kebabs with harissa

What IS harissa? That's a good question. I vaguely remember a contestant on 'Next Food Network Star' using it in one of his dishes. I also remember he said something about it being the 'mayonnaise of the Turkish cuisine.' I hate mayo and quickly and wrongly assumed it WAS mayo. Wrong... so so very wrong. I think what he meant was that it was as commonly used as mayo is in America. I wish our mayo tasted like harissa.

The harissa that I made was packed with peppers, some spicy, some sweet, as well as garlic and seasonings. It adds incredible flavor to nearly any protein you put it on and is much healthier than mayonnaise. I'd put it on chicken (which I did), pork, beef and even shrimp to spice up their flavors.

In this particular dish I went all out Turkish and also used the za'atar seasoning on my chicken. Please, do yourself a favor and add that to the chicken. It's fabulous, and the sesame seeds add a little crunch! YUM! I served it with a tasty Tunisian salad that's made with greek yogurt & feta.

So far, Turkey is on my good cuisine list!


Turkish Chicken Kebabs, serves 2-3

Za'Atar Seasoning

• 1 tsp chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tsp sumac
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sesame seeds
• 1/3 tsp kosher salt
• 1/3 tsp ground black pepper

Chicken Kebabs

• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• Wooden skewers

String the chicken breasts onto 4 wooden skewers. Sprinkle with za'atar seasoning and grill over medium heat until cooked through. Top with Harissa.

Harissa, adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

• 2 large bell peppers
• 1 1/4 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 jalapeño, seeded & chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/8 cup olive oil

Puree bell peppers and next 6 ingredients in a food processor until very smooth. With motor running pour in olive oil and blend until combined.

farewell my friends

Well, the time has come. This morning we hopped on the plane and after a short stop in South Carolina, we're off to Dublin. I feel so lucky that we're getting to take this trip and can't wait to share all the places we go and food we eat with you!

Along with Dublin we'll be visiting Brussels & Bruges in Belgium, Pisa, Cinque Terre & Bologna in Italy and Athens, Greece. What am I looking forward to in each?

via Gem of a Day

Dublin, Ireland: cold weather, sweaters, cups of tea, Irish beer and Temple Bar

via Earth in Pictures

Brussels, Belgium: more cold weather (get me outta Texas!), chocolate and waffles, seeing that unique fountain
Bruges, Belgium: small town charm, photo ops, more chocolate and waffles
Pisa, Italy: taking the obligatory picture holding up the Leaning Tower

via Pixadus

Cinque Terre, Italy: hiking, warm weather, beautiful scenery, fabulous food, wine and relaxing (I swear I was in Italian in another life..)
Bologna, Italy: indulging in what the city is known for — Bolognese sauce! and hopefully coming back with a fabulous recipe or two

via Blogathinaios

Athens, Greece: seeing the Acropolis, exploring, eating lots and lots of souvlaki and Greek salads, possibly checking out one of the islands
....and getting to do all of this with my amazing travel buddy, Rob!

I didn't want you to be without recipes for nearly a month just because I was gone, so I saved up some recipes and scheduled them for the following weeks. In honor of the our travels abroad, they have an international theme!

tunisian salad

In the spirit of our worldly travels, I thought I'd share some international flavors with you while we're gone! Back in July, when we were in the Caymans, I got my hands on a Bon Appetit magazine filled with fabulous recipes and ideas. One of the articles was all about Turkish food. I've never been to Turkey and I've never eaten at a Turkish restaurant (or even know where to find one in Dallas), so this was completely new to me, but it looked absolutely scrumptious.  Most ingredients I was familiar with, but I'd never thought of combining them in this way. Who knew cumin and lemon would be so tasty together?

I love feta cheese's salty, sharp flavor and crumbly, dry texture so I figured it would be hard for me to not like this recipe. Really any salad with feta sounds good to me (Greek, please?!).  I also love salad dressings that are made with Greek yogurt rather than mayonnaise or another creamy condiment. Why? Because you get the creaminess without the fat and calories that usually accompany a typical creamy dressing. I use Greek yogurt when I make caesar salad too — fabulous. The recipe in Bon Appetit called for a lot more feta cheese than what I used, but honestly, I couldn't imagine this salad with any more feta. It would have been too overpowering, despite my love for feta.

This was the first course into my quest to learning more about Turkish flavors and I'd like to think it was successful. While we're not traveling to Turkey, I hope you enjoy these flavors from afar! Check back next week for another tasty internationally-inspired dish!

Tunisian Salad, adapted from Bon Appetit magazine

• 1/3 cup reduced fat, crumbled feta
• 6 oz. nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• S&P
• cumin seeds
• romaine
• fresh oregano leaves

In a small bowl combine the feta, Greek yogurt, cumin, lemon zest, garlic and lemon juice and mix until combined. Season with salt and pepper. 

Tear romaine into bite size pieces and toss with the dressing. Garnish with fresh oregano leaves and a few sprinkles of cumin seeds.