Danderma's Blog, page 31

The “Bananei” Guide Book to Building Your House

A couple of weeks back there was an exhibition concerned with construction and building materials. My husband’s work is in that field so he went to check it out and came back with a heavy guide book that was being distributed in the exhibition to visitors for free. The glossy book is titled “Bananei” which translates to “Built Me” in Arabic. 

Bananei guide book is the first and most comprehensive national guide book dedicated to building your very own house in Kuwait. It includes everything you need to know, from how to get funding to buy your own piece of land to the construction rules & regulations in Kuwait and everything else up to interior decoration for your newly built home. With plenty of lovely pictures and listings of local building material supplies, architects, interior decorated, etc.

I loved the way the book was set like a tale, starting with a Kuwaiti guy, Bu Sulaiman, who is currently living with his little family in a rented apartment and has decided to start building his dream home. You follow Bu Slaiman in every step of the way and you also encounter some directions and pieces of wisdom in the form of traditional Kuwaiti proverbs.  The book is in Arabic of course from cover to cover.

You can even find contract samples for building contractors like the plumber or the painter etc.

I was reading the book we got from the exhibition and I decided to post something about it on Instagram. I did and half an hour later I heard a knock on my door. Surprise surprise, I was given a Bananei book as a gift! In a lovely white bag with my blog’s name on it, tied with orange ribbon with a little notebook and two colour pencils.

To top it off, I also got two pieces of very delicious chocolates! How elegant and thoughtful.

Thank you Bananei guide for the book and for sending me a copy! I was already enjoying my copy before you brought me the little package for the book is an excellent guide for whomever is actually thinking about building -or buying or fixing- their own property. I know that one day when the time comes to build my own house I will find your guide most useful. I also love your logo a lot! Thanks again and keep up the good work.

The Bananei guide is still distributed for free and was even available for delivery until just recently. Now you can find it in different places and outlets and is still distributed for free. For more information and to get your own free copy of the Bananei guide you can give them a call on +(965)-24828211, check their website (link), or follow them on instagram (@BananeiGuide).

Dinner at Brown Tomato

When you are dieting you look for the perfect place to have your cheat meal in, one with lots of options, lots of carbs and cheese, and the food must be excellent and lip-smacking so it would leave you with no regrets the next week. When the time for my cheat meal came I knew exactly what I wanted to have and where thus I had dinner at Brown Tomato in Al-Hamra Mall.

When you are handed the menus to choose your dishes you are also given a platter with packaged herby salty bread sticks and an excellent bowl of very fresh pesto to dip the bread sticks into. I’m not a fan of pesto in general but theirs is really fresh and really delicious.

I ordered my current favourite drink, the mojito

The mozzarella in caroza with marinara dip, the perfect thing to indulge in on your diet-free cheat day. I can eat a bucket full of those lovelies!

Mamma mia!

And this is the reason I was in Brown Tomato in the first place, their gorgeous potato cooked in with some sweet tomato sauce that is a cousin of ketchup -or perhaps it’s ketchup- and drenched with two kinds of cheese and caramelised onions. I can’t stand caramelised onions but in this dish they work, they just do.

The potatoes are cooked to perfection, cut into cubes, with the skin still on just the way I like them. You cannot help but notice how gooey the dish is and it’s preferable that you don’t order it to share because you’ll only have two bites before it disappears, three if you are lucky.

You poke a piece of cheese-covered potato with your fork and this happens…

and keeps happening…

And goes on for a while, resisting your attempt to devour it, until the potato cube breaks free from it’s cheddar jail. You can taste tangy sugary tomatoes, you can feel the sweet crunch of the caramelised onions and the smoothness of the cheese and soft, cooked potatoes, and you know you can now survive dieting for another week after you polish off the plate.

For my main dish I always order their pizza… they have a killer buratta cheese pizza that comes topped with a big creamy buratta and is a total heartbreaker. This time however since I had to leave a bit of space I’ve opted for their mini pizzas that are so soft, so good, and just the thing you’d need on your cheat day to get back at your diet.

With lots and lots of melted mozzarella cheese…

It was one good heartwarming dinner at Brown Tomato. I’ve heard they are planning to deliver their dishes with Talabat.com and if they do I hope I’m done dieting by then or I’ll be in trouble. I like everything on their menu and they do serve breakfast which I’ve tried back in March. If you haven’t been there before I strongly recommend you do, I know you will love the food. For more information and directions you can follow their Instagram account (@Brown_Tomato).

