New dishes to try at the Lebanese Food Festival

posted on: May 16, 2015

The Lebanese Food Festival, a Richmond favorite, returns for its 31st year this weekend with homemade Lebanese dishes, traditional music and colorful dancing.
The three-day festival has added a handful of new dishes that are prepared on-site, cooked in an outdoor conveyer oven and served hot. They are:
• Manouch Bejibn, an open-face flatbread cheese pie topped with mozzarella, Asiago, Parmesan and Romano;
• Laham Bi Ajeen, an open-face pita with fresh ground beef, tomatoes, onions, parsley and Lebanese spices; and
• Zaatar bread, an open-face pita topped with Lebanese pesto, sesame seed, olive oil, lemon and Lebanese spices.
But don’t worry, the menu hasn’t changed much because of the new additions. You’ll still find plenty of tasty standbys, such as stuffed squash, spinach pies, roasted lamb, falafel, baked kibbee and enough stuffed grape leaves to stretch from St. Anthony Maronite Church to Short Pump Town Center and back.
Another festival favorite is to buy in bulk. Festivalgoers like to stock up on such favorites as pies, kibbee, hummus, tabbouleh and more to freeze for later.
New this year, the festival will be offering off-site parking with a shuttle from the nearby parking lot at Markel Corp.
The festival is held rain or shine on the church’s 15 acres of rolling grounds. There also is an indoor dining area that seats 300.
Last year, more than 20,000 people came out during the course of the festival, which is a labor of love by the 250 families in the church parish. Church members as young as 4 participate in the cultural dances, while mothers and grandmothers cook side by side in the kitchen.
“No one is a stranger here,” said festival volunteer Sandra Brown. “Everyone is treated like a guest in our home. I think that’s part of the reason people come

Source: www.richmond.com