Best of MCW (1601-1700)

Welcome to the 17th installment of the Best Of series for MCW. Breakfast takes the spotlight in this edition, with almost half the features belonging to this meal category. If you share our mentality that breakfast is even more delicious as dinner, you've got a pretty repertoire of all-day alimentation choices. Although admittedly an omnivore, I do love my homemade almond milk and the pancakes from the resulting pulp. I have never tasted a better almond milk than this one, and innovating a delicious way to use the pulp makes it a waste-free meal.

See also part 1 and part 2, part 3 , part 4 , part 5 , part 6 , part 7 , part 8 , part 9 , part 10, part 11, part 12 , part 13 , part 14, part 15 , and part 16 of previous Best Of MCW series.

This express granola yogurt formed of two ingredients who deserve to be called the dynamic duo. Theyhave come to the rescue many a times for a quick breakfast or a light dinner. Highly customizable, they are plenty flavorsome on their own, but feel free to add fresh fruit, seeds, honey, or almost anything else. 

Makdous is a Palestinian pickled baby aubergine stuffed with red chilli and walnut, immersed in olive oil. This makdous egg toast has some strong, gutsy, Palestinian flavors right there. Some thick unctuous lebne tops a toasted (actually, shallow fried in olive oil) slice of bread, the chopped makdous goes on top, and a lacy-edge olive oil fried sunny side up tops the lot. To be made and consumed immediately.

Sometimes, it is too tempting not to jump on the trendy bandwagon. This custard berry toast has been all over, and it was one fine morning that I decided to see if it was worth the hype, as many said it was. Indeed, it was. I ended up having it for breakfast for a week straight. 

This is a two-ingredient olive cream cheese is a hack which I now always have on hand of breakfast or snacking. All you do is blend a drained jar of pitted olives to a paste, then whip in a black of cream cheese. Served over toast, or as a dip with crackers, this spread does not disappoint.

This is one of those recipes that we've been making forever but never thought of sharing/writing because it was deemed too simple. This egg sandwich is a firm favorite that is a go-to in so many situations: breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, snack... you name it. 

This is a filling breakfast inspired from the Iraqi thareed bagilla, just simplified. Toasted pita bread is generously spread with processed cream cheese from a jar, and topped off with boiled broad beans (may come from a can and reheated) chopped onion and scrambled eggs. The freshly chopped green chili is optional for some heat. I used my favorite local brand of dairy for the jarred processed cream cheese, but any jarred processed cream cheese would do.

With a black coffee first thing in the morning, these peanut butter oat balls are a feel-good way to start your day. Loaded with hidden nutrients, they taste more of a treat than a service for your health. 

I do like to take the extra step of roasting and cooling the oats, simply because I don't quite like the idea of consuming raw oats, plus the roasting gives an added depth of flavor.

A three-ingredient delight made express in the air fryer. All you need is puff pastry, blueberries, and powder sugar. The powder sugar, while pretty, is not only for looks for for actual flavor. It goes without saying that whatever an airfryer recipe is, it can be adapted accordingly to an oven. The thing about an airfryer, though, is convenience.

Syrian food is one of my favorites out there. Lebanese food usually gets all the attention, and sure, there is some overlap between the two, but Syria has so many undiscovered gems, and this is one of them. Vineleaves are stuffed with a tangy concoction of sour lebna, walnut, olives, pomegranate, and other goodfuls, rolled up, and soaked in fruity olive oil. Left to pickle a week or two in the refrigerator, these delightful fingers paired with bread make for a delicious breakfast, or suhour, mezza component.

Rice pudding, but in a savory chicken form. Apparently, this is a popular Saudi comfort food where you actually want to cook the rice to a mush.  This dish is so cozy, perfect for the colder season, and I honestly see it being made when a loved one is down with the flu. The Saudi version of chicken soup for the soul.

Always up for a new way to roast a chicken, this one pot paprika roast chicken is nestled between cherry tomatoes and cubed potatoes, making it a one pot meal as well.  The chicken is marinated in paprika and dijon mustard, with a hit of fresh lemon juice. When roasting together, the chicken juices flavor the vegetables, and the vegetable juices flavor the chicken.

Toss this chicken tandoori in its marinade and leave it overnight in the fridge for a simple, easy, and quick way to get a spicy hot meal the next day. The yogurt tenderizes the meat beyond imagination, and the rest of the flavors are pretty much standard Indian. Add chili flakes for a spicy kick.