Movie Review: Prisoners

Last week I went to see the movie Prisoners which I’ve been looking forward to watching for a while since its starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. I did cave and watch a bit of the trailer to know the general feel of the movie I was anticipating and then when I noticed the trailer was going to go on forever I stopped it but I had an idea on what I was going to be watching. 

Two little girls go missing on thanksgiving day and when the one suspect is let go because turns out to have an IQ of a ten-years-old boy and couldn’t have possibly done the crime, the unconvinced father of one of the girls (Hugh Jackman) decides it was up to him to get the truth out of the suspect while detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) follows other leads and tries to find the girls before its too late.

The movie is a very good one but it’s quite long. Too long actually, for there are many unnecessary scenes and the events seem to go in slow motion after detaining the suspect but I wasn’t disappointed with how it turned out.  Somehow I couldn’t shake off the idea that I was watching Wolverine looking for his daughter and when he uses his fists I felt sorry for the poor recipient, there are many bloody scenes by the way and the movie is not suitable for the faint hearted but the ending is excellent and has a major cliffhanger though after pondering the matter it sounds more like a logical conclusion rather than a cliffhanger per-say.

I would recommend this movie for anyone who is in the mood and has the time to watch a long, slow mystery. It is a bit depressing in some bits and it breaks your heart in others but in the end it is indeed a movie worth watching and will sure make it to my DVD collection shelf for sure.

Salad Boutique’s New Office Meal Box

I’m a big fan of Salad Boutique, always been and always will. I’ve ordered their salads on many occasions before, either to take with me for a gathering or to simplify salad making for gatherings held at my place. I don’t usually order them for my own meals though since the portion is too big and it takes me several days to finish one salad which ends up old and wilted, and wilted salads are not that fun per-say. I always wondered why they don’t introduce individual portion salads suitable for one person and they didn’t until last week when they launched their new corporate solution menu. 

The office meal box from Salad Boutique came in their signature pink, silver, and white box wrapped with ribbons and looking as lovely as ever. It also doubled as an invitation for dinner on their Tuesday Jazz night event which is the latest thing happening in restaurants in Kuwait. Sadly I couldn’t make it that day but I’m planning on going out soon insha2 Allah.

As for the corporate solution menu, there are many options for both breakfast and lunch and I loved the idea of breakfasts for one and the mix-and-match nature of the lunch boxes. You get to choose a salad, soup, and one small side dish for your own lunch meal.

I have a deep admiration and endless love for everything that comes packaged or in a kit, like a packaged lunch for example. I suppose I’m the only one who actually likes plane food because it comes in a package with miniature little individually wrapped food items. Therefore, you can imagine my excitement as I unwrapped the ribbons and opened up the lunch box.

The office lunch box was very neat, every item was firmly in place secured by a piece of carton. A salad for one with dressing on the side, a small pot of soup, and a small side dish with plastic utensils wrapped up in a napkin. To my luck the salad included was the caviar and crabstick salad which I didn’t touch since I’m a vegetarian but the little orange orbs of the caviar were too beautiful to eat. 

The soup was cream of mushroom soup which you’d need to reheat if you are having lunch at work of course.

And my side dish was this naughty pot mashed potatoes with mushrooms, sweet corn, and cheese.

Thank you Ghadeer Khajah & Salad Boutique for the lovely Jazz night invitation and delicious office lunch box. Akramkom Allah and keep up the good work, I love Salad Boutique!

Salad Boutique have many branches around Kuwait and even in Jeddah, Bahrain, and Qatar. For more information regarding Salad Boutique or to place an order you can give them a call on +(965) - 22921355 , check their website (link), follow them on twitter (@SaladBoutique), or on instagram (@SaladBoutique).

Why Do We Avoid the Subject of Saving Money in Kuwait?

As September is drawing to a close I sit back and wonder how fast will it feel before we celebrate 2014? I didn’t care much for how 2013 turned out so far but I suppose there is still hope that the last quarter would make up for it. Speaking of which, I came upon something, a discovery if you may, when I was talking to a “friend” a few weeks back that got me pondering the matter of trying to save a bit of money from your income and the response I got from the friend, as if I had grown two heads and began spitting fire like a dragon, left me dumbfounded to say the least. 

