LOVE IT!!!
You MUST be Lebanese but probably don't realize it!!!
M'Juderah is one of their most popular dishes. It is made from lentils, caramelized onions and rice. Babaganoush is a spread made from cooked eggplants and tahini, with garlic of course. The chickpeas are a mainstay in the middle eastern diet - felafel (mashed chickpeas, garlic and seasonings, formed and deep fried), hummous - chickpea spread with lemon, crushed garlic and tahini ... I could go on and on. You should invest in a Lebanese recipe book ... no, wait! Our parish plans to put one out in the near future. I'll send it to you once it is printed :-)
Please do, and I'll send your parish a donation. My Weight Watchers cookbooks have lots of Mediterranean recipes. I make baba-ganoush at least once a week in the summer; in fact, I bought an eggplant on the way home from gymnastics yesterday, and I need to get it cooked!
I got a Middle Eastern cookbook out of the library a couple of weeks ago and made a couple of recipes - a cabbage and chickpea dish with walnuts was really good - but the cookbook wasn't particularly well written and didn't have nutrition information.