Green Bean Casserole . . . NOT French's®

From Scratch Green Bean Casserole

Oven Temperature: 350 Degrees

Prep. Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total: 1 hour

I love the holidays. I don't celebrate Thanksgiving or Christmas, but something about the holiday season makes me feel good inside. As you all know, I am muslim, so I celebrate Eid. However, that doesn't stop me from loving all the pretty decorations, the soothing music, and of course the extended mall hours. Oh, and those nifty decorations that sync with the radio! OMG. Anyways, I also love how Pinterest gets overwhelmed with holiday recipes. I love being able to read about people trying to cook a legit thanksgiving dinner, and how it usually ends up coming out of cans or ready made boxes. We used to have a thanksgiving dinner at a used-to-be-family-members every year. Of course, most of it was ready prepared food, but it's the thought that counts, right? Never mind that the canned cranberry sauce looked like jello gone wrong, or the fact that it tasted like fluoride. It was still a dinner, with family, and with lots of dessert. As you know, I love dessert. Enough with me talking about dinner, Let's get to the good stuff.

We have a family friend that invites us over for dinner every once in a while. She makes this amazing green bean casserole, and I can never get enough of it. So, one day I got up the courage and asked for the recipe. She smirked at me and laughed a little. I got curious. Then, she continues to tell me that it's the easiest recipe in the world. That it's on the back of every box of French's onions. What rock have I been living under?! So, one day she comes over with a bag full of groceries. I open the bag and the contents shocked me: 4 cans Green Beans, 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup, and 1 box French's onions. I pulled out my casserole dish and got to work. You throw in the 4 cans of beans with the can of soup and some milk. Top it off with onions, and throw it in the oven. Couldn't be easier. I took it out of the oven, but for some reason I couldn't eat it. You see, I hate canned food. All of a sudden that beautiful casserole went from amazing, to look-a-like hospital food. I was disappointed. Extremely disappointed. So, from that day, my mission was to make it from scratch. From start to end, I would make all of it. And I did. 

This green bean casserole starts with a nice buttery roux. Its got onions. Its got garlic. Its got mushrooms, and its got milk. Then you add some nice green beans. They've been steamed a little, but have a crunch. They're beautifully green, not a musty rusty can green, the true color green. You throw it all in the oven, and then you top it with fresh fried crispy onion strings, and WOW. Oh. My. God. Your life will change forever. That easily amazing concoction you used to make will look like cafeteria food next to this. Never again will you go back. Never again will you share that recipe. And never again will you take that short cut. Because this is the real thing. It's the real taste, the real amazing kind of food you wished you knew about. Make it. You will never regret it. I promise. 

Ingredients:

20 oz. Frozen Green Beans or Fresh

Pot of Boiling Water (For Blanching)

Bowl of Ice Water (To keep the Beans Green)

Mushroom Sauce

8 oz. Mushrooms (Sliced)

1/2  large White Onion (Diced)

2 Garlic Cloves (Minced)

2 tbsp Butter

2 tbsp Flour

1 1/2 Cups Milk

4 oz. Cream Cheese (Cubed)

1 tbsp Fresh Parsley or 1/2 tbsp Dried Parsley

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce or Soy Sauce

Onion Strings

1 1/2 large White Onions

2 cups Buttermilk or 2 cups Milk with 2 tbsp Vinegar or Lemon Juice

2 cups Flour

1 tbsp Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Oil (For Frying)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 pan or 2-quart casserole dish. Start my blanching your green beans. Boil some water and drop the beans in there. Cook them for about 3-4 minutes, until they are cooked but still have a nice crunch. Take them out of the hot water and immediately put them in the ice water. This stops the cooking process and prevents your green beans from turning that gross rusty can brown color. 

Next, take a pan and throw 1 tbsp of the butter in there. Let it melt and then add the onions, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook on medium heat until your mushrooms smell great and your onions are a nice light golden brown. Now, add the rest of the butter and allow it to melt. Throw in the flour and stir your mixture constantly for 2 minutes. This is preparing the roux. It's whats gonna keep your sauce nice and thick.

Now, slowly add in the milk while you are still stirring. Keep stirring and cooking until you sauce is thick and bubbly and amazing. Add in the cream cheese and stir that fat in until it marries with everything else. Add in the parsley, pepper, salt, and sauce. Bring to a nice soft boil and turn off the heat. Now, take the green beans out of the water and dump them into this nice creamy sauce. You can cut the green beans in half if they are too long. Mix them in well and dump all this into your buttered dish. Put it in the oven and set a timer for 25 minutes.

