Amazing Eggs in Sumac Onion Dressing

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I created this dish by accident actually and have had it every single day for a week since!  The crunchy red onions, the tangy sumac olive dressing, the creamy yolk all together with warm pita.  Would you believe me if I say I'm not even a breakfast person!  

Breakfast for me is only exciting when it's with the entire family or a big group of friends, on the weekend, and music is playing in the background with everyone participating in the fun.  And even then, I usually just like it for the experience and family/friend time but not necessarily the breakfast food itself.  But this dish changes things.

That's how our weekends were as children in New Jersey.   My mom putting together an entire spread for breakfast and all 5 of us, 6 including my dad trying hard to help but actually being more of a distraction.  At some point my mom would get overwhelmed with all of us in the kitchen and we would be banned to the living room until food was finished.  My dad at that point would try to take advantage of the time and teach us math or science and we of course would try to avoid that.  Some of us would escape and run upstairs only to be called back down.  Others would pretend they were sleeping just to stall.  And by the time my dad managed to get all 5 of us in one room sitting down, not giggling or laughing, and fully paying attention, breakast was ready.  Great memories spent on those Saturday and Sunday mornings, It's surprising I don't love breakfast more.  In Damascus, they work a 6 day work week and it's only Friday that's off.  Unless in the Christian quarters where Sunday was the day off.  

This dish is so good but be warned the onion smell is strong.  Have gum or a toothbrush handy!  

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

1/4 red onion thinly sliced

1/2 tablespoon sumac

3 tablespoons olive oil

pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine onions, sumac, salt and oil in bowl, set aside

Boil water

Add eggs for exactly 9 minutes (unless you like the yolk very dry in that case add 2 more minutes)

Remove eggs and put under cold water

Peel, slice and serve on top of Sumac onion dressing

Put inside warm pita to eat as a sandwich or eat with pita on the side

Refreshing Sumac Salmon Kale Salad with Tahini Vinaigrette

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Recently, my husband and I have been listening to a lot of podcasts and watching documentaries about health and diet.  The concept that food is medicine seems so revolutionary and yet so simple at the same time.  I recommend everyone watch the documentary “Forks over Knives” and read the book or watch on Youtube “The China Study”.  Whole food plant based diets are linked to complete decrease in cancer and cures to autoimmune diseases.

I can go on and on about this documentary but I’ll just let you watch it.  Just know that I’ll be eating a lot more vegetables and salmon and a lot less meat and I hope I can inspire you to do the same! Enter Salmon kale salad with Tahini Sesame Vinaigrette and Pickled Turnips into my life and in my belly. 

Recently, I went to a restaurant in LA called Fundamental LA and they had an amazing Salmon Kale salad with pickled turnip and a ginger vinaigrette.   You know how super giddy I get when I see anything Middle Eastern in my cuisine.  That was me when my salad came out with pink pickles on top.  The pickled turnips are so nostalgic of Syria and the Middle East because they’re consumed all the time!  Mainly in a falafel sandwich or with certain entrees but we like to even eat them solo as a crunchy snack.  I call them the Middle Eastern pickle because that’s exactly what they are.   Pink pickles. 

I’m working on a separate post on how to make pickled turnips because there is a natural trick to achieve that color and because they're just that good.  So stay tuned!  In the meantime, you can find pink pickles at any ethnic Middle Eastern supermarket. 

The addition of fresh mint and thai basil leaves really make this salad such a burst of amazing flavors.  Combine that with the tahini dressing and the sumac salmon and then top it off with crunchy pink pickles and we got ourselves a winner salad. 

INGREDIENTS

3 cups Kale, chopped

1/4 cup Fresh mint

1/4 cup Fresh thai basil

1/4 cup pink pickles, thinly sliced

1 salmon

1 teaspoon sumac

1 tablespoon sesame seed (optional)

For the Vinaigrette

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup tahini

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Add greens into one bowl

In a separate bowl, mix ingredients for vinaigrette

Add salt, pepper, and sumac to the salmon

Heat olive oil in saucepan and sauté the salmon over medium heat for a few minutes on each side (keep on stove until its cooked to your desired liking)

Add Sumac Salmon to the greens

Top with pink pickles thinly sliced

Sprinkle with sesame seeds (optional)

Sumac Cumin Crusted Salmon

Ok so confession, I didn't necessarily love salmon until recently.  Anyone else feel this way? Anyone?  It used to always taste kinda bland to me.  For a while the only way I would make it, (and the only reason I only did make it is because I knew of the health benefits), was with a touch of olive oil, lemon juice, and rosemary baked in the oven.  It was good but I needed more.  I then did a little Asian switch it up and started adding vegetables and soy sauce and some other flavors and that was good.  Salmon was on its way up for me. BUT then my husbands cousin, who happens to be a male foodie that loves to cook and experiment in the kitchen (lucky wife) told me about this recipe and this has been my go to salmon recipe ever since!  The combination of sumac, cumin and yellow mustard seeds creates this super flavorful crust that is the perfect crunch texture contrast to the melt in your mouth salmon.  It's so good, and it's so easy.  Seriously.

Sautee the kale in the same sumac, cumin, honey mustard rub for a few minutes

Today was a particularly long day for me.  I'm in the middle of production for one of the Sweet Pillar products (can't tell you which one yet :) and there is just so much that goes into producing a product that it's so non stop.  It's like conducting an orchestra, every piece has to be played correctly at the correct time in order for it all to work smoothly and successfully together.  But I digress.  I can talk about this stuff all day I worry I bore people with this food production talk haha. 

I was almost going to pick up take out as it was such a long day AND it was drizzling in Orange County, which means everyone was panicking and it was extra chaotic and busy.  I'm so glad I didn't order take out and made this instead.  I always get my salmon from Whole Foods and it tastes amazing and dinner in its entirety ends up taking 10 minutes from start to finish.

This particular dish is not a Middle Eastern classic that I grew up with although the sumac and cumin are very much staple spices in any middle eastern spice cabinet.  If you're feeling fancy but don't have the time, this is what you should make. 

Yellow mustard seeds

Ground up yellow mustard seeds

Sumac

Sautee in a tablespoon of olive oil

INGREDIENTS

5 pieces of Salmon

1 Tablespoon yellow mustard seeds ground up (important to get them in seeds and ground them up yourself)

1 Tablespoon sumac

1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin

Salt & Pepper as desired

1 Tablespoon olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Ground up yellow mustard seeds

Mix yellow mustard, sumac, cumin, salt and pepper together

Rub onto salmon

Heat olive oil in pan

Place salmon and sautee until inside is not raw (5-6 minutes)

Flip salmon on other side for another few minutes

Serve over sauteed kale or with rice

**After I removed the salmon from the skillet I immediately added the kale, mixing it for a few minutes with a wooden spoon and they tasted amazing