What is it about the word “saving” that makes people sit back in and stare at you, as if they’ve discovered they’ve been cheated by you all this time and only now did they realise you were broke? Why is it when someone says “I’m trying to save money” it’s considered a synonym for “I’m broke, I’m poor, I was begging on the corner of the street but I decided to pretend I was rich to befriend you and I now need more money so I can keep pretending for the sake of your approval but oops I just slipped and told you about my dark secret…” Is that the way it is only in Kuwait, or all around the world?

Perhaps I’ve been naive all this time but let me explain what “saving money” actually means. Say you have a dream, you want to invest in something, want to open a store, establish a restaurant, build a dream house, or purchase a pied-à-terre abroad. What financial options do you have? You can run to daddy for money, ask your rich husband, perhaps take a loan from the bank, or maybe you make enough money that can indeed help you in your quest but you just need to save for a while and not blow all your earnings on things you don’t really need. How is it OK to beg for money from your parents or husband, or live in an endless debt from a bank load with growing interest, yet not consider the option of “saving”? Because when you beg or take a loan, you can still pretend to have enough money to impress people while when you save money that money you are spending to blind others can actually stay hidden in the bank and come to use later on?

Sadly, people don’t care. They don’t want to hear that you have a better purpose in life than maxing out your credit card or spending mindlessly. The word “save” doesn’t only imply that you are poor but also your entire family and the friends you are hanging out with and are OK with your broke status, why of course because they themselves are broke themselves. There is no such thing as a grey area: either you are poor or you are rich, and rich people don’t think about things like saving money now, do they?

I for one am an independent person. I hate asking people for anything, especially money. I also fear the future and what surprises it may have in store for me. I cannot guarantee that one day I might need a major surgery or medical attention that needs a lot of money, money I’ve blown away trying to wow a “friend” with how much I can spend trying to prove something I don’t need to prove in the first place.

Saving money is not something to be ashamed of, as a matter of fact it’s something that should be encouraged in this day and age. What do you think, my good reader, are you actually saving money for any reason at all? And if you are, how do people around you react to it?

Why is The Subject of Saving Money Avoided in Kuwait?

As September is drawing to a close I sit back and wonder how fast will it feel before we celebrate 2014? I didn’t care much for how 2013 turned out so far but I suppose there is still hope that the last quarter would make up for it. Speaking of which, I came upon something, a discovery if you may, when I was talking to a “friend” a few weeks back that got me pondering the matter of trying to save a bit of money from your income and the response I got from the friend, as if I had grown two heads and began spitting fire like a dragon, left me dumbfounded to say the least. 

What is it about the word “saving” that makes people sit back in and stare at you, as if they’ve discovered they’ve been cheated by you all this time and only now did they realise you were broke? Why is it when someone says “I’m trying to save money” it’s considered a synonym for “I’m broke, I’m poor, I was begging on the corner of the street but I decided to pretend I was rich to befriend you and I now need more money so I can keep pretending for the sake of your approval but oops I just slipped and told you about my dark secret…” Is that the way it is only in Kuwait, or all around the world?

Perhaps I’ve been naive all this time but let me explain what “saving money” actually means. Say you have a dream, you want to invest in something, want to open a store, establish a restaurant, build a dream house, or purchase a pied-à-terre abroad. What financial options do you have? You can run to daddy for money, ask your rich husband, perhaps take a loan from the bank, or maybe you make enough money that can indeed help you in your quest but you just need to save for a while and not blow all your earnings on things you don’t really need. How is it OK to beg for money from your parents or husband, or live in an endless debt from a bank load with growing interest, yet not consider the option of “saving”? Because when you beg or take a loan, you can still pretend to have enough money to impress people while when you save money that money you are spending to blind others can actually stay hidden in the bank and come to use later on?

Sadly, people don’t care. They don’t want to hear that you have a better purpose in life than maxing out your credit card or spending mindlessly. The word “save” doesn’t only imply that you are poor but also your entire family and the friends you are hanging out with and are OK with your broke status, why of course because they themselves are broke themselves. There is no such thing as a grey area: either you are poor or you are rich, and rich people don’t think about things like saving money now, do they?

I for one am an independent person. I hate asking people for anything, especially money. I also fear the future and what surprises it may have in store for me. I cannot guarantee that one day I might need a major surgery or medical attention that needs a lot of money, money I’ve blown away trying to wow a “friend” with how much I can spend trying to prove something I don’t need to prove in the first place.

Saving money is not something to be ashamed of, as a matter of fact it’s something that should be encouraged in this day and age. What do you think, my good reader, are you actually saving money for any reason at all? And if you are, how do people around you react to it?

