This is such a tasty, elegant and rather quick recipe to make for a party in any season, really. I’ve made them for Ramadan Iftar parties, Eid gatherings, family night dinners, special occasions, and even when I’ve catered fancy events downtown Chicago. Always use the best salmon you can find and the freshest greens you can find, as well.
The recipe in the video is super quick because it’s simpler in that the cream cheese is plain.
In the recipe below it is a blend of ingredients that is suitable for an elegant party.
It can easily be multiplied depending on how many you’ll serve.
Most guests will eat about 2-3 each on average.
Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Crudites
Serves 4
Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
Juice of one large lemon
1/3 cup freshly chopped dill
Sea salt, to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste (about 1/8 teaspoon)
4 ounces smoked salmon (preferably wild)
1/3 cup diced cucumber
2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (optional)
Arugula or spring greens leaves
Directions
If you have a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to break up the cream cheese and mix it together with the sour cream; if not, an electric beater works fine.
Add the lemon juice, fresh dill, salt and pepper. Roughly chop the salmon then gently fold it into the dip. Fold in the cucumber with a spoon or spatula.
Check the consistency and, if desired, add the heavy cream to create the consistency you prefer.
Refrigerate until serving. Keeps fresh for about 3 days in the fridge.
One thing I love to do in Ramadan is to experiment with super simple ways to serve dates for Iftar. This one was inspired by my desire to make yogurt cheese, or labneh instead of creme fraiche or mascarpone cheese. I didn’t fill the middle of each date with any nuts, but you can if you want. Aside from pitting the Medjool dates, this was just so very easy.
To the top, I added crushed pistachios, light Acacia California honey, and a sprinkle of bee pollen just because I wanted to get those into my diet. If you have allergies to bees, you might want to be careful adding bee pollen, plus it doesn’t have the most desirable taste, but I’m used to it (I put it in my cereal).
To make your own yogurt, check out my quick-to-prepare recipe here and here.
Either way, this is so incredibly easy and quick to whip up for your guests or just for yourself at home. I think they’re pretty, too. Ramadan Mubarak!
To shop the products in this post, click on the ones you would like to purchase.
Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links, which means that as an Amazon affiliate, I may receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. This helps keep my website running is very appreciated. Thank you so much for your support!
As Spring begins to approach us, we look towards new growth, new life and optimistic things coming our way for the whole world inshaAllah. This salad I just made actually made me feel happy and energized, perhaps because of the bright and varied colors ad their super healthy ingredients I couldn’t hold back from sharing immediately. And, if you buy the shredded carrots this salad literally takes about 5 minutes to make! How perfect is this going to. be during Ramadan when you need a healthy, quick salad for Iftar…
INGREDIENTS
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 purple onion, thinly sliced (you can soak these in water for about 20-30 minutes to soften their intensity if you have the time and/or inclination to do this)
To your salad bowl, add the carrot and onion. In a separate cup or bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour the liquids over the veggies then place the avocado slices on top. Mix gently so as not to mush up the avocados. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Have you ever come up with a dish that is so tasty you think you invented it yourself, only to find out later that it’s actually one of the great national dishes of not one but many different nations?
Well, that happened to me when I thought I was a culinary genius for coming up with the most delicious breakfast egg dish I’d ever eaten. I was simply using leftover ingredients that I had on hand from my mostly Italian/Sicilian/Mediterranean cooking. Well, little did I realize that everywhere from Palestine to Turkey to Lebanon and Algeria, everyone has been making this dish, or something very similar to it: Shakhshouka (also spelled Shakshuka).
In Turkey, the same ingredients (onion, peppers, tomato sauce) are used but the eggs are scrambled and the dish is called Menemen. An Italian version might use leftover tomato sauce, and in Algeria or Morocco they spell it Chakchouka. In some Middle Eastern recipes they add nutmeg; I do not ever put nutmeg in mine.
