Egyptian goodies.

Spring Break is over and Spring is officially here. The weather has been really good around lately - the snow has all melted, the sun has been shining, the birds are all singing. Of course, this morning I woke up to rain which quickly turned into huge snowflakes falling from the sky and staying on the ground. No thank you. It remained rainy and gloomy all day, though the snowflakes melted pretty quickly. Not a day that really felt Spring-like... well, except for when my friend Laura came into the dance studio tonight in the most bright, colourful outfit I've seen yet this season. I just love her! :)

Because of the overcast weather, our Soup Monday felt perfect! My daughter is doing a project in school on Egypt, so I felt it was quite fitting to make a big pot of harira which I served with a carrot orange salad, some savoury cheese biscuits and then a little helping of pretzels and baba ghanouj (store bought). I got both the soup and salad recipes from Moosewood Restaurant's Low Fat Favourites, and didn't alter too much from either of them.

The picture had to be taken outside since the house was dark all day long. Tomorrow is supposed to be better - I sure hope so!

Harira

1 cup onions, chopped

5 cups vegetable stock

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained

1 1/2 cups potatoes, diced

pinch saffron

1 cup cooked lentils (canned will work, drained)

1 cup cooked chickpeas (canned will work, drained)

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a covered soup pot, simmer the chopped onions in 1 cup of vegetable broth for 10 minutes. Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger and cayenne in a small bowl with a few tablespoons of the hot stock and make a paste. Add to the pot along with the celery, carrots and remaining stock. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and potatoes, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Crumble in the saffron, and then add the lentils, chickpeas, lemon juice and salt and black pepper. Heat through and serve.

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Carrot Orange Salad

3-4 carrots, grated

2 blood oranges, peeled, white removed and chopped into small pieces

1 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix the honey, lemon juice and cinnamon together. Stir together the carrots, oranges and dressing and chill for a few hours so the flavours can mingle.

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Savoury Cheese Biscuits

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup margarine

1 cup milk

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp basil

1 tbsp sage

1 tbsp thyme

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl to make a soft dough. Form into balls and place on a greased baking sheet. Cook for 12-15 minutes until the bottoms are browned.