When I was a kid, I would spend hours upon hours at my Grandmother’s house (we called her Mommon Joon*). Often times, I remember while I was upstairs watching cartoons, she would be toiling away in the basement prepping “Sabzi” (Farsi for Leafy Greens) for a party she was throwing that night. (Iranian women are notorious party throwers/party animals/the world’s greatest hosts.) When I would march downstairs to see what she was doing, and why she wasn’t giving me attention (8-year-old Iranian Boys are like tyrants :)), I would see she was chopping and chopping and chopping and chopping the Sabzi for a dinner item that night.
**Joon in Farsi means “dear” so it’s added to words like Maman (Mom) or Baba (Dad) for our grand parents often times as a term of endearment. *
Her work ethic/patience/passion to make sure her guests ate well was really astounding. No one knew how to rage harder than my Grandma!
That dinner item she was preparing is called Koo Koo Sabzi. I would describe it as a vegetable frittata. Specifically the veggies in it are: curly leaf parsley, coriander, scallions, fenugreek and chives. Iranians will often use this dish as a fridge clean out for their veggies. I’ve seen my mom put lettuce and/or spinach it as well.
Once you have all the veggies processed, you mix it with an egg and some flour. You’ll then have almost a veggie cake batter on your hands. You then have 2 options, you can fry them or bake them. Depending on whether you have fallen off the diet wagon or are firmly on it, you can choose whichever cooking method you prefer.
Top it with some Greek yogurt (Fage is my favorite) or some whole milk ricotta (My personal favorite is Fierro out of Wilmington Delaware)
In the age of healthy eating this can be a surprisingly filling and healthy dish or side dish.
Recipe (Serves 2-4) – Kookoo Sabzi
Ingredients
1 Cup of Flat Leaf Parsley (De-stemmed) *You can leave the stems on too if you’re feeling lazy or you don’t mind them* , chopped
1 Cup of Fresh Cilantro , chopped
2 Cup of Chopped Scallions, chopped
2 Cup Fresh Dill, chopped
2 Tbsp. of Iranian Herb Mix (You can buy this dried at an Iranian Grocery Store) *I use this more as a seasoning than a part of the leafy green base, this will give it that distinctive Iranian flavor, but it’s not required*
1 Tsp. of Salt
1/2 Tsp. of Pepper
5 Eggs Beaten
1/8 Cup of Flour *If you want it to be thicker, add more flour*
4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
4 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce
Method
Throw all of your leafy greens & vegetables in a food processor, pulse it till they are fully processed. You don’t want any big chunks. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, add the beaten eggs and flour. Mix it together until you have something that resembles a green cake batter. Stir in one tablespoon of cooking oil.
Grease a pyrex dish with the rest of your oil and pour the mixture into the dish. Then put the dish into a pre-heated 350F oven for 30 minutes (use a toothpick to check and see if it’s done. Pull it out once the top is nice and crispy (but not burned).
Serve with some yogurt (Maast in Farsi) or Ricotta and enjoy!
- 1 Cup of Flat Leaf Parsley (De-stemmed) *You can leave the stems on too if you’re feeling lazy or you don’t mind them* , chopped
- 1 Cup of Fresh Cilantro , chopped
- 1 Cup of Chopped Scallions, chopped
- 2 Cup Fresh Dill, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Iranian Herb Mix (You can buy this dried at an Iranian Grocery Store)
- *I use this more as a seasoning than a part of the leafy green base, this will give it that distinctive Iranian flavor, but it’s not required*
- 1 Tsp. of Salt
- 1/2 Tsp. of Pepper
- 5 Eggs Beaten
- 1/8 Cup of Flour *If you want it to be thicker, add more flour*
- 4 Tbsp. Olive Oil
- 4 Leaves of Romaine Lettuce
- Throw all of your leafy greens & vegetables in a food processor, pulse it till they are fully processed. You don’t want any big chunks. Pour the mixture into a mixing bowl, add the beaten eggs and flour. Mix it together until you have something that resembles a green cake batter. Stir in one tablespoon of cooking oil.
- Grease a pyrex dish with the rest of your oil and pour the mixture into the dish. Then put the dish into a pre-heated 350F oven for 30 minutes (use a toothpick to check and see if it’s done. Pull it out once the top is nice and crispy (but not burned).
- Serve with some yogurt (Maast in Farsi) or Ricotta and enjoy!