I recently worked on a video project for American Muslims for Palestine called Turning Tables, so watch out for that to be published in the near future. I was asked to make a Palestinian recipe or one that was inspired by Palestinian cuisine, so I decided to make my version of Shakhshouka, inspired by the cookbook, The Gaza Kitchen by Laila Al-Haddad, which now has a new and updated version.
Gently warm the olive oil in a large saute pan. Add the onion, green and red peppers and jalapeno. Cook until the peppers have softened. Add the sea salt and ground pepper as they cook.
Add the tomato paste and swirl around the pan to dissolve it as much as possible. Add 1-2 teaspoons of water to thin it out. Add the paprika. Cook until the water has mostly evaporated.
With a wooden spoon, carve out 4 round spots in the pan and crack one egg into each spot. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let cook until the white membrane of the eggs have cooked and whitened.
Remove from heat and drizzle the dish with olive oil, the crumbled feta and chopped parsley. Serve family style on a hot plate on the table, with fresh and warm pita bread.
Bismillah and Sahtein!
You can see a slightly different, faster version that I made for breakfast recently and posted on my Instagram page:
My friend and sister Zainab Ismail is a powerhouse of a teacher of Prophetic foods (the foods that the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, used to eat). She always posts really beautiful photos of sunnah foods on her Fit for Allah Facebook and Instagram pages and recently posted a photo of dates with cucumbers because this combination is a sunnah. it’s also said to make a person gain weight, which is not a bad thing for people who actually need to safely put on a few pounds/kilos. It should be done healthily and safely, right?
*That said, I need to make a disclaimer here and say – this information is NOT intended as medical advice. Please seek professional medical attention when necessary.
It’s also interesting because the reason for combining the two is a way to gain weight. Well, who really wants to gain weight? I wouldn’t think so, but in terms of calories, fasting in Ramadan would actually be a great time to gain highly nutritious calories. This is one way to do it.
According to Tib-e-Nabi (Medicine of the Prophet), there are not only numerous benefits to cucumber and date alone, but the combination proves a healthy, complementary marriage of nutrition.
Cucumber is insipid and tasteless, and dates are sweet which results in the cucumber also tasting sweet. Both are opposite to each other & cucumbers are rich in water contains.
Tib-e-Nabi
Combine Medjool dates with fresh cucumber and add some mascarpone, creme fraiche, sour cream, or labneh on top. Or, to keep it dairy-free, simply toss it in a salad with oranges, cucumbers, add some other greens, if you like. You could even add some extra virgin olive oil, too. There are so many ways to eat clean, healthy, and Halal. Bismillah!
On the dairy side of things, I have already included links to individual products, but I’d like to say that my favorite dairy products (USA) come from several key sources. These are places I have been to personally, visited and spoke with farmers and locals– and seen the cows! So, I believe their farmers and businesses, many of which are co-ops, should be supported so that they can continue to bring us the very best of what they do.
I also show you how to make your own mascarpone and creme fraiche in the My Halal Kitchen cookbook, and there is a recipe for homemade labneh on this site.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through these links at no extra cost to you.
My dear friend and sister Zainab Ismail is this powerhouse teacher of sunnah and Prophetic foods (the foods that the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, used to eat). She always posts really beautiful photos of sunnah foods on her Fit for Allah Facebook and Instagram pages and recently posted a photo of dates with cucumbers because this combination is a sunnah.
It’s also interesting because the reason for combining the two is a way to gain weight. Well, who really wants to gain weight? I wouldn’t think so, but in terms of calories, fasting in Ramadan would actually be a great time to gain highly nutritious calories. This is one way to do it.
According to Tib-e-Nabi (Medicine of the Prophet), there are not only numerous benefits to cucumber and date alone, but the combination proves a healthy, complementary marriage of nutrition.
Cucumber is insipid and tasteless, and dates are sweet which results in the cucumber also tasting sweet. Both are opposite to each other & cucumbers are rich in water contains.
Tib-e-Nabi
This Ramadan, the official date of My Halal Kitchen is Nature’s Anthem California Medjool dates. They are plump and large enough to stuff, making this recipe for Dates with Creme Fraiche & Cucumber so delightftul!
