A New Family Favorite - Sabanekh

Photo from: http://theactorsdiet.wordpress.com/2011/05/05/ahhhh/

Our Sabanekh turns out just a bit more red/brown than this.

People have asked what we are eating on this here experiment of ours, wondering if rice and beans are our main staples, or maybe ramen noodles.  Well, actually, I have a recipe that incorporates some of those elements, but is far from the "poor people food" we're used to.  See what you think and I promise, next month, to give a better play-by-play of each meal.

Today KC and I made a big pot of Egyptian Spinach Sauce, a hearty, new family favorite. This is a recipe we learned from our favorite resident Egyptian, Heba.  She's living with us for the school year and teaches Arabic at our school.  I was introduced to this dish a few days after she moved in.  It was our first real culinary expedition together, and it ended so beautifully, my whole family frequently requests this awesome one dish wonder.

"Heba, do you know any recipes for spinach?" I asked as I peered in shame at the bunch of spinach in the fridge on the brink of going bad.  I felt ashamed because, since Heba moved in, I realize how much food we still waste, even though we try to be diligent and careful.  Egyptians waste nothing. 

"Yes.  I have one." She reported.  Then she got a gleam in her eye, "It is called Sabanekh and I think you will like it."  Just so you know, Sabanekh is easy for her to say, but not me.

I had made several of our favorites for Heba previous to this, and she had gotten to know the spices and variety we enjoy in our cooking, but this was her first time to show me something new and she was excited. 

"It's very quick and I think you have everything.  You have tomato paste?" she asked.

"Yes."

"You have vegetarian soup stuff, what is this called?  The water from the soup?" she mimes ladeling broth from a bowl of soup and bringing it to her lips.

"You mean broth?"

"Yes, broth."

"The only vegetarian soup stuff I have is some seasoning packets from ramen.  Will that work?"  Everything we make together starts out vegetarian because all of her meat has to be Halal, which is a Muslim form of Kosher.  Heba eats plenty of meat, but it has all been slaughtered in a specific way, prayed over and purchased in a Halal market.

"Yes, that will work." 

Heba smiled and went to work, so excited to bring us one of the great Egyptian comfort dishes.  It takes about an hour, tops, to prepare, and truly it is the soul food of Pharaohs.

Sabanekh – Egyptian Spinach and Rice

This recipe comes is borrowed from egyptianfoods.org, with some adaptations. 

Ingredients
1 bunch fresh spinach (cut into small strips)
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
2-3 bouillon cubes (or ramen packets)
3 tablespoon tomato paste
1 T coriander
1 T cumin
1/2 tsp. hot chili powder (cayenne is great)
3 cups water
salt
pepper

Directions

Wash spinach well and cut into small sized strips. I usually take a few leaves, and slice them together into strips, leave the stem, not problem. (This technique is called a chiffonade. It does not have to be perfect, you just want to get them into longer, smaller strips.) Set aside.

In a large pot or stirfry pan add chopped onion, garlic and butter and sauté until soft.

Add spinach, tomato paste, bouillon, spices, and stir around until well coated.  This is actually such a rich sauce that you can hide all kinds of pureed veggies in it, I espescially like carrots and zucchini.

Add 2-3 cups of broth. (You can add or decrease broth, depending on how thick you’d like it to be, check while cooking and add more or less broth. End result should be thick, but watery enough to be like a thick sauce — hope that makes sense.).

Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20- 30 minutes on low heat.

Serve next to (or on top of) rice or browned fideo noodles and with pita bread for scooping.