A Trip Through Egypt...a meal

This week Ann Voskamp via her book A Child’s Geography: Explore the Holy Lands took us on a trip through out the land of Egypt. We looked at four geographical areas, The western and eastern deserts, the Nile valley, and the Sinai Peninsula. Did you know that the Suez Canal took 10 years to build or that the 4,500 illuminated manuscripts are housed in a library in the middle of the desert? Did you know that the Aswan dam is responsible for causing as much harm to the delta region of the Nile as it helps the people? Did you know it is one of the largest dams in the world? We found these things out and lots more as we read through the lively narratives of her travels through this very vast and interesting land. After learning about each region and coloring a flag of Egypt we made the recipes at the end of the chapter; hummus and fig or date balls.

To eat the hummus of course one must have flat bread and that really isn’t much of a meal so we made some quinoa taboulleh to go with it. Here is the recipes from our lunch;

Date Balls

Blend 1 cup of almonds in yur food prcessor and set aside. Then add:

2-3 cups of date paste or pitted dates

1 cup walnuts

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

Once that is blended, roll that paste into balls and dip into honey ( it helps if the honey is heated up a bit) and roll into the almonds you set aside earlier. Presto you have delicious date balls!

Hummus

In a food processor add:

1 (16 oz.) can of garbanzo beans or chick peas (save ¼ cup of the juice)

¼ cup of the juice from the garbanzo beans

1 ½ T lemon juice

½ t salt

1 clove of garlic crushed

2T tahineh

2T olive oil

 

Quinoa Tabbouleh

Cook ½ cup of quinoa and set aside. (1/2 cup quinoa to 1 cup water, plus ¼ t salt)

In a bowl add:

1 cup chopped parsley

1 small tomato chopped small

1 small cucumber chopped small

2 cloves of garlic crushed or minced

1 t salt

dash of black pepper

2T olive oil

Cooked quinoa you set aside earlier

Yum yum, can you please pass the flat bread? 

Enjoy!