This Watermelon Caprese Salad is inspired by the well-loved combination of watermelon and cheese of my cultural background, the summer nights of my childhood and the classic Italian recipe for Caprese. It’s a refreshing and simple way to celebrate melon before summer is over. Give it a try!
Here is my recipe for Shatta, a homemade chili paste we eat with just about everything. I started delving more into preserved and fermented foods when the pandemic forced us all into quarantine in mid-March. Preserved and fermented foods take attention, patience and close care. They became a distraction for me. A way for me to let go of everything else clouding my mind and focus on nurturing these sensitive foods. They reminded me to care for myself. And that even when times are so uncertain, all I could do is take it one day at a time. And that after these days pass, I might end up wiser or have grown in ways I didn’t know, or even think I could. That I might end up with a bubbly kombucha or perfect jar of shatta. Or that even when your aunt is dragging you across borders and you think you’re going to die, you just might actually live to tell (and laugh) about it.
Buraniyyah is a salad preparation of the mallow green, Mlukhiyyah. While the cooked version is very popular, this unique salad preparation is one that has been in my family for generations. I’m sharing the recipe in hopes to introduce Mlukhiyyah lovers to something different and to keep this recipe’s story alive.
Grape leaf season only means one thing in my family-Warak Dawali (Stuffed Grape Leaves). I’m talking everything from foraging to filling in this blog post. Gather your friends to help roll grape leaves and have the ultimate summer feast together!
I’m sharing my recipe for Fresh Mint Lemonade. My aunt made me fall in love with this drink on one of my trips to Palestine. Now as the weather warms up in Chicago, this is my simple, go-to drink to enjoy with family and remind me of home.
Abeer Najjar 