There are many celebrated Lebanese dishes that are made with love by mothers to ensure nutritious meals for the family, especially in the holy month of Ramadan.

A traditional Lebanese iftar dining table contains a lot of greens where they always focus on fresh raw salads and cooked vegetables more than meats, knowing that the body is in need of foods with high sustenance to regain strength and energy. For Sahoor, they serve a combination of carbs, vegetables and meats to balance their diet.

One of the traditional dishes is the Hindbeh, Arabic for Dandelion, which are leaves that grow naturally in Lebanese mountains and are widely available during spring and summer and are usually sold in the farmers’ market. Another is the Green Foul Salad that is served as an appetizer at home or in restaurants.

My Lebanese grandmother, Huda Abu Zaid is known for her delightful authentic dishes that are light on the stomach. She prepares the best combination of vegetables and meats that are necessary for everyone’s nutrition daily intake to obtain a healthy diet. These dishes are well-known among the Lebanese community in the whole world. You might not see these dishes in your typical Lebanese restaurant but for sure you will find them served in the houses of the people.

When I was younger, my grandmother used to force me to at least try those dishes. Being a young girl, I always looked for junk until I finally tried one of her sautéed green dishes and that’s when I instantly fell in love with healthy food. She used to argue that these foods are high in calcium and fiber, rich with iron and minerals, low in calories, a multivitamin leaf (A and C) and they help cleanse the liver and protect it from being damaged. They basically give the daily minimum nutritious requirement. Surprisingly, not everybody knows that dandelion leaves are edible.

I have chosen to share a couple of her delicious recipes for you to try and give us your feedback.

Hindbeh bil Zeit (Sautéed Dandelion fried with olive oil and crispy onion):

Ingredients:

• 20 oz (550 g) dandelion

• ½ cup olive oil

• 4 onions, thinly sliced

• lemon

• salt

Instructions:

• Remove yellow leaves from dandelion. Wash well. Finely chop.

• Boil water, then add dandelion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

• Drain and rinse in cold water, then squeeze until dry.

• Heat the olive oil in a skillet and fry the onions until golden. Remove half the quantity of onions from oil, reserve aside.

• Fry chopped leaves in the same oil with onions for 5 minutes.

• Place in a serving plate and garnish with the reserved onions. Cool it with lemon juice and salt.

This dish is usually eaten with Arabian flat bread. Dandelion also can be simply used to make soups, salads, herbal tea, or just add them to your sandwich.

Broad Bean Salad is another green dish with a wonderful flavor that melts like butter in your mouth. It is easy to make for a side appetizer or a light healthy dinner.

Broad beans are one of the finest sources of minerals like iron, copper, manganese, calcium, magnesium and are rich with potassium.

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Ingredients:

• 1 bag of frozen green broad beans

• 3 bunches of mint leaves

• 3 bunches of coriander

• 3 bunches of parsley

• 1 green onion

• 1 crushed garlic clove

• 1 lemon juice

• ½ cup olive oil.

Instructions:

• Boil the frozen broad beans in water until they are cooked, then peel them.

• Chop mint, coriander, parsley, onion, and garlic thinly and put them in a bowl.

• Add lemon and olive oil to the bowl and mix.

• Then add the beans to the mixture and serve it with bread.

Eat it with Arabian flat bread.

Another well-known traditional dessert in the Arab world is Mehalabeya with Qamar Eldeen, Arabic for apricot paste pudding.

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Ingredients:

3 cups of water

4 tbsp. powder milk

4 tbsp. sugar

1 pack of apricot paste

• Mix water, milk, and sugar on the stove until it is boiled.

• Add 1 cup of water and 2 tbsp. of corn flour to dissolve together.

• Then pour them in small cups or plates. If it is too thick, add water. Leave the pudding to cool.

• Mash the apricot paste.

• Add sugar and hot water to the apricot and mix in the blender.

• Place the apricot paste on the stove and add 1 tbsp. of corn flour. Stir until it is boiled.

• Then pour the apricot paste mixture on the pudding

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