Arabic food

 

Steamed Veggies need I say more. They are a mixture of mix vegetables that have cracked pepper and garlic salt on them.

 

Mushroom garlic couscous. This is basic couscous with cut up mini white mushrooms and fresh minced garlic. I made the couscous first then added the mushrooms and garlic that I had cooked separately.

 

Falafel. This is a vegetable based, deep fried patties. Basically it is chick peas boiled, mashed, and add lots of things to this. Let it sit for the flavors to marinate. Then shape them into patties and deep fry them. Flipping once after just one minute. Take them out and drain them. I let them cool just a bit before I served them.

 

Lastly, Tambouli or wheat salad. This is wheat that is not boiled to soften, instead I added warm water to it then let it sit for two hours covered. I added crushed mint to this and diced tomatoes. I also added a few other seasonings, lemon juice and olive oil.

Ok so this was my first attempt at all of these items. The vegetables were the best thing on the menu today. The falafel was crunchy, but not that good. I was hungry and ate three of them, but not great all the same. I did not like the couscous. Adding the mushrooms and garlic made for a weird tasting dish. Normally I like mushrooms and garlic, not this time though. The tambouli was plain gross. The wheat came out chewy. The seasonings, were off, VERY off. The tomatoes made for a very weird texture, mixed with the chewy wheat. Not good mixture. 

Before I try any of these again I need to get someone who has made them before show me how. Following a recipe with this did not work at all.  The flavors were all off. The textures were off. The consistencies were off. 

Actually, there was nothing in today's meal that was right. I even managed to mess up making the juice. It was strawberry cranberry juice from a mix. I just had to add water and that came out bad. Ugh It was not my day