Shereen Abdelfattah emigrated to the United States from Egypt with her family in 2002 because her husband was completing a college degree at the time. They moved to the Triad, North Carolina, area in 2009. Around 2014, she began to notice an influx of Syrian refugees in her community and wanted to support them, knowing they’d be coming from having lived through a war and trying to resettle into a new country. What better way than through food, she thought.
“World Relief Triad helped many families through the resettlement process so I wanted to provide a way for women to find financial stability during an uncertain time,” Abdelfattah says. “I love food and using it to bring people together while sharing recipes from my culture.”
Food is the best way to connect people together from all backgrounds, according to Abdelfattah. It’s one of the few times people can sit down at one table and start to a conversation and make new friends, even if they don’t know each other.
She launched Delicious by Shereen, as a catering company to help local refugees find financial independence as they adjust to life in the Triad area. Abdelfattah believes in giving people "a hand up instead of a handout" and uses food as a way to bring people across cultures together.
Delicious by Shereen currently works with mostly Syrian women and supports five to 10 refugee families, many who have overcome incredible circumstances and some who are the sole supporters for their families.
She’s also the mother of four children, ages 8 to 16, and among the dishes they love are koshary, Egyptian pasta with bechamel sauce, moussaka, and baklava.
Koshary is also one of her favorite dishes and she kindly shared with recipe with our readers. Not only is it one of her catering company’s most popular dishes, it's also vegan and vegetarian-friendly, she notes.
In honor of Mother’s Day, I asked Abdelfattah how it feels being a mother with a food-based business. “Juggling motherhood and my love for food has shown me the power and connection that sharing a meal brings,” she says. “Because of that, I always make sure our family sits down to eat dinner together.”
For those who want to try their hand at making Koshary at home, here is the Delicious by Shereen recipe.
Koshary
For the onions and raisins:
4 medium sweet Vidalia onions
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup golden raisins (soaked in warm water for 15 minutes and drained)
For the lentils:
1½ cups uncooked brown lentils
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (reserved from cooking onions)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups water
1 tablespoon fine ground cumin
1 tablespoon white vinegar
For the rice:
2 cups uncooked white rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (reserved from cooking onions)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
For the pasta:
1 16-ounce package ditalini (or elbow macaroni) pasta
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (reserved from cooking onions)
Black pepper to taste
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon oil (reserved from cooking onions)
1 medium sweet Vidalia onion
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 15-ounce cans of tomato sauce
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or chili powder or cayenne pepper)
1 teaspoon fine ground cumin
1 bay leaf
1. Soak lentils for 30 minutes in warm water.
2. Meanwhile, dice the onions and then heat the ½ cup vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, salt, pepper and sauté until they become golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the drained raisins and cook 2 more minutes while stirring. Remove from pan and drain onions and raisins on a paper, towel-lined plate. Reserve remainder of oil to be reused later in recipe.
3. For the lentils, in a medium pot add the water, vegetable oil, salt, black pepper, cumin, vinegar and bring to a boil. Drain and rinse lentils, and add to boiling water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes depending on desired consistency of lentils, less time if you want them firm. Once cooked, remove and drain lentils, reserving 3 cups of the water to cook the rice.
4. For the rice, in a large pot heat 1 tablespoon oil that was used to sauté the onions and raisins, add rice and stir for 1 minute. Add the 3 cups of water reserved from the lentils, heat until boiling, and then reduce heat and cover to cook rice for 15 minutes. Next, add the drained lentils on top of the rice and simmer on low heat for 5 more minutes until rice is cooked.
5. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding salt and 1 tablespoon of oil to water. Rinse and drain pasta.
6. To finish the pasta, in a large saucepan heat remaining tablespoon oil and black pepper then sauté the cooked pasta for 2 minutes.
7. To prepare the sauce, heat oil and sauté the onion and garlic in a medium saucepan. Add salt and pepper. Stir until golden brown, then add the vinegar. Add tomato sauce, cumin, bay leaf and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to boil (uncovered), and reduce heat to a low simmer.
8. To serve, add cooked rice and lentils to a serving platter, then the cooked pasta. Add sauce over the mixture, then top with golden raisins and onions.