Movie Review: Rush

I received an invitation to attend the advanced screening of the movie “Rush” by Cinescape which took place yesterday and since I love everything movie related I was on my seat at 8:15 P.M. sharp waiting for the movie to start. Frankly, I didn’t know what the movie was about because I have a policy regarding not watching trailers anymore but I knew it was about car racing, based on a true story, its soundtrack is composed by Hans Zimmer, is starring Chris Hemsworth, and there is popcorn involved as well. What more could you ask for? 

The movie began with a great start, telling the real rivalry story between two formula one racing drivers, James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The movie is set in 1976 and follows the rise of fame for each driver and how they competed to come first in each race. Then it shows how Niki got trapped in his burning car after crashing it in one dangerous track he tried to avoid racing in, and how after a few weeks and two races, he did go back to racing despite the amount of pain he must have suffered then.

I of course didn’t know Niki Lauda or James Hunt but I have to say I thought the star of the movie wasn’t Chris Hemsworth who played James Hunt but rather Daniel Brühl who played Lauda and was captivating. My favourite part of the movie was when Lauda asks for a lift from two Italian guys who recognise him and let him drive their car, and it’s also worth noting that when the cars in the movie race, you can almost feel the chair vibrating in response and it’s like you are in that racing car yourself.

The movie of course has a handful of censored scenes but they don’t destroy the flow of event much, you can still understand what’s going on. I also suppose people didn’t swear as much in 1976 as they do now so there were barely any muted swear words in the conversation. However, there are a few bloody scenes that are not for the faint hearted so if you get queasy watching blood on the big screen you better sit this one out.

Anyone who loves car racing would enjoy this movie and anyone who doesn’t know much about car racing -like myself- would also enjoy this movie because it tells the story of real determination. I enjoyed every minute and I would certainly add it to my DVD collection. Thank you Cinescape for the opportunity to preview the movie which will start showing today Wednesday in Cinescape theatres.

Shakshooka Pop-up Market is Back!

Back in June I managed to visit the very last Shakshooka pop-up farmers market before the start of summer and I fell in love with everything shakshooka! The concept, the carefree spirit, the mystery of waiting for the next market and not knowing where it’s going to be until just before it happens, and most importantly the food items you could buy: all organic, healthy, natural, and delicious! Then summer came and went and fall arrived, bringing the Shakshooka market back!

Before summer Shakshooka market was held once every Thursday evening for one hour, this time it was held on Saturday evening for one hour as well and it was held in the parking lot behind the Contemporary Art Platform (CAP) warehouse in Shuwaikh. An excellent location with plenty of plenty of parking and enough space for people to move and go from one booth to another without getting in each others way. Therefore, on 6 P.M. last Saturday I was at CAP’s warehouse, armed with my own bag and plenty of cash to spend.

I loved the idea of going to the market on a lazy Saturday when you are all rested and relaxed but sadly it means your weekend breakfast won’t be prepared from the ingredients you get on the market, makes for a great dinner though which I truly enjoyed. My first stop was the Canteen both selling tortillas and fresh homemade salsas and guacamole.

I so wanted to take home a jar of that mango salsa but my stomach cannot handle fiery heat

My next stop was Aunt Marie’s Artisan Bakery for the killer salted caramels I’ve gotten from the last market and been craving all summer! This time she was selling violet salted caramels and I didn’t waste anytime grabbing myself a -small- jar. I allowed myself two caramels that night, now I’m waiting desperately for my next free day to, err, finish the jar.

Aunt Marie’s booth also sells freshly baked bread and a boxes of animal-shaped cookies. I didn’t go near them though, I am on a diet after all -yes I am!-.

Next stop, Special Maryam’s booth selling freshly baked bread loaves, sesame bagels, apple pies, and jars of lemon curd and eggplant pesto.

I follow Special Maryam’s instagram account and she’s been taunting me with pictures of her baking the bagels all summer and finally I was able to get me some to try! I also got me a jar of the eggplant pesto which I’m planning to empty on my free day.

As a person who is obsessed with apple pies, I must congratulate myself on not grabbing one of those gorgeous ones with the cinnamon sugar oozing on the side and eating it right then and there. Walking away from those lovelies was painful, but I told you I was on a diet, didn’t I?

There was a gorgeous booth, very modern with lovely roses in Evian water bottles and colourful trays that I almost took home with me when no one was looking. There were plenty of naughty flavoured marshmallow squares and heart-wrenching cookies around. It was very busy so I couldn’t take closer pictures and I, of course, had to run away before my sugar cravings overtook my willpower. If you know the name of their booth or their instagram account please do share!

