A never-fail for lentil lovers
This Lebanese mainstay is cheap, easy, and satisfying
Hiya folks, and welcome back to Cool Beans! Born in a seaside village north of Beirut, Samaya Boueri Ziade had long wanted to bring a little bit of Lebanon to the Brooklyn neighborhood when she and her brother opened Sawa last April. Their menu features Middle Eastern mainstays like hummus and tabouleh, alongside less familiar Lebanese dishes like Beiruti samka harra, a whole fish served with a tomato and pepper stew.
Then there are zhuzhed-up versions of staples, including a classic dish of rice and lentils topped with crispy onions usually known as mujadara, which Lebanese call mudardara. “I think people use [the names] interchangeably depending on the region,” she says of the recipe she makes On Repeat, explaining that in Lebanon, mujadara refers to a similar dish that’s puréed to achieve the consistency of rice pudding. “For mudardara, the lentils and rice stay whole,” she says.
Why I love it
“It’s a very homey dish, and for me it’s childhood. I grew up with this dish. I have two kids and they love it—it’s a hard dish to not like. It’s not a sophisticated dish—it’s a very simple one—yet it’s flavorful and very nutritious.”
What I’ve changed
“At home I usually use brown lentils, but at the restaurant we use black beluga lentils. They hold their shape better than the brown ones. At the restaurant, we also wanted to elevate it, so we worked with our chef de cuisine and incorporated mushrooms. We use two kinds, and they vary from week to week, depending on what we can get our hands on. Last week we had king trumpet and maitake mushrooms, and we served it on a tahini-date sauce.”
What else I’m into right now
Reusable sandwich bags. I have kids, and for their school lunch we pack food for them pretty much every day. I use reusable [silicone] bags, the Stasher bags.
Good greens. I try to use the green tops of vegetables and try not to waste them. I don’t always have time to do that—it takes more work—but I try to use beet greens, and I try to incorporate radish greens in salads.
Garden, not garbage. We have a small [countertop] composting machine that turns the compost into plant food. It’s called Lomi. My husband loves to garden, so he plants vegetables and puts the compost in the garden. Whatever you grow at home you can always taste the difference from whatever you buy.