"The people who give you their food give you their heart" - Cesar Chavez


Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Middle Eastern Morning Medley

One of my top three favorite ways to start a Sunday is to cook a meal that uses up random ingredients from my refrigerator. This particular meal was one of those this-is-what-I-have-let's-make-it-work situations. I had leftover couscous from the night before and some of the mushroom crostini as well so I wanted to make a sort of filling and chunky mixture to eat with the couscous. It had to be flavorful since couscous alone has a rather bland flavor. Assessing my ingredient inventory I noticed I had quite a few jars of different olives and a large jar of tahini. Olives are a Middle Eastern food as is tahini, these would quickly become my base. This morning medley (I can't come up with any other name for it) was surprisingly tasty for having no idea what I was doing. Also, the leftovers tasted great the next day over some toasted pita or as a sauce for chicken.

Middle Eastern Morning Medley
(Makes 3 large servings)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup tahini
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Oregano

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add in the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add in the olives and raisins, drizzle the red wine vinegar and lemon juice over them. Sprinkle the mixture generously with oregano and spoon the tahini into it. Mix around until all the ingredients are incorporated and the tahini is evenly dispersed. Lower the heat to medium and let flavors dance for about 8-10 minutes.

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