Last stop was Chef Maryam (Mimi) Al-Nusif booth, Chef Mimi is the girl behind  Shakshooka market and her booth was the busiest booth of them all.

Chef Mimi was selling slutty brownies made and flown in from London by a friend of hers, Saad Behbehani. Apparently those brownies got their notorious reputation when they were sold in the Candyboot Legging also by Chef Mimmi that took place around a month ago. Here are the very last two to be seen before they disappeared.

Danah, a friend of mine that was lucky to get her hands on a brownie said they were so good she ate a quarter then decided to stop because she didn’t want it to be gone! I did however get my hands on a nutty salted caramel bar that I feasted on later that night.

The Shakshooka market was very lively and buzzing with activities, half an hour into the market the items on display were sold out!

I went home with my bag laden with yummy dinner ingredients.

My dinner? This lovely sesame bagel from Special Maryam, lightly toasted and spread with low fat cream cheese, just the way I like my bagels.

The bagels were very fresh and very delicious. However, they need a bit of a chewy bite to them to make them even more delicious. The fate of the eggplant pesto is still being decided.

What my husband did to his bagel? He turned it into a cream cheese, spicy cheese, and garden salad bagel of some sorts. Looked like a jungle on bread!

He also had some cream cheese and freshly made fig jam on the bagels. Apparently this combination of his was a killer and he kept raving about the bagels.

Those are my nutty salted caramel bars that I managed to get from Chef Mimi… incredibly chewy and so delicious indeed!

I’m so glad Shakshooka market is back and I cannot wait for next week’s shakshooka to take place! If you haven’t been to shakshooka yet, you must, you will have a great time and even greater food to take back home. For Shakshooka market updates you can check the hashtag #ShakshookaMarket on instagram and wait for next week’s location. Do remember to bring cash in small bills and your own carry bags, put on comfy shoes, practice, and have fun!

The Magic of the Elves

She buried her head in her old pillow and pulled her thin blanket all the way over her head in a failed attempt to stop shivering from the cold that invaded her tiny dark room. The bed springs squeaked beneath her in protest as she tried to get into a comfortable position, allowing her tears to soak her pillow once again without suffocating. It was another one of those days where there was nothing else to do but cry yourself to sleep and wish that when you did wake up in the morning that nothing was the matter and all was fine and dandy, if only.

Something flickered across from her now sore eyelids, like a little light being shone directly at them. She decided she was imagining, who would bring light into her own tiny little dark room? Then suddenly it happened again and she opened her eyes, peeking from a big hole in the blanket, she watched the scene unfolding right in front of her in disbelief!

Elves! Tiny, happy, singing, magical elves! In her own little no-where! Sneaking in from hidden doorways and filling her version of the world with laughter, chatter, and warmth! The very same elves she saw only in cartoons of her childhood, with long bears and long pointy hats that snuck into toy or shoe shops at night and did kind things to unsuspecting humans while they slept away, what was it? A shoe shop they once fixed? Could it be? Could they truly be here for her now? Is this even real?

The elves worked together as a team, laughing and singing, painting the dark walls in rainbow colours and throwing away her junk. In place of old and broken picture frames, there are now new and gleaming colourful ones, erasing the darkness surrounding her cherished memories with a colourful swipe of their magic. An elf began patching up her blanket, starting at the bottom, and was closing in the various holes with a sparkly threat made of crushed crystals. She saw white patterned fabric covering the cracked old surfaces, bowls of fruits and chocolates placed on different, and new, tables, and her only chair given a makeover and fluffed up for her to snuggle in and read from the new  stack of books placed right next to it. Someone somewhere lit up a fire, and now she was warm and content, her tears long dry and forgotten.

She wondered where the elves came from, and why were they here? Could they be so kind to do all of this, just for her pleasure, expecting nothing in return? What would they do if they knew she was watching them, her tears threatening to come back even harder after watching this fine display of graciousness? Would they perhaps let her join in the giggle and the jolly chants? Maybe even linger a bit more and breaking some of that delicious freshly baked bread over little cups of tea with her?

She waited though, too afraid to lift off the blanked, too scared to let them know she knew. She began humming along with their chant softly, feeling their perky spirit possessing her, making her almost delirious with glee. It was like being in a happy dream she didn’t want to wake up from even thought she knew she was sleeping, but this felt like anything but a dream, too real to dismiss.

