Makes 4 cups

4      tablespoons olive oil

6-8 cloves garlic, mashed

4      cups crushed tomatoes

1/4  cup chopped fresh basil, or 1/2 teaspoon dry basil

salt and pepper to taste

-In a heavy saucepan, place the olive oil and the garlic and cook over medium heat until you sear the garlic but not burn them–this will make the sauce taste bitter–.

-Add the crushed tomato, 1 cup of water, salt and the pepper.  If you are using dry basil, you should added now.  Stir and bring to a boil. Turn down the temperature and simmer for 5 minutes. 

-Turn off the heat, add the fresh basil and serve.

This sauce is great with spaghetti, pizza and lasagna.

http://www.youtube.com/user/sanaacooks#p/u/12/2FYXZSF4a4Q

Fresh Sauce Pasta

serves 4

4        tablespoons olive oil

1        clove garlic, mashed

4        cups chopped scallions

4        medium ripe tomato, diced

1/2  cup chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper

grated fresh Parmesan, optional

1      pound short pasta

-Bring salted water to a boil.  Drop the pasta, stir and bring back to a boil.  Cook for 6 minutes or until the pasta cooked but not mushy.

-Just one minute before the pasta is done, heat the olive oil and saute the garlic for few seconds.  Add the scallion, the tomatoes, the salt and the pepper.  Stir and cook for one minutes.

-Drain the pasta and the basil to the sauce.  Stir for one minute and turn off the heat.  Sprinkle with the cheese and serve.

As an example, leaves of the spearmint plant used in salads, cheese and drinks are believed by advocates of folk medicines stimulate the appetite, strength the stomach and ease menstruation cramps.

Onions, which are used in all kinds of cooking, were worshiped by ancient Egyptian, who believed that onion helped the dead to breath again after reincarnation.  Onions were placed in the tombs alongside the dead and embalmed pharaohs.  Onions also were fed to the workers who build the pyramids, the notion being that they gave the strength they needed for the labors.  My grandmother credit her long life to her lifelong intake of onions.  And who am I to argue with a woman who lived to the age of 114?

Parsley is used in salads, sauces and soups.  It is used in the Levant to diminish flatulence, for stomach ache and as a diuretic.  Miraculously, it also removes garlic odor for one’s breath.

Sweet basil, used either dried or fresh in tomato sauce, in salads and in meat dishes, is used by folk medicine advocates as a mild  sedative.

Bay leaves, used mainly to flavor soups and it’s oil to make soap.  Bay leaves was a symbol of victory in the Roman Empire, and employed as heroes crowns.  In some cultures it was believed that by including bay leaves inside and article of merchandise, it would be sold.  It was believed that washing with soap made from bay oil would protect one from bad magic.  Bay oil was used for bruises on the body for asthma and for relieving toothache.

Garlic, used for flavoring of almost everything-except desserts- was used by ancient Greeks as a gift to the goddess Hykat to drive out evil spirits.  More recent mythology has it that garlic will keep vampires at a safe distance.  The comedian Buddy Hackett once announced that you would never by kissed by the angel of death if you ate garlic.

All that aside, there’s no question that garlic is a healthy additive.  It counters high blood pressure, high blood sugar and diminishes the accumulation of cholesterol in your arteries.  It’s antiseptic properties help relieve colds and infectious diseases.  For bee sting, cut the garlic clove in half and rub it on the sting.

Mixed Herb and Feta Cheese  Salad With Walnut Oil Dressing 

serves 4-6

1        punch Italian parsley, chopped

6       leaves Romaine lettuce, chopped

1       cup fresh oregano

3       scallions, chopped

1/4  cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1       red bell pepper, diced

2      tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted

zest of one lemon

Juice of one lemon

5    tablespoons walnut oil

1/2  cup crumpled feta cheese

-Toss greens with the walnuts.

-Whisk the lemon juice, with lemon zest and the walnut oil.  Drizzle over the mixed greens.  Toss gently. 

-Sprinkle with the feta cheese and serve.

Vegan pasta mold is a favorite dish in my household and for my guest vegan and meat eater. It is easy  dish that provides  good protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients.

Vegan Pasta Mold

serves 6

12       ounces lite firm tofu

6         cloves garlic

1          cup chopped fresh basil leaves

1/4     cup olive oil

lemon zest

salt to taste

1         pound angel hair pasta

-In a food processor, puree tofu, garlic, basil, lemon zest, salt and olive oil.

-In a large pot, bring salted water to boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al-dente.

-Drain the pasta.  Add pasta while it is hot to the tofu paste and mix well until all pasta is coated with the tofu paste.

