recipe: koshery

For over a month now we've had a home cooked meal everyday, except Thursdays which are like Saturdays in the US (a weekend day that usually involves lunch with the in-laws or going out/ordering in). I feel that that is a HUGE accomplish here in the House of Kylie Mc. I'm so proud of us, really. We're all eating better, even little guy. And I have to tell you that I've thrown almost nothing out. No wasted food. That was and still is a main goal in all of this.

So with all this cooking going on, I thought it'd be nice to share some of my concoctions. Please note that what I share is how I do it/make it. I am not a professional by any means, just a wife and mother who enjoys home cooked meals with her family.

I decided to start with an Egyptian dish called Koshery. I have many Egyptian friends who make this and believe me, there's no comparison, they are the best at this. But I have learned how to make a version that is pretty good. If you're looking for something to take to a pot luck, this is a good consideration. If you want something vegetarian style, you may want to try this, there's no meat at all in this recipe.

Also, this recipe makes a lot. So if I'm cooking only for my small family I reduce all ingredients in half. But there are many times when I make the full recipe and fill up two casserole dishes; one for us, and one for my in-laws or friends. Okay, here we go...

This is what I use:

~1 cup of lentils (brown, not orange)
~2 cups of rice (I use Basmati)
~1 cup elbow pasta
~3 onions (2 chopped, 1 sliced)
~oil
~salt/pepper, as needed
~1 tsp spice mix (I use a mixed Arabic spice but a mixed meat spice or nutmeg can be used instead)
~1 tsp cumin
~4 cups boiling water
~tomato sauce
~1 tsp crushed garlic for rice/lentil mixture, 1 tsp for sauce

Here's what I did:

Step 1- rice/lentil mixture

~heat small amount of oil in a large pot
~add chopped onions (from onion #1) and saute
~add crushed garlic, continue to stir
~add 4 cups of boiling water, stir
~add lentils, stir
~add spices, stir
~heat on high for 10 mins until lentils cook
~add rice, stir
~let mixture boil, then turn heat down, simmer until fully cooked

It'll look like this:

Step 2 - pasta

~cook pasta as you normally would, set aside

Step 3 - sauce

~saute chopped onion #2 in some oil, add crushed garlic
~add spices of choice, I made it simple with salt and black pepper
~add tomato sauce, mix and simmer on lowest heat possible (we all know how pasta sauce ends up on our nice clothes, EVERY time)

*want to cheat like I do most of the time? just heat up some good old spaghetti sauce and use that for your sauce...;)

Step 4 - presentation

~make a layer of your rice/lentil mixture (this will be the thickest layer)
~top with a thin layer of pasta
~top with sauce

*onion #3 (the sliced one) can be sauteed in some oil until brown and used as a topping (I did not do that this time, but it is very tasty)

Final product looks like this:

What I enjoy about this is that it is a good left over food. You can heat it up and have a light tasty lunch/dinner for the next couple of days.

So there it is, my version of Koshery.

My next food post will most likely be for grilled lamb...stay tuned. ;)