Mediterranean Cooking from the Garden with Linda Dalal Sawaya—5 easy ways to use your homegrown Italian parsley right now—Lebanese style!

posted on: Apr 6, 2016

BY: Linda Dalal Sawaya/Contributing Writer

As an artist, cook, and gardener, for me the Pacific Northwest is nirvana for cooking seasonal Mediterranean cuisine, painting en plein air, and for planting almost anything.

Right now in my garden the flat leaved Italian parsley, Petroselinum crispum neapolitanum, the straight alternate to curly parsley Petroselinum crispum, has thrived over our mild Mediterranean-like winter as a biennial, and is shooting skyward to flower and set seed.

This is a perfect time to harvest it for one of these Lebanese/Mediterranean salads or divine accompaniments on your springtime table—vegan or otherwise. Italian parsley is more flavorful than the curly variety and is recommended for these recipes. In addition to how wonderful this herb tastes, it is an excellent source of iron, vitamin A, flavonoids, antioxidants, even protein, and more.

If you decide to let it flower and seed, it attracts butterflies, bees, and other nectar-loving insects. Native to the Mediterranean, and as named Neopolitanum—from Naples, it is naturally grown throughout the region, including Lebanon. Yet I am craving greens, so I’m out there with my scissors! And if you don’t have a kitchen garden to cut from, find organic Italian parsley at your favorite shop or local farmer’s market.

Italian parsley © linda dalal sawaya 2016

1. Tabbouli

Spearmint is right there with Italian parsley in the garden waiting to be picked for the most refreshing salad in the world—tabbouli. Use quinoa either sprouted or cooked and cooled to make a gluten free tabbouli instead of the traditional bulgar. Last fall on my trip to Lebanon, a friend told me about a great “fast food” yet fantastic Lebanese restaurant called Kababji in Beirut that serves tabbouli with quinoa on their “light” menu. It was excellent and I was happy to see this being offered, as I had been making it this way for several years, and now even find it as a local option in Portland Mediterranean restaurants that are making GF options available by popular demand.

kababji menu with quinoa “tabbouleh” © linda dalal sawaya 2016

Traditional Lebanese tabbouli has parsley as the star ingredient, followed by spearmint, green onions, bulgar (or quinoa as a gluten free alternate), chopped fresh tomatoes (or organic diced canned tomatoes), fresh squeezed lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and cayenne pepper. My mother, Alice, served it in romaine lettuce “boats” that we devoured like tacos.

tabbouli with quinoa and romaine lettuce © linda dalal sawaya 2016

2. Lebanese potato salad

Unlike creamy, and yes, fattening, Western types of potato salad, our vegan Lebanese potato salad is lightly drizzled with a garlic, olive oil, and lemon juice dressing. With spring green onions, also overwintered in the garden, fresh parsley and spearmint, this irresistible spring recipe is easy-to-make and can be enjoyed warm, at room temperature, or cold.

Lebanese potato salad © linda dalal sawaya 2016

multiplier onions with Persian cress © linda dalal sawaya 2016

3. Fattoush 

Although tabbouli ranks as my favorite lebanese salad and is so popular and super nutritious, fattoush is a close second. This Arabic word comes from the word fatte meaning broken up or pieces, which refers to the broken pieces of Arabic or pita bread that are crisped and added to the salad just before tossing. It’s easier to make than tabbouli, which I often crave at this spring time of year, when the parsley and mint in my garden are thriving in Oregon’s welcome rain.

Both salads include these two herbs along with green onions and a dressing of fresh squeezed lemons and olive oil, salt and pepper. No garlic! Recipes for both are in Alice’s Kitchen: Traditional Lebanese Cooking. The ingredients for fattoush are: romaine lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, green onion, parsley, spearmint, sumac (optional), and purslane (when it’s available in the summer garden…where it just shows up as a weed!). When tomatoes are not in season, I used canned organic tomatoes with summer harvest flavor, as I have here.

fattoush © linda dalal sawaya 2016

4. Lebanese omelette 

This is the time of year when the parsley and mint are coming back to life in the Pacific Northwest, having gone dormant for a brief time of winter. I love exploring the garden to find these essential ingredients for our fabulous Lebanese omelette that is perhaps more of a frittata than an omelette. It is very green, indeed, and full of nutrients with unique spicing of cinnamon and cayenne pepper and is very light on the eggs.

The recipe for ijhee is simple and easy-to-make. Ingredients: fresh eggs, onions—both green and spanish, Italian parsley, spearmint, flour, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, baking powder, and salt. Sautéed in clarified butter, served in pita pocket bread with cured olives, feta cheese, and fresh cucumbers, the omelette is made in individual mini pita sizes for appetizers or cooked in a big cast iron skillet and cut into pie shapes to tuck into a pocket.

Lebanese omelette (ijhee) © linda dalal sawaya 2016

5. Cabbage salad or Lebanese coleslaw

What comes to mind when someone says “coleslaw”? Something usually creamy, soggy, and limp, right? Not this bright green Lebanese version, which is refreshing, light, super easy to make, and nutritious, too. Shredded cabbage—savoy or not—with chopped spring green onions, Italian parsley, spearmint, drizzled with garlic, lemon, and olive oil dressing makes a crisp and tangy alternative for your dining table.

salatat malfouf—Lebanese coleslaw © linda dalal sawaya 2016