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Mejedera – An Ancient Dish

“Stupid! Peasant food!” I can hear my father’s voice echoing his disdain as I start preparing one of my favorite dishes. My wife Christy had a hankering, and now that we have more than one gluten-sensitive individual in the family, I am going to undertake her modification of the old recipe substituting rice for the more traditional cracked wheat. You can find this substitution in Lebanese and Palestinian versions of the dish.

Mejedera is a dish is a mixture of lentils and rice (or cracked wheat) garnished with onions fried in olive oil until crisp. For details, have a look at the recipe on our Food page. Gluten-sensitive types can substitute their favorite rice for the coarse (#2 or 3) cracked wheat. The whole house will smell delightfully of onions and olive oil. Peasant food, indeed! Sorry Pops – you were wrong on this one.

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