Israel trip- procession of a meal

On a rainy spring day, we arrived at Azabe. A small village in the Galilee, the Tuscany of Israel. An area made of native Mediterranean forests of Pistacia and oak trees and low, green, shrubby bushlands, alongside colorful agricultural patchwork.

As you may realize by now, I will take artfully crafted, homemade pour-over restaurant food any time. In Azabe, a local, long-rooted Palestinian family opened a backyard eatery using local cuisine and wild-foraged herbs. We gave them free will, and the dishes poured in, one after another. So simple, so good!

Chopped cucumber tomato salad that couldn’t be any fresher

A stew of brown lentils with wild dill

Whole roasted eggplant in tahini

Syrian olives

Lentil soup with lots of onions…recipe down below using my food-spying talent

Freekeh, smoked green wheat roasted with a leg of chicken

To bring a touch of the taste, here is a delicious lentil soup:

2 onions

1 cup dried lentils, soaked

water to cover

1 tsp salt

black pepper, freshly ground

The flavor is in sautéing the onions; by caramelizing the sliced onions on low heat, it brings out their sugars and flavors this soup. The thing that struck me when eating the soup was how clean the flavor was. With lentils, we are often accustomed to strong flavors, like cumin and garlic. Often not trusting the lentils themselves.

After the onions are cooked, add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, and simmer for two hours until the lentils have partially dissolved.

Enjoy w a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.