I’m more than happy to participate in a very beneficial project for women and girls. It’s called the Heart Women & Girl’s Project committed to empowering women and girls in interfaith and community settings by building self-esteem and leadership through health and wellness.  Last year, I gave a presentation to young girls at their first ever health workshop for Muslim girls in Chicago. I talked about eating right, showing healthy snack options, and gave a few sample recipes for lunch and after school bites. The girls were animated and interested in the subject and I could tell the workshop was something the girls not only needed, but wanted.

In support of this wonderful on-going project,  I’m giving away a bundle of My Halal Kitchen products- an apron, measuring spoon and recipe card. To enter, just go to the HEART website, and read my article, Eat Right and Feel Great During Ramadan (and a few sample recipes for iftar and suhoor). Leave a comment with your own favorite Ramadan recipe and you’ll be entered into their contest to win these goodies.

Here’s a sneak peak at the article:

Eat Right and Feel Great During Ramadan

 This year, fasting is a bit of a challenge considering the high temperatures and long summer days to endure without food or water. With the right planning and intention to keep our bodies healthy, fasting can actually be much easier than we realize. Use these tips to eat and hydrate in a healthy way, giving you the energy and endurance needed to get through the month while maintaining a healthy body.

Guard Your Suhoor

• Make enough time for it and make sure it’s a healthy one.
• Eat a complete meal with a variety of fruits, whole grains and protein, such as beans or eggs. Choose from leafy greens, and water-rich fruits such as watermelon, peaches and papaya.
• Avoid refined sugars and too many carbohydrates, which can leave you feeling exhausted by mid-day.
• Drink plenty of water or real juice, but don’t overstuff yourself with these, either.

Don’t Sleep the Day Away

• This is particularly important after the suhoor meal because digestion and circulation cannot occur if you spend half the day in bed.
• Additionally, you will slow yourself down by sleeping during the daylight hours meant for being productive.

Conserve Those Calories

• Avoid too much talking—yes, talking takes up a lot of energy and can actually bring on headaches. You need as much of your energy to get through the day so avoid unnecessary and long-winded conversations, especially futile ones that have nothing to do with work, family or the deen.
• Take it easy when doing errands or working around the house by maintaining a leisurely pace. Walk, don’t run and you’ll avoid losing the energy needed for your ibadah. We should remain productive, but choose our energy output wisely.

Break Your Fast Calmly

• Don’t be in a rush to eat. You won’t digest your food properly and could make yourself sick. Instead, break fast with a healthy room-temperature fluid like water, pure fruit juice or warm milk, as cold drinks are hard on your system. Have a couple of dates, figs, and a handful of nuts. Then, pray your salah and return to the table for a nice meal.

Ease Into the Iftar Meal

• Warm the stomach and slowly acclimate your body to food by having soup as a first course to the iftar meal. It’s not only easy on the stomach, but it also prevents over-eating with heavier foods that generally come afterwards.

 To continue reading this article and enter the contest, please visit the HEART Women & Girl’s Project website

My friends and I decided to get together for an Iftar (breaking of the fast dinner). We thought having a theme would be a great way to focus on the food, as well as make it easier to come up with dishes each one of us would be responsible to make. We got together a couple hours before sunset and cooked together. It was fun and went fast since we were all doing something to contribute to the meal. I made the Seafood and Chicken Paella as well as the Sangria Fabricada (non-alcoholic fruit juice drink with real fruit added) and a few other things. Scroll down to see the complete menu.

On the menu:

• Chilled Gazpacho (Cucumber & Tomato Soup)
• Seafood & Chicken Paella
• Baked Mussles in Tomato Sauce & Olive Oil
• Patatas Bravas with Marinara Sauce
• Roasted Red Pepper and Olive Salad
• Baked Goat Cheese & Tomato Sauce
• Sangria Fabricada (Non-Alcoholic Grape Juice with Fresh Fruits)
• Mango Sorbet & Fresh Mango Dessert
• Fresh Ricotta, Honey and Blackberry Jam Dessert with Biscotti 

Baked Mussels in Tomato Sauce (Add a bit of grape juice to the pan and bake at 350º for about 30 minutes). Topped with fresh parsley. Discard any mussels that do not open.