-Spray a bundet cake pan with olive oil spray.

-Stuff the cake pan with the pasta.

-Press the pasta very firmly in the cake pan.

-Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes.  Serve with mixed salad.

Fattoush Salad , Pita Bread Salad

serves 4-6

2        6-inch loaf pita bread

8        leaves romaine lettuce, chopped

1        punch parsley, chopped

2        tomatoes, diced

1        cucumber, diced

2        scallions, chopped

6        radishes, sliced

1        clove garlic, mashed

1/4   cup olive oil

1/2   cup lemon juice

zest of one lemon

2       tablespoons mint

2       tablespoons sumac

salt to taste

-Toast the pita bread in the oven until golden brown, and then break into small pieces.

-Place all the vegetables in a salad bowl.

-Whisk lemon juice with the olive oil, the garlic, the mint and the sumac.  Drizzle this dressing over the vegetables and toss until well coated.

-Add the pita chips and toss gently.

Chicken and Pita Bread In Tahini Sauce

serves 4-6

2        dry loaves pita bread

1        pound chicken breast

1/2   teaspoon allspices

3        cups plain low fat yogurt

1/2   cup tahini*

1/2   cup water

1/2   cup lemon juice

5        cloves garlic, mashed

1        teaspoon ground cumin

salt to taste

4        tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

-Cut the bread into 1-inch squares. Place the bread in deep serving plate.

-Place the chicken in a pot, add water, salt and the allspice.  Bring to a boil until it is cooked.  Remove the chicken breasts from the boiling water.  Remove and discard the skin, and then cut into small pieces. Return the chicken to the boiling stock.

-In a chilled bowl, whisk the yogurt, the tahini, the water, the lemon juice, the garlic, the cumin and the salt.

-Assemble this dish when you are ready to serve and eat.  To assemble: Bring the chicken back to a boil and then place the chicken pieces over the bread. Pour about 1 cup of the boiling stock over the chicken and the bread.  Spoon the yogurt tahini sauce over the chicken and cover completely.  Sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and serve.

*Tahini: pureed sesame seeds paste.

It adds taste, and it definitely is healthy.  Although you ingest fat when you ingest olive oil, it is a “good fat”. It keeps your good cholesterol HDL high and lower your bad cholesterol.  Olive oil is the only oil that some research suggests helps prevent cancer and arthritis.  Its beneficial effects on the heart are documented.  The latest study I’ve read is one from Kobe, Japan, where researchers used olive oil on the skin of lab rates, the exposed them to ultraviolet rays without getting cancer.

Olive oil still processed the same way it was processed in centuries past, with one exception.   Instead Of donkeys rolling the wheel, machines now are used.  It is called the “cold-press” process.

In the Mediterranean, olives are not picked from the trees until after the first rain, which generally doesn’t happen until October or November.  Until the rains, the olives are covered with dust, which the rains wash away.  Even more important, the rains decrease the acidity of the olives, taking away the bitter taste and producing a better-flavor olive.

Like honey, which reflects the area from which it is produced, olive oil reflects the country of its origin.  It reflects the soil, the climate, the rainfall and the age of the tree.

Not all olive oils are created equal.  Darker-colored oil is richer in oleic acid.  The higher the percentage of oleic acid, the better it is for your health.  Oils from Greece and Spain have been rated the highest in oleic acid.

If the health benefits and taste do not convince you to use good olive oil, you should know that women in the Mediterranean swear that their smooth, olive colored skin is the result of their use of olive oil both in food and on their skin after bathing.

Here is the recipe for one of my favorite aioli.

Aioli

makes about 1 cup

2/3     cup extra virgin olive oil

1          egg yolk, beaten

12       cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1           tablespoon water

juice of one lemon

zest of one lemon

salt and white pepper to taste

-Mash the garlic to a smooth paste in a marble or ceramic mortar.  Stir in the egg yolk and begin adding the oil, drop by drop first, then, when it begins to thicken, in a steady stream, beating constantly.

-When the eggs have absorbed about half the oil, add the lemon juice, the lemon zest, and the water and continue slowly adding the oil.  If the mixture becomes too thick before all the oil has been added pour in a few more drops of tepid water before continuing.

-Season with salt and white pepper.

-Use this paste on bread to make garlic bread or use with potatoes and with grilled vegetables.

