Ramadan is only a day  away!

If you celebrate it , then Ramadan mubarak to you 🙂 and if you don’t and would like to know a little more about it,read on.

Ramadan is the month in which muslims around the world fast from dawn till sunset . The fast means no eating and no drinking throughout the day but that is not all. Fasting means that the whole of you, body and soul is fasting. Your hands are fasting, you can’t do harm or steal or hurt others. Your eyes are fasting, you are not allowed to watch anything inappropriate. Your tongue is fasting, you are not allowed to lie or gossip. You see, Ramadan is meant to teach you that you are in control, you can control your hunger, thirst along with your anger, desires and everything that you are. Observing Ramadan is a spiritual and moral boot camp if you will. Fasting teaches you that if you set your mind to it, you can do anything.

In the past few years, across a number of posts and recipes I have shared a little about the  reasoning behind this month long fast , I tried to answer some FAQ that I receive from readers, and I tried to explain a little about the fact that Ramadan not only comes with instructions for fasting but it also comes with instructions for feasting that are wonderful to apply all year round. So, if you are interested in exploring a little more about Ramadan, please do check them out, and if you have any other questions that I have not answered, please leave me a comment or send me an email 🙂

With the fast extending over 15 hours each day and since summer is already in full blast here with temperatures soaring over 40 C. Soups and salads take center stage in my iftar menu. After a long day, they help give the body a healthy and refreshing dose of nutrients that is easy to digest .

My family and I ,love creamy soups, the velvety texture and the richness is so comforting yet the idea of all the calories and fat in regular cream is scary!Not to mention that after such a long fast, all the cream and butter can feel extra heavy and hard to process.

My secret to getting the same creamy texture without all the fat and with an added bonus of fiber and nutrients is to use oats!

I know the idea might sound strange at first but trust me, it works perfectly! Just give it a go and you can thank me later!

When I first came to the UAE and was trying to find replacements for the brands that I used in Jordan that are not available in the UAE a particular brand caught my attention with their unique packaging. They made different types of flour, oats and they also produced eggs. What I loved about their packaging was the fact that they used bright colors and hand drawn doodles. Their flour bags are covered with little doodles and little notes about their products written with a font that resembles handwriting. The packages felt like they were made with a lot of love and I remember thinking that this must be a family business because of their unique vibe and the level of care that went into every little detail in their packages. Fast forward 3 years, they contacted me this year and asked me to make 2 recipes using their product, with the email came the story of the company and it turns out I was right 🙂

Jenan (which is arabic for gardens) is a company that produces flour, oats and eggs. They established the first mill in the UAE in the 1970s. Through hard work and their passion for their products, they have grown to a company that  mills over 360,000 tonnes of flour a year. That’s enough to make 600 million loaves of bread!
I love working with family owned local companies, the passion and dedication they put into their products are a joy to witness and interact with.

Creamy mushroom soup

3 tablespoons olive oil (you can use butter or coconut oil too)

1 finely diced onion

300 g fresh button mushrooms or 1 can of sliced mushrooms drained

1 tablespoon flour

4 tablespoons Jenan quick cooking oats

1 cup milk (you can use coconut milk instead)

3 cups chicken stock (or water if you want to make it vegan)

Salt to taste

A pinch of white pepper
Optional additions:

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Instructions:

In a pot add the olive oil and the onions and saute for 3-4 minutes

Next add the mushrooms and saute for 5-7 minutes stirring occasionally

Sprinkle the flour and stir for 3-5 minutes ,doing that will give the flour and the soup a slightly nutty flavor

Add the chicken stock or water, milk, oats, salt and white pepper. Cook for 7- 15 minutes more or until the soup thickens
Notes:
You can add all of the optional additions or some of them in the final 5 minutes of cooking. The paprika will change the color of the soup but it will give it a beautiful smoky note
You can also add boneless chicken cubes to the soup, just add them with the onions in the beginning and continue the steps as written

رمضان مبارك علينا و عليكم 🙂
سواء كان رمضان غدا او يوم السبت احببت ان اشارككم بوصفه سهله و سريعه و صحيه لشوربه كريما الفطر. اكيد كلمة كريما و صحي ما لازم يكونوا بجمله وحده بس في سر صغير في الوصفه  بخليها كريميه القوام و صحيه بنفس الوقت

السر هو اضافه الشوفان. الشوفان بيعطي الشوربه قوام كريمي و طعم كريمي بس بدون كل الدهون و السعرات. جربوا الوصفه و خبروني رأيكم بعد التجربه او تذكروني بدعوه حلوه عند الفطور

شوربة كريما الفطر الصحية

3 ملاعق كبيرة من زيت الزيتون (يمكنك استخدام الزبدة أو زيت جوز الهند أيضا)

1 بصله مقطعه الى مكعبات

300 غرام من  الفطر  الطازج أو 1علبة من الفطر المقطع المعلب مصفاه من الماء

1 ملعقة طعام طحين

4 ملعقة طعام شوفان جنان سريع الطبخ

1 كوب الحليب (يمكنك استخدام حليب جوز الهند بدلا من ذلك)

3 أكواب من مرق  الدجاج (أو الماء )

ملح حسب الرغبه

قليل من الفلفل الأبيض

اضافات اختياريه:

1/4 كوب جبنة بارميزان مبروشه
1/2 ملعقه صغيره بابريكا
1 ملعقه صغيره زعتر مجفف

تعليمات:

في وعاء نضيف زيت الزيتون والبصل ونقلب على نار متوسطة لمدة 3-4 دقائق

نضيف الفطر ونحرك لمدة 5-7 دقائق

نرش الطحين ونقلب لمدة 3-5 دقائق

نضيف مرق الدجاج أو الماء والحليب والشوفان والملح والفلفل الأبيض و نقلب على نار هادئه  لمده 7 الى 15 دقيقه حتى يثخن قوام الحساء
ملاحظه
بامكانكم اضافه بعض من او كل الاضافات الاختياريه. تذكروا ان البابريكا ستغير لون الشوربه و لكنها ستعطيها نكهه مدخنه محببه

بامكانكم اضافه مكعبات من الدجاج المسحب للشوربه . قلبوها مع البصل و استمروا بالخطوات كما هي