Embracing My Culture

So for those of you that don’t know, I am 100%, no doubt about it, Middle Eastern. My parents were born in Syria so that makes me 1^st generation Arab-American. Before I go on, let’s get a couple things out of the way. No, my family does not own a party store, nor do they own a gas station. I know, shocking, right?!?! And that high-pitched vocal sound you hear Arab women shouting out at weddings and other celebrations, no, that is not the national anthem of our country or our mating call either for that matter.

I was always a little different than my friends. As a kid my lunches were PB and J spread onto pita bread. My parents unlike those of my friends had “Foreigner accents”.  We had the biggest garden in the neighborhood and when I mean biggest, I’m talking the size of most backyards in new subdivisions these days! I even entered Kindergarten speaking “Arblish”, half Arabic and half English to the teacher and other kids. I was 1 of 2 Arabs in my school and it would stay that way all through high school. Needless to say, I tried so hard to be as American as I could. I just didn’t want to be the different one. It was bad enough being the overweight one. However, I would eventually come to embrace my culture.

Let’s talk about weight and food and how being Arab falls into that mix. There is one thing that is for certain….my Mom is the best Middle Eastern food cook ever!!!!! Her food is seriously so good. And not only is her food awesome, but all my Aunts make to die for Arab food too! Ever heard the phrase “Food is Love”? Well that is like the motto for the Arab world! You show your love through food by making these huge amazing meals with at least 6 dishes to choose from and then invite everybody over. I love it! I think it is absolutely wonderful and it means a lot when you know somebody has worked so hard to provide this beautiful meal for you. However, here is the problem….restraining from eating everything and eating a lot of it. How do you do that when everything tastes so good and you have loving Mothers, Aunts and Grandmother’s saying “Please, eat more, I made all this food”? But the meal doesn’t end there….in comes the array of desserts, fruits and nuts. It’s hard to stay thin when you are surrounded by yummy meals prepared with love. We almost always go to my parent’s house on Sundays for the Arab Feast and it has been a hard, long, road learning that I don’t have to eat everything and a lot of it. Middle Eastern food is typically pretty healthy so that’s a bonus but not when you are on your third helping!

It wasn’t until I met my husband (who is American) that I realized how cool it was to be Middle Eastern. He loved that I was different, that I had the curves of a belly dancer and that I spoke Arabic. Simply by him loving me for who I am, I learned to be proud of the fact that I am Syrian! I hope that the love for my culture will rub off on our daughter and that she will be proud to be half Syrian. Her first taste of solid food was hummus and go figure, she loves my Mom’s cooking more than mine! We are teaching her Arabic and how to belly dance. It’s so fun!

So even though I have 64 less lbs of hummus, falafel and fattoush on my body, I still have my curves and I couldn’t be happier.

Well of course I’m going to give you a Middle Eastern recipe. Here is how I make my hummus. Some make it differently but it’s all on how you like it. Lemony? Add more lemon. Garlicky? Add more garlic.

Hummus

Ingredients:

1 can chick peas

¼ cup liquid from the can of chick peas

3 TBS fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 ½ TBS Tahini (can be found in the International foods aisle at most grocery stores)

2 cloves garlic, crushed

½ tsp salt

2 TBS olive oil

Directions:

1.       Drain chick peas from can. Set aside ¼ cup liquid.

2.       Add chick peas, the liquid and remaining ingredients in a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed and smooth.

3.       Eat right away or store in the fridge until ready to be served.

My favorite way to eat hummus is with pita bread of course, but because it’s not always the healthiest to eat too much bread I love to dip veggies in my hummus. Sweet peppers, carrots, cucumbers, you name it! I’m sorry I don’t have nutrition facts for this recipe but I do know an appropriate serving size for hummus is 2 TBS and it really is healthy. Enjoy!