Yumna Jawad, better known as the Feel Good Foodie, is a social media influencer whose recipes would feel familiar to any Michigander, with the addition of unique spins that tie in Mediterranean flavors.
Among her creations are a pasta salad pulled together with tahini, a quick bread full of dates, and a working family weeknight recipe for shawarma.
This month, Jawad is preparing and sharing her favorite dishes for Ramadan. Over the course of the holiday, Jawad's family typically wakes up around 5:15 a.m., eats, drinks water, and stops eating around an hour before sunrise. In the evenings, her family gathers to prepare a meal together.
"It's just like a very beautiful thing that happens in my kitchen," Jawad said. "This might happen once or twice a week on a normal basis, but during Ramadan, every single day about an hour and a half before the sun sets, the whole family's in the kitchen, and we're all just working together and starting to prepare what we're having for dinner that day."
Breaking the fast feels rewarding, Jawad said. and makes her feel bonded to the larger community also breaking their fast at the same time. At the end of the thirty days, however, the routine can be physically and mentally taxing.
Certain dishes, like crushed lentil soup, make her nostalgic.
"I won't have it all year long," Jawad said. "And then, during that time it's just wonderful."
She offered her tips for her silky smooth home recipe. Jawad recommended using dried chickpeas and soaking them for 24 hours, rather than opting for canned ones.
"You can just instantly say, 'In 15 minutes I can have hummus on the table,' you know, as opposed to, you have to think about it the night before and soak the dry chickpeas for 24 hours," Jawad said. "But if you do soak them and boil them, you don't actually need to peel the chickpeas."
If going the canned route, she recommended peeling the chickpeas before putting them in the food processor.
"We don't always do it," Jawad said. "But I will have [my kids] peel the chickpeas, especially if we're having people over and I really want the presentation to be extra smooth and silky."
She also recommended using a strong food processor that can continuously blend for four or five minutes without getting hot.
"I invested in a really good one, probably like ten years ago, and that's my go to whenever I'm making hummus," Jawad said. "It just makes it so creamy, almost like store bought."
Finally, Jawad likes to add ice cubes to the food processor.
"There's something about the blade slowly crushing those ice cubes into the chickpeas that just makes it like [an] ice-cream-like texture that just tastes like super smooth and fluffy, in a way," Jawad said. "You kind of think about like all the little ice crystals that break into the chickpea. That makes it really, really good."
Jawad’s family-friendly creations on Instagram are also gathered together in her cookbook, a self-titled album called The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook: 125 Recipes Enhanced with Mediterranean Flavors.
Hear the full conversation with Yumna Jawad on the Stateside podcast.
