Ethiopian Collards & Cabbage

Here’s something you might not know: Ethiopia’s biggest export is agricultural products. Agriculture has always played a key role in Ethiopia, especially before misguided policies resulted in stripped-out soils, lowered water tables, and poorer crop yields. (Policies like the ones that forced farmers to switch from native, non-thirsty plants — i.e., drought-resistant crops — to plants that require much more water than the terrain can supply. That’s a sure-fire way to burn through your natural resources and leave you worse off than when you started. Unfortunately, Ethiopia is among many developing nations that have been faced with this scenario.)

Because Ethiopia has such a rich agricultural past, its cuisine is also incredibly flavorful. There’s no doubt that Indian cooks know what they’re doing when it comes to lentils, but something about the way Ethiopians prepare their lentil dishes makes my tongue tingle even more. Plus, their spice blends are exotically alluring, they do amazing things with hearty greens, and I love the fact that you’re more likely to dine on lamb (or goat) than beef. And then there’s their injera bread, which is traditionally made by fermenting water mixed with teff flour for a few days and then cooking the batter into tender flatbreads.

I recently had a delicious greens-based dish at an Ethiopian restaurant and decided to try to replicate it at home. The result was a little bit different but equally good. And the ingredients are so simple! Just be sure you have ghee — that provides an incredibly rich, buttery flavor that you just can’t get any other way. (Whole Foods, health-oriented stores, and many ethnic stores sell ghee, or you can make it yourself: just look up a recipe for clarified butter. It’s the same thing.) Butter will do in a pinch, though, if you don’t have ghee on hand.

Ethiopian Collards & Cabbage
Makes 4 hearty servings.

1 bunch collard greens, chopped
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
Ghee (Purity Farms ghee is my favorite) or butter in a pinch (in which case be sure to get full-flavored butter like Kerrygold — i.e., the kind that comes from cows that eat grass)
1 large onion, chopped
4 large carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 T. tomato paste
At least 1 T. Berbere spice blend (see recipe on linked page)
1 T. apple cider vinegar

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add collards and cabbage, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain well.

Melt at least a tablespoon of ghee (I used 2) in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and carrot and sautée for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until onions are turning slightly brown on the edges. Add drained collards and cabbage, tomato paste, spice blend, and vinegar. Stir well.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes. Stir it every 3 or 4 minutes to make sure everything cooks evenly. Taste it about halfway through and see if you want to add any more tomato paste, spice blend, or vinegar. I found that there was plenty of salt in the paste and spice blend, but feel free to add a dash of sea salt if you’d like.

Enjoy!

Ethiopian Tuna Casserole

“Casserole.” Just seeing the word can conjure up uncomfortable childhood memories of gelatinous, salty tuna and noodles drowned in processed and canned soup. (“Soup” in this case being somewhat euphemistic. “Liquid cardboard” might be a more apropos description.)

But casseroles don’t have to be that way—like the Moroccan tagine, the word “casserole” refers to the covered container in which the dish is baked. Anything can be a casserole: tuna or salmon, vegetables or eggs, lamb or pork. The only limiting factor is your imagination!

Ethiopian Tuna Casserole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare:

1 small onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
2 cups peas, fresh or frozen
1 tomato, diced
1 tsp. berbere
1 can tuna (6.5 oz.)
2 T. tomato paste
½ tsp. sea salt
Homemade breadcrumbs (the next time you have good-quality, whole-grain leftover bread that’s going stale, whirr it in a food processor to make crumbs; you can freeze your fresh crumbs for several months and use as needed)

Sautée onion in a pat of butter over medium heat. When translucent, stir in bell pepper, peas, tomato and berbere. Transfer to glass baking dish and bake, covered, for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and stir in tuna, tomato paste and salt. Cover and return to oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven one final time and top with breadcrumbs, then bake uncovered for another 5 minutes to get the topping golden brown and crunchy. (You could also mix in grated Parmesan cheese with the breadcrumbs.)

Enjoy!

Spiced Lamb Salad

Here’s a twist on taco salads:  Ethiopian lamb salads!  Simple, satisfying, and significantly lighter than its North American cousin, this salad was a happy meeting of leftovers and inspiration.  (I had cooked ground lamb with berbere spice mix, chopped onions, minced garlic and diced tomatoes the day before.)  When I saw the lettuce and Greek yogurt in my fridge, it occurred to me that I could build an Ethopian meal on a Mexican foundation.  Voilá! In less than a minute, I had a decadent-yet-healthy dish.  From the ground up, this consists of:

Arugula
Spiced lamb mix
Greek yogurt
A sprinkling of paprika

A nice garnish would be a wedge of Feta cheese and a sprig of mint.

Enjoy!