SHORTCUT GHORMEH SABZI

SHORTCUT GHORMEH SABZI

#SIAintheKitchen

Well, this is new for me on the blog - Persian food! To be honest, I haven’t had a ton of Persian food in my life. I’ve gotta say that it’s been under five times for sure and they haven’t been particular amazing. But, I’ve started to see someone of Persian descent and he’s been introducing me to some excellent Persian food. Wow, have I been missing out or what?! I LOVE Persian food. I’d actually love to visit Iran (well, have been for some time now) but especially now that I’ve been exposed to their amazing cuisine.

We were at a local restaurant in West Vancouver and we probably ordered enough food for a family of 4 - not even lying. He really wanted me to try everything and that we did! One of the dishes that I tried was only described as a “mixed herb stew”. I’m all for vegetables so I thought we’d give it a try, which also came highly recommend from him. That dish was ghormeh sabzi and it was so, so good.

Ghormeh sabzi is indeed a mixed herb stew with Persian dried lines, red kidney beans and beef., It’s a rather soupy, or thin, stew and is served with basmati rice. Wow - flavor town. Parsley, cilantro, fenugreek, leeks, the limes! Seriously some good shit right here. I had tried it and knew right away I wanted to try and make this at home, but veganized.

What reads as a simple recipe is, in reality, quite the opposite. Like a lot of Persian food, the ingredients and recipe may be look simple but is very time consuming. I’m seeing and realizing (especially after trying this recipe) that you can’t skip out the process. I mean, it didn't taste bad and for myself, it wasn’t bad, especially after trying this dish once. But my guy rated it at 75% restaurant quality - flavor was there but was missing something. He says it’s the meat but I’m still trying to convince him that not everything needs meat to taste good!

SHORTCUT GHORMEH SABZI - serves 4 - 6

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1/2 onion, diced

• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

• 1 bunch cilantro, washed, dried, and finely chopped

• 1 bunch Italian flat-leaf parsley, washed, dried and finely chopped

• 1 bunch spinach, washed, dried and finely chopped

• 1/4 cup dried fenugreek leaves

• 2 limes, halved

• 1 (28.5oz) can of red kidney beans, drained

• 6 cups vegetable stock

• 4 tbsp kosher salt

• freshly ground black pepper

1. In a large Dutch oven, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add in the onion and turmeric and saute until it begins to brown, about three minutes.

2. Stir in your greens and reduce the heat to medium. Continue to stir and saute every few minutes to prevent burning. You will have to saute for 20 minutes or until the greens begin to darken considerably.

3. Pour in the vegetable stock and turn up the heat to medium-high. Add in the juice of the two limes and throw in the used limes to amplify the lime flavor. Add in the red kidney beans. Add in the salt and pepper to taste. Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for two hours. Service with Persian basmati rice.