While it's cooking, slice your onions thinly, and soak them in your buttermilk for 10 minutes. Mix the flour with the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. While the oil is heating, strain the onions and throw them into the flour. Coat them all nicely and when the oil is nice and hot, fry them until they are a golden brown. Check on the casserole. You want it to be hot and bubbly. When it is, take it out of the oven and top it with the onions. Feel free to mix some in there, and then top it off with the rest. Serve while it's hot. Recall your last bite of canned casserole, because it will stay your last. Never again will you go back. Enjoy! I sure did!

Avocado Egg Rolls with Cilantro Honey Sauce

Avocado Egg Rolls with Cilantro Dipping Sauce
(Cheesecake Factory Inspired!)

Prep. Time: 40 Minutes

Cook Time: 20 Minutes

Total Time: 1 Hour

When I was in the 7th grade we read a book. The book we read was Esperanza Rising. It was about a young girl lived the life of a princess in Mexico. When her father was killed, her mother took her to the United States to protect her from her greedy uncles. As a migrant worker, her silver spoon was quickly traded in with a burlap sack. She struggles a lot. I still remember the time she realized what the labor she was doing had done to her hands. She went into such detail as she cut open the avocado. She swung the pit out by stabbing it with a knife and cleanly taking it out. She described the flesh of the avocado as so vibrant and scented. I can still feel it upon my hands each time I open an avocado. They way she smothered it over her rough hands to soften them stays with me each time I cut open a ripe avocado to make some guacamole. When I smell the scent, all those memories come back to me. I think that is why I even tried an avocado for the first time. Before then, they were the expensive rock looking vegetables I never dared to touch. I will never EVER forget that book. The writing style grasped me from page one. The book is so descriptive. You see, hear, and almost smell and taste everything within it. I am quickly reeled in with mouth watering or descriptive detail. I was reeled in then, and I never turned back.

My mother is a picky eater. She has lived in the states for 22 years and eats at one restaurant only: The Cheesecake Factory. Plus, she orders the exact same dish. So imagine my surprise when a friend orders Avocado Egg Rolls and my mom tries them. Now, imagine my face when she actually likes them. You see, when she doesn't like something, she makes a face. That face. That face just says it all. I dread allowing her to try my cooking because that face just crashes all my hopes and dreams. Well, guess what? She not only ate the egg rolls, but she asked me to make them. She never does that. I never listen to that. But she did. And I did. And they turned out AMAZING . . .

Ingredients:

Egg Rolls
4 Large Avocados (Peeled, Pitted, and Diced)
8 tbsp Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Drained from oil, and Roughly Chopped)
1 Medium Red Onion (Diced)
3 tsp Chopped Cilantro
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
12 Egg Roll Wrappers
1 Egg (Beaten)

Dipping Sauce
4 tsp White Vinegar
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 tsp Tamarind Paste or Pulp (Optional)
1/2 Cup Honey
1 pinch Powdered Saffron (Optional)
1/2 Cup Cashews
2/3 Cup Cilantro
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Scallions/Green Onions
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
Start making the sauce first. Microwave the vinegars, tamarind, honey, and saffron until melted through. Mix together to make sure it is all incorporated. Now, in a blender, Puree the microwaved mixture with the cashews, cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, and cumin. Blend well. Pour into a bowl and mix in the olive oil. Stir and set aside or refrigerate until needed.
In a large bowl prepare your egg roll filling. Mix the diced avocados with the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, the diced red onion, the chopped cilantro, the salt, and the black pepper. Mix to incorporate everything well with care to prevent smashing the ingredients.
Distribute the filling evenly to all the wrappers. Wrap the egg roll and lightly brush with the beaten egg. I have included a video that I used to learn to wrap an egg roll! Here it is: Wrap that Egg Roll!

Now that they are all wrapped, heat vegetable oil in a deep frying pan. Heat the oil to about 375 degrees. Deep fry the egg rolls for about 3 to 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Have a paper bag or paper towels ready to drain the excess oil. Slice in half or diagonally and present in a dish with the Cilantro Sauce. Serve immediately.

Authentic Basil Pesto

Perfectly Perfect Pesto

Prep. Time: 30 Minutes

Total Time: 30 Minutes

I adore pesto. It is my absolute favorite thing in the whole wide world. I loved going to my uncle's house because his now ex-wife used to always make it for me. I would always request it with her brownies. They were the out of the box kind, but they were so good. But the pesto, the pesto was amazing. She would pour it on some fettuccine, and I would literally die. She gave me the recipe, but I didn't like it after I made it. It was more of a thick sauce. I may have added to much oil. But more than anything, the food processor literally pulverized it. I now know better.