Then suddenly it snuck up on her, a vicious storm of a sneeze threatening to explode from her nostrils, tickling all her senses at once. She tried suppressing it, not wanting the elves to go away by alerting them she was awake and watching. She sniffed once, twice, but in the end the treacherous sneeze won and thundered away, reverberating across all the corners of the room, scaring away the birds on the roof and of course the unsuspecting poor elves…

She opened her eyes quickly, the blanket thrown to the ground and her cover blown. She was afraid of what she might see, she desperately wanted to see the scared elves rooted to their place, scared to stillness by her sneeze, but then they’d whoop and let her join in. They were there for her after all, weren’t they? She almost didn’t dare open her eyes, wished she could pretend she was indeed still asleep and sneezing while asleep, but she knew like they did she was in to their plot and was well aware of it. It was time to welcome her new little magical friends and thank them, profusely.

When she finally did gather enough courage to prey her eyelids open, she looked around the room and saw nothing. There were no elves, nor chants, nor magical chanting and good deeds. There was no warm fire and sparkly thread, nor bowls of chocolate over white clothes against rainbow coloured walls. The darkness was still there, so was the putrid cold winning over the thin torn blanket. What was moving in the distance and bothering her sleep weren’t elves, but big fat slimy rats she couldn’t afford to exterminate lurking underneath her cracked bed. Of course they were only rats, did she expect magical elves, really and truly, to spring out of no where and do her any good? She knew it, and she realised she knew all along that she knew it, her loveable elves were nothing but rats all along, self-righteous manipulative rats that will reside underneath her bed forever, bothering in her wake and adding to her misery until she plucked the courage to get rid of them.

She sat upright in bed, threw off her good for nothing cover, and grabbed her cracked broom. There will be no sleeping tonight until she threw these rats out, once and for all.

Recipe: Quinoa with Okra Stew

Ever since I began cooking quinoa I really wanted to use it with one particular dish, maraq bamiya (okra stew). You see, if quinoa passes the maraq bamiya test, it can reside their proudly on my pantry for the rest of time, banishing every last morsel of rice from the premises. The dieticians in Kuwait have been urging us to replace rice with quinoa and I already tried that twice with the quinoa mushroom risotto and the quinoa with dill & broad beans (bajela w shbent) and both time quinoa posed as the perfect protein-packed fiber-laden replacement to white rice therefore I thought it was about time to use it with my vegetarian okra stew (maraq bamiya).

Every household in Kuwait has their own way of making okra stew, growing up ours always came with hunks of boneless meat and big chunks of potatoes swimming alongside the velvety okras. My version of the okra stew is meatless, with big chunks of potatoes, and must be accompanied with vermicelli rice and a bottle of salty laban drink -yoghurt milk or buttermilk-. However, since I’m trying to lose weight and am cutting back on the carbs I made my stew without the potato from my trusty recipe for my vegetarian maraq bamiya (okra stew) and I skipped on the vermicelli rice and hakooka all together and prepared the quinoa as I’ve done before in my Quinoa & Pomegranate salad recipe and Quinoa Mushroom Risotto which doesn’t take much time, only fifteen minutes maximum.

Basically for every measure of quinoa you use double the amount water with a sprinkle of salt, put them together in a pan and bring to a boil on high heat then reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 15 minutes until all the water is gone and the quinoa is double in size. Here is a video I found on Gcalories blog that explains it better. You know the quinoa is done when it looks like this.

All you have to do is now serve it alongside the maraq bamiya with some salty laban drink. KDD discontinued my favourite low fat salty laban drink but Almarai do offer a new Laban up product that would accompany the dish perfectly. A bit of tabasco on top to add a fiery kick wouldn’t hurt either. And lunch is served…

Choosing to let go of the potatoes didn’t ruin the taste for me at all. In fact, once I took a bite of the first juicy okra I forgot all about the potatoes and quinoa and felt like I was eating my childhood maraq bamiya! The quinoa did need a lot of maraq or stew liquid to flavour it but once everything was all mixed up nicely you couldn’t actually tell you weren’t eating vermicelli rice!

The quinoa passed the maraq bamiya test with flying colours. I think it’s time to banish the rice from the pantry for good. I actually contemplated making a vermicelli quinoa but thought against it, perhaps when I lost a good amount of weight but not yet.

Did you try quinoa instead of rice still? How are you eating your quinoa, the star superfood of 2013?