 The pics above show some of our side dishes from top left corner, clockwise:  Mixed Olive Salad; Salty, Smoked & Toasted Almonds; Sicilian Red Pepper & Olive Salad; Patatas Bravas with Marinara Sauce

Above was the Sangria Fabricada (non-alcoholic Fruit Juice). To  it I added oranges, lemons, limes, peaches and two kinds of grapes. It was delicious!

The Spanish Tortilla is a classic Spanish tapa, or appetizer and must be had at any Spanish-themed party. Cut into bite-size pieces and served with toothpicks, it goes great with other Mediterranean dishes. It’s basically a thick omelette packed with potatoes and onions- hearty and savory.

This post was written to give you an idea of some of the dishes you can prepare if you’re planning a Spanish-themed party or dinner, but also to show how choosing a theme can really make things easier for yourself and fun if you’re cooking with friends and family. I am blessed to know some of the nicest human beings on the planet and even more fortunate to be able to call them my friends. Whatever you make, I suggest do it with those whose company you enjoy the most.

I’ll try to make the recipes available on My Halal Kitchen soon. For now, let it serve as inspiration for your own cooking. Let me know what you have cooking!

Related Posts

Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

Summer Mediterranean Salad with Citrus, Dates & Nasturtium Flowers

Mediterranean Spiced Grilled Chicken

What an easy recipe for suhoor (pre-dawn meal before fasting) for your family or for large gatherings such as a qiyam-al-layl (staying up all night for prayer). You can make the phyllo shells the day before and they’ll be just fine to fill them in with the freshly cooked scrambled eggs.  

Makes 36 cups

Ingredients for the Baked Phyllo Cups

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 tablespoons finely chopped fresh thyme, marjoram, sage and oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 12 sheets frozen phyllo dough, thawed (½ of a 16 oz. package) 

Ingredients for the Scrambled Eggs

• 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ red onion, minced
• 4 mini sweet peppers, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 7 small cherry tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 4 mini sweet peppers, diced
• freshly chopped parsley
• 1-2 tablespoons butter

Directions for the Baked Phyllo Cups

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Melt butter, and set aside.
3. Remove and roll out the entire phyllo dough from the 16 oz. package and cut the entire thing in half.
4. Place 1 sheet of the phyllo dough on a clean, dry surface; brush the entire surface generously with melted butter. Sprinkle lightly with a modest amount of the freshly cut herbs. Place another sheet of phyllo on top, brush with melted butter, and sprinkle with another modest amount of the fresh herbs. Repeat with 2 more sheets of phyllo to total four sheets.
5. Cut the stack into twelve 3-inch squares. Gently mold each square into a 3 inch muffin tin cup.
6. Bake until the edges are just golden brown about 10 minutes. When done, set aside to cool.
7. Repeat step 2 with 4 more sheets of phyllo dough, melted butter, and fresh herbs. Repeat again, for a total of 36 cups.

Directions for the Scrambled Eggs

1. In a large sauté pan, warm the olive oil.
2. Add the red onions and sweet peppers and sauté for about 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, garlic, salt and papper and cook until the tomatoes have softened.
3. Crack the eggs directly into pan and stir to scramble with the rest of the ingredients until the engtire mixture is blended and scrambled.
4. Set aside to cool.

Directions for Filling the Baked Phyllo Cups

1. While the baked phyllo cups are still in the muffin tins and cooled, place ½ teaspoon feta cheese in the bottom of each phyllo cup.
2. Place 1 teaspoon of the egg mixture on top of the feta cheese.
3. Bake until heated through, about 3 minutes.
4. Garnish with a small dollup of butter and a bit of fresh, flat leaf parsley for décor and taste.

*Note: if you need to re-heat these for any reason, do so in the oven or a small toaster oven for about 2-3 minutes. Re-heating in the microwave will cause the cups to soften too much and lose their crispiness.