Chicken musakhan is a favorite tangy chicken combo originating from Palestine. Ironically, the spin-offs are much more popular than the original. Just on MCW we've got fetta, cones, kubba, spring rolls, and now these saj rolls. 

We Arabs have an affinity to stuffed foods that is shared with our lovely neighbor, the Turks. These delicious soft melting stuffed onions are quite simple to prepare, but they did wow me in their flavor profile.  What's more, they are baked, not cooked stovetop, which means that the tops get the most wonderful char and blister, adding further to the flavor.

The sky is the limit since I discovered excellent quality ready made raw kofta in the supermarket. Not that it is difficult to make, just saves a lot of time chopping and handling. This lemony kofta bake became an instant favorite, and the nostalgia of home-fried potatoes hit hard. 

Kubba niya, or raw kubba, can only be made with the freshest meat, and them consumed within an hour or two after making. Eating leftover kubba niya the next day is a bad idea, since it is made of raw meat after all. So this kubba balls idea was born: make balls out of the leftover kubba niya and fry them up. This turned out to be so successful that you will find yourself making kubba niya just to make these kubba balls.

I happily munched on this salad for multiple iftars during Ramadan. It was a refreshing change from cooked meals, and substantial enough to satisfy cravings and hunger simultaneously. The salad is packed with herbs and vegetables, and toasting the orzo before boiling it adds immensely to the flavor.

This dish, a simple salad with a hearty side of rice was typical peasant food not too long ago. So delicious, but then again farmers and peasants always know how to have a good time and enjoy good food; it was the aristocrats that filled their empty lives with gossip and anemia.

Let me start by saying that this is not the traditional Egyptian koshari rice, rather than a version of it. The traditional version includes pasta on top of everything else, which I just don't get because the rice is enough. You do not make koshari by accident. It is a muti-pot, multi-ingredient, and time-consuming dish to make. One you taste it though, you will understand why it is worth the trouble a couple times a year. 

This is something the new generation taught me and contributed to MCW. Our little prodigy learned this recipe in the after-school activity and ceremoniously passed on her newly acquired knowledge most efficiently back home.  The only ready ingredient is the pizza sauce, which is amped up in flavor with a few minor but key additions. This recipe makes two large rolls, each roll yielding 5 to 6 cut up rolls.

This deconstructed sushi bowl has been making the rounds on the internet and social media like wildfire. I happened to have all ingredients on hand and decided to give it a go. It obviously lived up to the hype otherwise I would not be sharing.

What do you make with a fillet of salmon in the freezer, a packet of dried mushroom in the cabinet, and a carton of cream in the refrigerator? This, you make this. If the potato takes too long, swap it with pasta or rice. 

These cookies may not look like much, but they were unbelievably delicious. Melt-in-the mouth, literally, and you will find yourself making mug after mug of tea just to have some more cookies.

Meet my new favorite maamoul: the walnut flour maamoul. Perfect consistency of melt-in-your-mouth, these maamoul cannot be beat. 

We love our rice crispy treats here at the MCW household. Perfectly shaped with just the right amount of softness and marshmallow pull, combined with a secret ingredient making it irresistible. But this is a cousin of that beloved beast, totally unique in its own right, and uses only five ingredients. 

Ripe soft dates and walnuts work their magic once more in this soft cookie recipe, yielding great results in record time. We usually get a surplus of dates for Ramadan, especially with the holy month coinciding with date season.

This campfire um ali is making the rounds in the winter as it is a super easy and super fast and super delicious dessert to make over an open flame (ie, when the Arabs go desert camping in the winter). Good news: you can make it even easier by making it stove-top!

This is essentially a creme caramel, but without the burnt sugar and not inverted. It is a saffron-infused custard flan baked in a water bath to yield the most satiny-silky result. Very popular in the Arab Gulf region during Ramadan, its cooling and comforting properties make it an almost five ingredient dessert wonder.

I am tagging this date tart as 5 ingredients or less, because without the spices, it is merely five ingredients to make. A sprinkle of cinnamon and cardamom barely count as individual ingredients, and the final dusting of pistachio powder is optional.  The thing that brings this tart together is a can of sweet condensed milk, which bakes into a gooey-sticky caramel that is just delightful.

صحة و عافية