The other day my sisters and I were talking about our favorite dishes from childhood and Joanna listed araka as one of her favorites. Our mom used to make it for us all time, partly because she could make a big batch at once, and partly because it was good for us. But mostly because we all would eat it. We loved this dish as kids and really missed it when we realized we haven’t had araka in years so, of course, my sisters had to make it.

Even if it doesn’t bring back memories, we think you’ll really enjoy it. I did! Healthy and delicious!

Note: Our mom used to make this dish vegetarian so we kept it that way for our recipe (perfect for Lent) but you can add meat if you like. Just use beef stew meat. You can usually find it in the market, already cut up. If you can’t, use beef chuck or beef round, cut into 1/12 to 2 inch pieces. season with salt and pepper and adding it at the beginning, cooking in the olive oil until just brown on all sides. You may want to add a little more olive oil and a little more water as well.