Ava’s Egyptian Lunch

Around the World Lunch: Egypt

Ever since Ava’s Egyptian-themed birthday party this summer, she’s been obsessed with all things Egypt. Naturally, when I asked what she wanted to try for this week’s Around the World Lunch she sang out “EGYPT!”

Finger Foods 

First up? Ful medames (pronounced “fool”), Egyptian street food often served for breakfast and lunch. Ful is a dip made with fava beans cooked with onion and tomatoes. It’s high in protein making ful great for concentration during the school day!  For color and flavor I added torn parsley and drizzled some olive oil and lemon juice over the top, just like they do in Egypt. We treat ful like hummus, so on the side Ava has plenty of pita bread to dip, dip, dip. I also included tomatoes and a hard boiled egg, both popular ful toppings in Egypt.Ava-babushka

Dessert

As a nod to Ava’s Egyptian birthday party, I included a slice of Basboosa, a Middle Eastern semolina cake laced with rose water and lemon juice. This cake is dense and sweet – but the touch of lemon juice and rose water balances everything out.  It’s the perfect pick-me-up in for a Friday! (I should know, I snuck a couple of slices while making her lunch this morning!)

Tips & Tricks

  • Make the ful the night before – it’ll be even better in the morning and save you a lot of time!
  • If your child doesn’t like chunky textures, blend the ful completely smooth so that it reminds them of hummus.
  • Real talk: Ava’s lunch is not magic, it shifts around just like everyone else’s. To avoid a mess, I popped a lid on her bowl of ful after taking this photo.
  • Looking for more nutrition? Swap the basboosa cake for orange slices – the land along the Nile River is one of the world’s greatest producers of oranges – who knew?!

Ava's Around the World LunchesWhy show you Ava’s lunch?

Ava’s Around the World Lunches began when I shared a few of Ava’s globally-inspired lunches on Instagram and Facebook. Turns out a lot of people are looking for lunch ideas – whether for school or work.

In this weekly column, I share one of our Around the World lunches with you. I give you tips, like where to find ingredients or possible substitutions. If you have ideas for lunches you’d like to see or challenges you need help dealing with, let me know in the comments!

 

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