Sanaa's Gourmet

sanaacooks · Gluten Free · Salads · Vegan · Vegetarian

For me anything that starts with arugula has to tastes good. So, whenever I get the chance to use arugula I take it.  I am also, always, conscious of textures, flavors, and nutrition.  I want my salads to be noisy. Noisy salad equal healthy salad. Like I said our teeth are here for a reason; use them before you lose them.Peel the butternut squash, remove the seeds and then cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  Heat the olive oil and saute  until cooked but not soft.  Add the apples, half of the… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Appetizers · Gluten Free · Vegan · Vegetarian

I love spreads especially hummus.  I wanted to make hummus in several colors without using any artificial colors. So, I used turmeric with beet to create yellow hummus, avocado to make green hummus, sweet potato to make orange hummus, beet to make burgundy hummus, and then... in a moment of madness I used octopus ink to make black hummus.  I pureed black beans with octopus ink and that was a total failure.  The black hummus looked grayish and smelled awful.  I throw the whole thing… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Gluten Free · Soups · Vegan · Vegetarian

I have degree in agriculture engineering and consider myself very knowledgeable about vegetables. But the first time that I saw broccoli was when I came to America. Honestly, I thought it was unripe cauliflower so I avoided eating the broccoli for a while. Of course looking at wilted overcooked broccoli did not help to change my mind.Then one of my classmate invited me to have dinner with her family.  Of course being a foreign student far away from my family I looked forward to eat… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Gluten Free · Main Dishes · Vegan · Vegetarian

I have always loved cauliflowers in soups, in stews, in salads and even as hummus. When my daughter came from collage she made for me cauliflower steak and I loved it.  It was excellent appetizer.I thought why not take this dish a step further and make a main dish out of it.  So, I made cauliflower steak tart.  Each tart is one serving and will be great to serve with hot bowl of soup. First make the cauliflower steak Choose large firm cauliflower head.  Clean the leaves, trip the st… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Desserts · Holiday · Vegetarian

My family had their own new year tradition. My mom would always cook something white for the New Year–milk pudding –and make us eat it on New Year’s eve to ward off sorrow for the coming year.

sanaacooks · Gluten Free · Salads · Vegan · Vegetarian

In my circle and I am known as the salad lady.  Anytime I am invited to a potluck dinner, I am  asked to make salad.  Most the time I make tabbouli; It is popular salad and no one want to chop 50 punches of parsley except me.  My staff and I are  famous for being  good chopper.  Sometimes, and especially when I do not know who else is attending the potluck, I play it safe, and make my Mediterranean vegetable pasta salad.I love textures and colors in everything but especially in sala… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Gluten Free · Soups · Vegan · Vegetarian

A local farmer brought me huge basket full of variety of squash. I made butternut squash hummus, squash pilaf, and squash and arugula salad.  I had couple honey butternut squash left in the basket so I decided to make a soup.By now, I am sure that you know how much I love colors and textures in every dish. So, I looked in my refrigerator and picked couple heads of cauliflowers and peppers to use in the soup.I used tahini to thicken the broth and make it more unique. Tahini gives the… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Salads · Vegan · Vegetarian

Farro is a healthy whole grain that Italians have been eating for years in recipes ranging from salads to soups. Farro is high in fiber, plant protein, magnesium, B3 and zinc. I love it for it's hardy chewy texture and delicious nutty flavor.Whenever I make this salad I make sure that there is enough to last whole week so I can snack on when I come home after long hours at work.Wash and boil the farro until tender but not overcooked.  Use semi-pearled farro. If you only find whole f… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Main Dishes · Vegan · Vegetarian

One of the great inventions of cooks in the Levant is bulgur wheat.  Buglur is made by bar-boiling wheat, which is defined first as boiling the wheat, then drying it.  Bulgur is an ingredient that adds such a great deal do dishes from that part of the world. It gives body, flavor, fiber, protein, iron and many minerals.  Bulgur is also has low glycemic point which makes it good grain for diabetic.This pilaf provides complete protein because it contains bulgur and garbanzo beans.  Al… (truncated)

sanaacooks · From Sanaa · Gluten Free · Main Dishes · Salads · Spreads · Vegan · Vegetarian

Around this time of year the question I am usually asked by people I meet in the stores or from people who send me e mails is:  What do I do with the vegetables and herbs that are coming out of my garden so profusely?  It appears that eggplant is the vegetable of choice for a lot of people, but many of these same people end up with an great abundance of the vegetable.  Although most have one recipe for preparing eggplant, they seem to grow much of it that they are looking for additi… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Main Dishes · Vegan · Vegetarian

Growing up in Syria, I am used to eating purslane in fattoush salad, pilafs, or stuffed in dough.  If you walk through the old vegetable market in Damascus in the summer, you will find baskets of purslane, or Bakleh, as it is called in Syria and Lebanon.  My fondest memory, however, is from Sefsafeh, a small village on the Mediterranean coast.  My father would move the whole family there the minute school would finish.  It is a beautiful home with jasmine bushes, gardenia, and citru… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Appetizers · From Sanaa · Gluten Free · Spreads · Vegan · Vegetarian

In Arabic, Baby Ghanoush translate to "happy dad" or "spoil your dad," depending on whom you ask.  I never understood this growing up.  Now, I think I have some idea.  Maybe, a dad always became happy when his daughter made this smoked eggplant spread for him.  Or, perhaps, a farmer dad became happy when his son thought of this recipe to use his crop of eggplants.  Who knows.  What I do know is this spread is delicious, nutritious and easy to make.Now, when your neighbor walks in wi… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Main Dishes · Side Dishes · Vegan · Vegetarian

I started my blog years ago in order to share my recipes and stories with my customers and readers.  I have not yet a pleasure of hosting guest blogger--when I was approched by Kathy, I was absolutely thrilled! I read her article and browsed through her site. I thought it could answer some of commonly asked questions and provide some delicious vegan recipes, EnjoyVeganism is a popular lifestyle trend that is followed by millions of people.This particular lifestyle includes the consu… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Desserts · From Sanaa · Gluten Free · Vegan · Vegetarian

I make these often in the restaurant and they sell within an hour.  They are simple to make, vegan, gluten free and delicious.I use combination of  my gluten free flour mixture--I use equal amount of tapioca flour, white sorghum flour, brown rice flour, potato starch, and potato flour-- with almonds flour,  flax seeds, brown sugar and little spices.Add the coconut oil and mix well.  I use coconut oil because it add sweet unique taste to the dough, it is vegan and has these health be… (truncated)

sanaacooks · Appetizers · Desserts · Salads · Side Dishes · Vegan · Vegetarian

I am sure by now you know how much I love to cook and to entertain.  After many years of entertaining, I learned to choose menu items that can be made ahead of time.  This allowed me to start enjoying my party instead of spending my time in the kitchen, scrambling while hearing my friends have a great time outside.Here are few healthy recipes that you can make the day before your 4th party:Avocado Hummus A great spread that combines avocado and hummus for smooth unique spread. The b… (truncated)