Tonight’s ingredients I’ve never used before: Za’atar and Pakistani green chili sauce!

One of my favorite restaurants near my workplace for lunch is Manakeesh. Their name is their specialty- Lebanese flatbread called Manakeesh. They have quite a few vegan options- my favorite is the Za’atar  Manakeesh. So when I found Za’atar at Penzeys Spices I knew I had to try making my own! It was pretty easy, and it turned out well although I think I should have rolled the breads out thinner since they puffed up quite a lot while baking. They still tasted great though!

Usually when I make bread I get impatient with the kneading part and stop when it looks like the dough is blended well enough. But this time I forced myself to keep kneading for the whole ten minutes called for in the recipe. It was actually kind of relaxing. I’ve been a little frantic lately and it was an interesting exercise to just BE and just KNEAD- all you have to do for the next ten minutes is knead, nothing else, you don’t need to think or plot or plan, just keep kneading. Bread as meditation…and I think it turned out better for having been kneaded for the proper length of time!

Bread alone might make a tasty meal but it does not make a healthy meal, so I also made a chickpea salad (with dried chickpeas cooked in the pressure cooker, chopped onion, tomato, cucumber, lots of preserved lemon, fresh lemon juice, some of the Pakistani green chili sauce, salt and pepper) and also one of my all-time favorite dishes- stuffed grape leaves.