Ramadan Recipe #1

Strawberry Nachos

Ramadan has come upon us and this year I'm going to try real hard to post fun yummy recipes for Iftar.  The number one question i get  before Ramadan is "Are you ready"? I don't know about you all but i really truly find that question very mind boggling.  For many years i guess since i have been married i used to go along with it and just say "yeah i guess so".  But how does one really get ready for Ramadan.  My brain asks me that question all the time. It seems to be a rhetorical question.  I mean does that question mean preparing samosas for the month or stuffing 100 grape leaves and cabbages and freezing them (yes, i did have a Syrian friend who started this process a month prior to prepare and i must say i helped her a few times which in return brought home some amazing stuffed vegetables)..Seriously, i mean i tried getting into it but i ended up frying those things before Ramadan even started because i didn't have the patience to keep staring at them every time i opened the freezer. Although i say to myself in my head when asked that question.." don't you just do it".  As Muslim's haven't we been conditioned to just do it because it is part of our faith.  A part of a Muslim routine like praying, eating, breathing. The Muslim body may not look any different from any other body and it may even function the same as people around the world, but just like the monks up in the Himalayas who choose not to speak for months at all. We have conditioned our bodies to fast for 30 days once a year.  Its not a big deal.  It only becomes a big deal when you make it into a big deal.  If you are anything like me and watch countless hours of discovery channel and national geographic and nova etc you would know that the human being is an extraordinary creature able to do anything by just doing it cause you do what you got to do.  Seriously i see it all the time, having lived in Hot Humid Texas i used to watch these amazing men work in the middle of the afternoon with jeans, long sleeved shirts, boots, gloves hard hat, and that plastic yellow jacket doing physical manual labor EVERY DAY! I m sure every morning they say to themselves today is another day. Just Do It.  I mean Nike people have it down.
  Islam is an amazing religion it has so much logic and truth we choose not to see it. As human beings we pick out the lamest most ridiculous things to question but we forget the amount of mercy Allah has for us. For example  We are required to fast but it also states if you are weak, starving, sick or a young child you don't have to do it.  Since we were young,our mothers have been telling us this is the time when Satan is locked up. So we are extra careful, we think before we act, we do good deeds. It may be a small statement but that's what got me through my teen years.   If we do say or do something wrong we quickly check ourselves and try to improve on our character. It is a good time and as we grow older we learn new things we incorporate those ideas even further to improve ourselves.  We develop empathy for the meek and we broaden our knowledge we better our characters.  

Now to the Recipe:


Strawberry Nachos (My Niece Ayeshas special request every year)
12 Tortillas
Cinnamon sugar
2 pints Strawberries
1 Tbsp sugar
Oil for frying
Paper Bag

1 cup heavy Whipping Cream
1 tsp Vanilla
2 tbsp sugar, more or less according to your taste
1/2 tsp Almond Extract (optional)
toasted slivered almonds (optional)
1 tbsp whipped cream cheese

Slice or cut up the strawberries and put them in a bowl with 1 tbsp sugar.  Put in the refrigerator until ready to use
In a mixing bowl pour in the whipping cream vanilla and almond extract and whip until it looks like whip cream. Add in the whipped cream cheese and gently whip it until incorporated not too much or it will turn into butter.  Cover and place in the fridge
First we cut up the tortillas into squares or diamonds basically 1 or 1/2 inch
i just use scissors and just go at it with the kids whatever shape
Fry the tortillas in oil until light brown take them out and quickly put them into the brown paper bag sprinkle a lot of cinnamon sugar to coat the tortilla chips.  Be very generous.  Shake the bag until all the chips are coated.
After all the tortillas are cinnamon sugared.  
In a pretty dish layer the cinnamon sugar tortillas, top with strawberries.  Then the whip cream sprinkle with almonds then the left over juice from the strawberry just pour on top.  sprinkle a little bit more cinnamon sugar and enjoy!!



Ramadan Kareem!