Thanksgiving Meals; the Lebanese Way

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Family traditions are one of the biggest things I look forward to every year. Around this time is when the whole family is pretty active with our traditions. One of my favorite family traditions is getting together with my mom’s sisters and our cousins to celebrate Thanksgiving at my house. Every year, the family comes over and makes one dish to share with the rest of the family, but these dishes aren’t you typical American Thanksgiving dishes. I am here to give you a quick run-down of some of our Lebanese Thanksgiving meal.


1. Turkey

It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without the turkey, so of course that is our main dish. Since my mom hosts Thanksgiving every year, our family is in charge of making the turkey. Growing up, my siblings and I watched our mom stuff her turkey with rice, ground meat, and chicken. This is a very common Lebanese dish called Ruz ou Djej Hashweh.

2. Ruz ou Djej

Even though I mentioned it in the turkey meal, Ruz ou Djej is its own separate meal. It consists of cooked rice, ground seasoned beef, chicken on top with a lot of different seasonings. You typically also eat this meal with Leban, which basically is plain yogurt.

3. Fattoush

One of my favorite Lebanese salads is called Fattoush. This is a traditional greens salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, green peppers, and chopped parsley. Crushed dried mint leaves and a powder called sumac is sprinkled and mixed throughout the salad for more flavor. The dressing consists of a mixture of lemon, garlic, vinegar and oil. The salad is tossed together and topped with pita chips to be served.

4. Side dishes

We do have the traditional Thanksgiving side dishes such as mashed potatoes, corn, mac and cheese, and you can’t forget the rolls !! We also have hummus and baba ghanoush with pita chips as side dishes as well.

- A.E. 

References 

https://www.freepik.com/search?ai=excluded&format=search&last_filter=query&last_value=turkey+thanksgiving&query=turkey+thanksgiving&selection=1&type=photo 

Comments

  1. AlexDecember 10, 2024 at 3:51 PM

    I love a traditional Thanksgiving meal, but the Lebanese way sounds so good and refreshing too! Ruz ou Djej sounds like it would be super tasty especially with leban. Then with the Fattoush, it seems like it would be a very refreshig dish to go along withe the heavy meal. The lemon, garlic, vinegar, and oil dressing would really tie that whole dish together.

    ReplyDelete

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