All posts tagged: rice

Saffron Seafood Risotto

Rice speaks several languages. It is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world, most probably for half of the people on Earth. Each culture has a rice dish that is similar to one from another culture. In my hometown, rice accompanies all the stews (meat or vegetables) and sometimes it’s the star of the main course when it’s all spiced up or used as a filling. I started appreciating rice dishes during my adulthood, especially when I left my hometown and I explored all the flavors from across the world. I know for a fact that there are more than 20 traditional rice dishes around the world and today I am sharing my recipe of risotto, which is a popular Italian rice dish that is cooked slowly and needs a lot of attention. It is cooked slowly in order to maintain the starch at the end of cooking that binds the grains and makes the dish creamy. However my ingredients and spices are inspired from the Paella (the famous Spanish rice dish). …

The Moudardara Salad

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 …