Title: Basai badawi (onions with lentils, nuts and fruit)
 Categories: Ethnic, Vegetarian, Beans
      Yield: 4 Servings
 
      4    Onions; large
    1/2 c  Lentils, red; cooked
    3/4 c  Yogurt, plain
      2 tb Dates; stored & finely
           -chopped
      2 tb Walnuts; chopped
      1 tb Raisins; or sultanas
      2 tb Bread crumbs
      1 bn Parsley, fresh; chopped
           -salt and pepper
 
  " This is a vegetarian version of a Bedouin dish. If you serve it with
  rice, try adding saffron or tumeric to the rice before cooking. It
  adds a distinctive flavor as well as color, creating 'red' rice."
    Peel the onions and place them in a large pan of boiling water.
  Reduce the heat and let them simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until
  they are fairly tender. When they are ready, take them out and set
  aside to cool.
    Now remove the centre section of each onion, to leave a shell about
  3/4 inch thick.
    In a bowl, mix together the lentils, pepper, salt, yogurt, dates,
  walnuts, raisins or sultanas and bread crumbs.
    Fill the onions with this mixture. Keep any that remains and mix it
  with the chopped discarded onion centres.
    Place the filled onions in an oven proof dish, spoon any remaining
  mixture around them and cook for about 20 minutes. Garnish with
  parsley ands serve with bulgur or 'red' rice (see note above).
  
  SERVES:4 SOURCE: _The New Internationalist Cookbook_ by Troth Wells
  posted by Anne MacLellan