SABICH BREAKFAST BOWLS

Sabich is a traditional Israeli sandwich served in pita or on leffa bread. It’s stuffed with fried eggplant, chopped cabbage salad, hard boiled eggs, parsley, mint, lemon, tahini sauce and amba (mango sauce). I found a deconstructed version of the traditional sandwich and thought it would be a great breakfast or brunch dish for us during this heat wave. It was fabulous! Although, I could not find ripe mango to make the Amba Sauce, I will make this again and I will make this sauce! The sauce I did use is not traditional, but. it was really good. We had a lot of fresh heirloom tomatoes needing to be used, so I made a Lebanese tomato sauce my Mother always makes. If you can find a good mango, please make the Amba. I have provided the recipe in the body of this post.

From some of my research, I learned that Sabich was created somewhere around the mid-1950’s and named after a street vendor, Zvika Chalavi (Zvika in Hebrew and Sabich in Iraqi). At the time, he and his partner had a kiosk in Ramat Gan where they served falafel and the dish they created (now known as Sabich) was becoming a popular item on their menu. They needed a name for their dish and decided to use one of their names. Sabich stuck and is now well known in many regions. According to the article I read (written by Yael Adar), you can get the “real deal” by visiting David “Dudi” Sasson’s kiosk in Ramat Gan (129 Ha’Roeh Street, Ramat Gan, Israel). Dudi is a second-generation Sabich maker and the son of Sabich’s partner who helped create this popular food.

You’ll love this! Make a bowl or stuff all these ingredients in a pita!

Makes 4 bowls

INGREDIENTS

4 large farm fresh eggs, boiled 7 minutes, cut in half
8 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 Japanese eggplant, cut in 1/4″ thick rounds
5 T fresh lemon juice
3 cloves fresh garlic, grated, divided (approximately 3 tablespoons)
1/2 jalapeno, seeded, minced (approximately 1 tablespoon)
1 tsp toasted cumin, ground
1/2 tsp each Kosher salt + black pepper
1 14-ounce can organic garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained and patted dried
1 C red cabbage, sliced thin
1 C green cabbage, sliced thin
1/2 C organic Italian parsley, rough chopped
1/2 C fresh organic mint, stems removed and rough chopped
1 medium red onion, sliced thin
2 C organic orange and red cherry tomatoes, sliced in half ((if you’re not growing this summer,Trader Joe’s organic cherry tomatoes)
1 large orange, red or yellow bell pepper, julienne cut
1 firm, large English cucumber, sliced in 1/4 ” rounds
2 C homemade hummus (and/or Zhoug)
2 C cooked couscous (cook according to directions)
2 tsp sumac (optional)
1/2 C Tahini Sauce (recipe below)
1 C Amba Sauce (recipe below)
Fresh za’atar, for serving
Good extra virgin olive oil, for serving
Lemon slices (optional)
Warm pita or flatbread

Eggplant

Lay sliced eggplant onto paper towels and salt them. After about 10-12 minutes, lightly rinse and pat dry. In a cast iron pan on medium heat, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and fry slices on both sides (approximately 3 minutes per side) until golden brown. Remove from heat and place fried eggplant on paper towels until ready to assemble.

Boil the eggs for approx. 7 minutes (longer if desired), rinse and peel.

Lemon Olive Oil Dressing

In a blender, add 4 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons garlic, jalapeño, cumin, salt and pepper. Blend and set aside until ready to assemble

Tahini Sauce

In a medium size mixing bowl, add 1/2 cup well-stirred tahini, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon shaved fresh garlic. Stir until well incorporated. If needed, you can add water – one tablespoon at a time and no more than 4 tablespoons. This will thin the mixture slightly and make it easier to drizzle on bowl ingredients. Season with salt if needed.

Salad

In a large mixing bowl, add garbanzos, red and green cabbage, parsley and mint, sliced red onion, cherry tomato halves, julienne bell pepper and sliced cucumber. Toss all ingredients in lemon olive oil mixture. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Amba Sauce

1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp whole mustard seed

1 mango not too soft
1/2 lemon (approximately 2 tablespoons)
2 T extra virgon olive oil
1 fresh garlic clove, peeled and minced
2 T fresh turmeric, grated
1/2 tsp toasted cumin, ground
2 T harissa
2 T red wine vinegar
Kosher Salt

In a cast iron pan, on medium heat, roast the fenugreek and mustard seeds until lightly toasted and aromatic. Peel the mango and cut the flesh from the core. Toss in blender and add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, turmeric, cumin, harissa, red wine vinegar and puree until smooth. Salt and taste for balance. Keep in fridge for one week in a glass jar with lid.

Put all the ingredients for Amba in a blender and puree properly and then put it in a sealable jar. Amba can be kept in the fridge for about 5 days.

Assembly

In large pasta bowls (or something similar), begin assembly with couscous ~ 1/2 cup (or more) per bowl, Alongside the couscous, equally distribute salad ingredients. Decoratively nestle fried eggplant next to (or on top of) 1/2 cup hummus (sprinkled with sumac if so desired). Add 2-3 boiled egg halves per bowl. Drizzle each bowl with some of the tahini sauce and some of the Amba Sauce. Taste for desired flavor and add more of each sauce if so desired. Garnish with more mint and parsley. Serve with warm flatbread or pita and small bowls of za’atar, olive oil and sliced lemons for everyone to dress their bowls as the like.

COOK’S NOTES

A favorite condiment to add to Sabich bowls is Zhoug. We didn’t have any on hand, but next time I’ll serve these bowls with Zhoug. You can get Zhoug at Trader Joe’s OR here’s a recipe if you’d like to try to make this ~ it’s in the body of this blog post, as well as below : (https://pepperandsaltkitchen.com/2021/02/26/code-of-condiments-make-the-mundane-magnificent/)

ZHOUG for more spice in your life!

This is a condiment from Yemen that can be used on literally most foods. We love it on eggs. It’s great on grilled potatoes. A dollop on soups is amazing. Spread it on sandwiches or wraps. Your life will change forever if you spread it on a falafel!! Recently, my husband and I became obsessed with shakshuka. Zhoug definitely takes this already well-seasoned dish up several notches. Try it. Zhoug leans tends on the spicier side, so if you want less of that, just reduce the jalapeño heat to your liking.

Ingredients

4 fresh garlic cloves, rough chopped
2 bunches organic cilantro, stems included – approximately 3 cups leaves and stems
1 bunch organic Italian parsley or curly parsley – approximately 1 cup
2 medium jalapeños (remove seeds for a milder sauce)
1 tsp sea salt
1-1/2 tsp freshly ground toasted cumin
1-1/2 tsp freshly ground coriander
1 tsp freshly ground cardamom
½ tsp red chili flakes
1 T fresh lemon juice (add more if needed)
1 C extra virgin olive oil

Add all ingredients through lemon juice into blender. With blender running, add olive oil and blend until rough-smooth consistency. It shouldn’t be like pistou or pesto, but more chunky.