Attention meat-lovers! These are delicious! Meat pies are similar to spinach pies, only they are stuffed with ground beef, pine nuts, and other spices.  Like with most Lebanese dishes, feel free to substitute the beef with lamb. 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of pre-made dough (pizza dough or bread dough or you can also make your own)
• Flour
• 1 pound ground beef (any percent but we always do 93% or above) 
• 1 medium sized diced onion
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Allspice
• Olive oil
• Pine nuts *optional*

Instructions:
1. In large skillet, add 1&1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and heat on medium, heat oil and add diced onion and saute 
2. Once onions are wilted, add beef and 5 dashes of pepper, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of allspice, cook until meat is cooked and dried up (spices to taste... lessen one and add more of another if desired)

One of my favorites! Lebanese spinach pies are perfect to cook for parties and get-togethers. If you're cooking for less people (or just for yourself) you can stick these in the freezer and take them out as you please. Flattening the dough and cutting out the small circles to make each individual pie will seem a little tedious, but it will be worth it when you see how delicious they will look the second you take them out of the oven. If you're a fan of spinach, you will love the mixture you'll be preparing to add to the dough. Eva remembers eating the spinach mix as a child with her siblings whenever her mother cooked spinach pies (it's that yummy), so be sure to make extra! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound of pre-made dough (pizza dough or bread dough or you can also make your own)
  
• Flour
• 8 ounces of spinach
• 1 cup diced white onion
• Lemon juice (or juice from fresh lemon)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Olive oil

Instructions:
1. Spread dough out to flatten, sprinkle with flour to keep from sticking (Eva uses a long stick from Lebanon but you can use a rolling pin)

2. Once flattened, cut out circles of any size and set each circle aside. Eva uses a plate (15 inches in diameter or you can use a soup bowl) to measure the circle and cuts around it (if you have leftover dough, you could re-work the dough to make more circles or you can always make it into garbage bread with some of your spinach mix)

3. In a bowl, add spinach, diced onions and add 2-4 dashes of pepper (or preference), 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice (taste after 2 tablespoons, personally I love more of a lemon taste), 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil & mix well, spinach is hard to mix but be sure to mix it all and don’t  be afraid to break some of it.  Taste mixture in case you want more salt, pepper, or lemon juice

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
5. Coat bottom of a baking pan with olive oil (or your choice)
6. Add small handfuls of spinach to dough circles. Don't be afraid to add a lot, spinach will cook down

7. Bring two sides together to the center and press the sides closed, do again for the other two sides to form a triangle, leave opening in center for venting *don’t worry about making a perfect triangle, you can do any other shape you'd like as long as you have an opening

8. After folding all of your dough into triangles, add to baking pan and put on bottom rack of oven for 30 minutes
9. After 30 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown, add to top rack for up to 5 minutes or until the top is golden brown
10. Remove pan from oven and remove spinach pies to a cooling rack, enjoy!

Yummy!

We really do love eating pita bread with everything, even salad! Fattoush is a delicious salad with toasted pita bread, sumac, and other veggies. Eva loves making fattoush for parties and get-togethers on hot summer days. For this recipe feel free to add or take out any veggies. What makes fattoush different from a usual salad is the pita chips and sumac, so make sure to include those!

Ingredients:

• 1 garlic clove
• Lettuce (any type, Eva uses romaine and spring mix)
• 1 scallion diced or 1/4 cup diced white onion
• 1 cucumber sliced
• 2 beefsteak tomatoes diced
• 1 large pepper or 2-3 small peppers diced
• 16 spearmint leaves chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley 
• 2-3 radishes sliced
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 3 teaspoons of sumac (found in most Middle Eastern stores)
• Salt
• Pepper
• 4 teaspoons of lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Toast pita by using a toaster oven or regular oven.  Once toasted break into small bite size pieces
2. Mince garlic at the bottom of a bowl with a dash of salt.  If you can't mince the garlic, finely chop the garlic on a cutting board and press it down with the back of a spoon - transport to bowl
3. Add all veggies to bowl with olive oil, sumac, lemon juice, pepper and toss well *taste prior to adding lemon juice - sumac has a lemon taste to it (depending on how fresh it is) and it might be enough without the lemon juice
   
4. Right before serving, add toasted pita and toss. Toasted pita can also be served as a side for those who don't like it tossed into their salad

Attention feta cheese lovers! This dish is similar to pizza only it's cooked with feta. Feta cheese manoush is typically eaten for breakfast or lunch. There are only three ingredients and the preparation is easy! Enjoy!

*Manoush in Lebanon was baked as an individual size pie in a wood burning brick oven.  This recipe makes a whole pan, which adds up to about 8 slices cut up.

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• dough (10 or 12 ounces depending on how thick you want)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Mix feta cheese and olive oil together in a bowl

Baba Ghanoush, which translates to something like "spoiled father" is a dish similar to hummus only with roasted eggplant. It's a great dish to serve at parties and goes well with pita, chips, and veggies. It's also super healthy! Also, unlike hummus, baba ghanoush is a bit more time-consuming to prepare but like all Lebanese dishes, it's always worth it in the end when it's time to eat! 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large eggplant 
• 1 garlic clove
• Lemon juice 
• Tahini
• Plain yogurt (optional)
• Salt
• Pepper 

2-4 servings

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, once heated place eggplant on small baking pan in oven (may let out some juice) and time for around 30 minutes 
2. While waiting for eggplant to roast, mince one garlic clove with a dash of salt and leave in processor (we use a pestle to mince garlic and transport to processor)
3. Every 10 minutes of eggplant being in the oven, check it and turn it over (you want it to be soft to the touch)
4. After the 30 minutes, use an oven mitt to see if you are able to squeeze it or soft to the touch (if so, it's roasted)
5. Place colander into sink and place eggplant in and let it cool (cool enough to be able to handle without a mitt)
6. Peel eggplant, slit in half, and take out seeds (as much as you can).  Once seeds are removed leave eggplant in colander to let any excess juice drip *tip: running it under cold water helps while removing seeds
7. Place eggplant in food processor or bowl, add 3 tablespoons of tahini, 1 tablespoon of yogurt (yogurt is optional and is added to keep the color of the dish light, since eggplant can darken), 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, a dash or 2 of pepper, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon of salt (depends on how much salt you want) and process, be sure to scrape sides! (the blend does not need to be fine, but it is also your preference)
8. Pour into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil for garnish (and taste!)

To save some time, feel free to roast the eggplant the night before you cook this dish and let it cool in the refrigerator. Enjoy!