Pesto. It smells heavenly. The basil smells so earthy. It has the perfect amount of sharpness to it. It's fresh, and just calls you over. Add the amazing touch of garlic and you already have a winner. Now, there are the pine nuts. Toasted, you literally taste the nuttiness. And you can't forget the cheese. It's sharp, it's tangy, it's perfect Parmesan. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil adds the fattiness. It adds the extra nuttiness. And best of all, it adds a balanced amount of savory. This oil transforms your pesto from plain to magical. This pesto may call for a bit of extra work, but trust me: IT. IS. WORTH. IT. You will fall in love. The coarseness of some of the ingredients takes it from a thin sauce to a beautiful consistency of difference in texture. This goes great in pasta, pizza, and even with dips for almost anything. AND, soon to come will be some of those great recipes!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Fresh Basil Leaves (Rinsed, Dried, Loosely Packed)

1/3 Cup Pine Nuts (Lightly Toasted)

3 Cloves Garlic

2/3 Cup Parmesan Cheese (Freshly Grated)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (A Few Tablespoons)

Directions:

Grab a cutting board and a sharp dicing knife. Start off by dicing the garlic. Now add a third of the basil. Dice this all together. Add a little more basil. Dice some more. Now, add the rest of the basil. Dice till it is all pretty fine. Add half the pine nuts. Dice it all in. Add some cheese. Dice that in too. Add the rest of the cheese and pine nuts and dice it all in. You want all the ingredients to be evenly and finely diced so that you can literally squish them together into like a little cake. Put your cake in a bowl and put some olive oil on it. I only put a few tablespoons, and I dilute in more depending on what I am using the pesto for. Also, I did not add any salt. For some reason, the pesto goes bad faster. Plus, this way I can put it into anything and not worry about it over salting my food. Keep this pesto refrigerated, that is if it lasts that long!

Yogurt Pasta

Middle Eastern Yogurt Pasta

Prep. Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total: 30 minutes

This is a recipe that means a lot to me. When I was younger, I used to go spend the night at my grandmothers house. I always looked forward to her making this pasta for me the next day. I LOVED it. She showed me how to make it many times, but I never seemed to get it right. When I asked her for her secret she told me she made it for someone she loved. I now understand that. When I make it for myself it just isn't that big of a deal, but when my siblings ask for it, it tastes totally different! So yes, this recipe is close to my heart, and it is definitely my kind of comfort food. At 20, I still enjoy going to my grandmothers, because I still look forward to the wonderful aroma as she cooks this dish for me. So THANK YOU Tata. Thanks for showing me the true secret to cooking with love!
This pasta is a great go-to meal and is really easy to prepare. Since I am Middle Eastern, I always have plain yogurt and Labne on hand. The plain yogurt you can grab at any grocery store but the Labne is from a middle eastern market. Now, I know it's a hassle to grab things you don't use often, so you can substitute the Labne with Sour Cream. It won't affect the taste of the recipe, and you will still have a quick and tasty lunch or dinner! Another great thing about this pasta is it's usually made without protein. Now, if you want to add the protein for a dinner, I have included the traditional meat recipe as well. A little tip I have about this pasta is don't mix the yogurt sauce with the pasta until before you are going to eat it. If you do want to pack it as a lunch for school/work, then I suggest you pack the yogurt sauce separately from the pasta, that way you can heat the pasta and then add the yogurt. If you do heat it with the yogurt sauce, it gets dry and doesn't taste as good! Overall, I hope you enjoy this pasta, because it goes great with almost everything and is ALWAYS a favorite!

Ingredients:

Pasta
1 lb. Elbow Macaroni
1/2 tsp All Spice
1/4 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Sauce
1 lb. Plain Yogurt
1/4 Cup Labne or Sour Cream
1 Clove Garlic (Minced)
1/2  tsp Salt

Meat
1 lb. Ground Beef 80% Lean
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (Diced)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp All Spice
Dash Ground Cinnamon
2 tbsp Pine Nuts

Directions:
Start by boiling the water for the pasta. This way you can finish everything else as it is cooking. Now you can prepare the meat and yogurt sauce. If you do not want protein, then just skip until the next section.
Pour the olive oil in a saucepan and heat through. Add the onions and saute until almost translucent. Add the beef and cook till browned. Add all of the spicing and cover with a lid. Lower the stove to medium and cook covered for about 15 minutes. Add the pine nuts and cook uncovered for about 2 minutes. The meat is ready. Set aside until needed.
The water is probably boiling. Add the pasta and set your timer according to the package. Now start the yogurt sauce. In a Large bowl whisk the yogurt, labne/sour cream, minced garlic, and salt until smooth.
Strain the pasta well, and while it is still in the strainer, add the all spice and ground black pepper. Mix well with a spoon so all the pasta is evenly coated. Add the pasta to the yogurt sauce and mix till all the pasta is coated with the yogurt sauce. It smells terrific and makes the most beautiful sound as it is being coated. Sprinkle all the ground beef mixture onto the pasta and ENJOY!