honey and mustard. Keep some marinade sauce on the side to brush the salmon filets before serving. – Pour the marinade on the salmon filets in a zip-lock bag and …

How to peel the Beets

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I always watched my mom boiling beetroots then rinsing them in cold water and peeling them with a knife. It looked complicated especially that everything turned magenta red in the kitchen. Beetroot is an underestimated vegetable in my humble opinion, none cooks it because of its complicated peeling and transferring color. But here is the 4 steps solution to make peace with the beets: 1. Clean the beetroots: wash and cut stem and greenery from both side. 2. Cut them in halves and put them on wax paper in a tray. 3. Roast the beetroot in a preheated oven at 350°C for about 40 minutes (depending on their size). Beets are done when the skins are puckered and a toothpick is inserted easily till the center. 4. When beets have cooled a little bit just peel off the skin, I usually wear gloves to avoid the color transfer. >> You can store them in a container in the fridge up to 3 days or in the feezer up to 1 month. Hope it helps! The Urban Apron

The Moudardara Salad

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The story of a Lebanese dish turned into a salad. Moudardara stands for Lebanese lentils mixed with rice, topped with a lot of caramelized onions and flavored with cumin spice. Could be eaten both hot and chilled. I had never tried it in my life even though my mom used to make it [I think I have a problem with the Lebanese lentils because I do not mind the French ones: Puy Lentils]. My husband loves lentils in general, so I decided to try cooking the Moudardara for him… and the funny part is that I ended up eating it. The Moudardara is easy and fast to prepare; but I find it to be dull in the plate and I would certainly not categorize it as a main dish. To make peace with it I decided to transform it into a SALAD!! I tossed some grilled and raw vegetables on the Moudardara plate, some feta cheese and lemon-oil dressing: it turned out fulfilling, refreshing and delicious for dinner or a quick lunch at work! First, let me introduce you to my Moudardara recipe and then how …