A native of Lebanon, Joumana is a trained pastry chef and professional caterer. In her celebrated cookbook, Taste of Beirut, she shares her heritage through exquisite food and family anecdotes, teaching anyone how to master traditional Lebanese cuisine. Published in 2014 by Health Communications, Inc. (US), her cookbook has enjoyed to date the largest number of independent five-star reviews from their roster of cookbooks, and is available online through Amazon and other sites as well as in major bookstores in Lebanon. “Taste of Beirut began as a blog in 2009 and its main purpose was to share my beloved Lebanese heritage with the world through recipes, anecdotes, and cultural tidbits,” says Joumana.
With over 150 recipes inspired by her beloved grandmother, Accad captures the well-known and healthy flavors of the Middle East and makes them completely accessible to home cooks everywhere, like this popular Turnip Greens Salad. “This is a cooked salad,” she says, “made in Lebanon with dandelion greens (wild or farm-grown) called hindbeh. I decided to make it with turnip greens instead, because dandelion greens in the US are not comparable to the ones in Lebanon (in the US, their stems are tougher and the leaves are narrower); the turnip greens on the other hand are readily available, have wide leaves and taste great.”
Ingredients:
2 large bunches of turnip greens (or other greens)
1/2 cup olive oil (more as needed)
2 large onions, one chopped fine, and the other sliced into rings; sprinkle salt on the onion rings and set aside.