When you think of it, every recipe that is now celebrated and immensely popular is most likely one that derived from the necessity of using only what was available to the cook at the time and in that particular season.  Over the centuries, cooks had to find ingenious way to make these available ingredients taste good.  We are all now benefiting from the eons of experimentation of cooks from all over the world.  For example, in Italy when fresh porcini mushrooms are in season, Italian restaurants feature them sauteed in a dozen different ways-all of the ways utterly delicious.  The same is true with recipes that call for sun-dried tomatoes.  In the days before tomatoes were available the year-round, drying them was the only way to be able to eat them in the off season.  But aren’t we delighted for the invention of the sun-dried tomatoes, which add intense flavor to any dish in which they are used.

The same is true for bulgur wheat, the invention of which was absolutely necessary to be able to keep wheat around for long periods of time.  Bulgur is wheat parboiled and left to dry on Mediterranean rooftops, the result of which is a different and more superior taste than regular wheat.  Olive oil was used long before butter was discovered as a medium for cooking.  But it wasn’t as though someone said, “Let’s go find some olives to press for oil.”

No, the trees were there, bearing fruit and figuratively begging people to pick them.

The same principle resulted in beef or buffalo jerky here in the Plains states. We can thank the Plains Indians for this invention, which bring pleasure to those who eat it.

And because the Japanese had no land for ranches to support a cattle herd, they dreamed up a way to mix ground-up soybeans with water and sea salt to produce tofu as a source of calcium and protein, minerals unavailable for other sources.  Tofu is now one of the most celebrated sources of these valuable elements for the human system.

The art of finding what is available for cooking ingredients has been made somewhat easier nowadays by the development of caning and freezing perishable food.  We now find the most exotic foreign foods in virtually every supermarket.

Our chef ancestors developed these wonderful recipes over the centuries in the most tasty and presentable ways, using only what was available to hem at that time and in their particular location.  What we can do is to keep on cooking and avoiding eating highly processed packaged look alike food.

Green Herb Sauce with Walnuts

makes 2 cups

4     cloves garlic

1/2 cup olive oil

2     tablespoons fresh rosemary

1     cup walnuts

4     tablespoons lemon juice

1     cup finely chopped Italian parsley

1     cup fresh basil leaves, fienly chopped

1     cup finely chopped fresh fennel

salt to taste

-In a food processor, place the walnuts, the garlic, the rosemary, the lemon juice and the olive oil. Process until coarse mixture.  Spoon this mixture into a class bowl.

-Add the rest of the ingrdients and mix well.

-Cover and refrigerate until needed.

-Use this sauce with cheeses, grilled vegetables or meat.

My husband used to cook before we were married, but I’ve put an end to that.  I do the cooking in my home for two reasons: (1) when I cook, I turn the radio and while I’m chopping and preparing food, I meditate and enjoy the music.

(2) The most important reason is that I do not allow my husband to cook for my own sanity and my marriage.  When he decides to cook his specialty, which is pasta with simple tomato sauce, he sends me to the family room because he will be in charge.  Each time I’ve quietly retired to the basement and gotten into a book, or a television movie, he calls me and asks where the kettles are for the water and the tomato sauce.  I go upstairs, find what he wants, and give them to him.  It doesn’t seems to bother him that the kettles are right in front of his eyes, the same place they’ve been since we moved into this house.  I ask if he needs anything else before I return to my book. “Of course not,” he exclaims.

Not too long after getting back to the family room, he shouts again, “where is the olive oil?” Then. “Where is the garlic?” And on and on, through the spices and even the salt.   Although climbing the stairs almost without a bread helps keep my weight down, it’s the exasperation that eventually gets to me.

After having located all of the ingredients, I eventually get the call that dinner is served.  My daughter and I head for the dining room, but first I need to explain what the kitchen looks like.

There are five dirty pots in the sink-I have no idea what he has used that many pots for,  but there they are.

There are a number of dirty bowls on the counter, again with no explanation. There is a modern art painting on the white tile behind the range, where he apparently used tomato sauce as the medium.  There is another masterpiece on the kitchen floor.   How the sauce jumped from the pot to the floor is another unsolved mystery.

After having eaten, and I have to admit that his sauce is quite good, he tells me that because he cooked, I would have to clean up the kitchen and wash the dishes.

I’m hopeful that someday he’ll learn that cooking a meal includes getting his own ingredients together as well as cleaning his own mess when its all done.   He should also leave the modern art to professional artists.

Tomato and Wine Sauce

serves 6

1      16-ounce can diced tomatoes

1       cup white wine

1       medium onion, chopped

4       cloves garlic, mashed

1/4   cup olive oil

1        teaspoon dry basil

salt to taste

-In a medium heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil, and then saute the onions for couple of minutes.

-Add the garlic and cook for one minute.

-Add all the wine, turn the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until most of the wine is evaporated.

-Add the diced tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper.  Turn the heat up, bring to a boil.  Turn the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.