Spicy Oil Infused with Paprika
Who was the genius that came up with the idea to infuse oil with spices? Every culture has their oil infusion. My mother always have a jar of oil infused with sweet paprika and hot paprika ready to use in…
Moroccan Donuts with Cardamom
Sfenj (or “Sfenj”) are Moroccan yeasted donuts that we eat in Hanukkah. They’re pretty similar to beignets but better. I should say better for you. Because they’re fluffy and addictive like beignets but contain no butter, milk and eggs. The…
Moroccan Carrot Salad With Harissa
Carrot isn’t the most exciting vegetable, right? But when you steam it lightly, to soften it just slightly, then mix it with homemade harissa (or store bought) and lemon juice it becomes the sultan of the garden. So make a…
Moroccan-Style braised Vegetables & Chickpeas
This dish is based on a Moroccan fish recipe which my mother and grandmother used to make only on weekdays. God forbid if you made it for Shabbat dinner. Moroccan Jews can be very particular about weekday food vs. Shabbat…
Roasted Eggplant, cauliflower, Zucchini & pumpkin Over Couscous
In the hot summer days, when I can’t eat anything but vegetables, I like to roast any vegetables I have in hand and serve them with some sort of a grain, such as rice or couscous, cilantro parsley or dill,…
Moroccan Cooked Tomato salad
You can’t write about salada matbucha without writing about Yeruham. The Jewish Moroccan spicy tomato cooked salad and my hometown in the Negev, the desert of Israel, go together. The aroma of tomatoes cooked with garlic and charred green spicy…
Smoky Butternut Squash, Eggplant & Bell Pepper Salad
I made this dish for lunch with friends and served it with hummus, tahini and burnt peppers and everybody loved it, except for my son, Leo, who doesn’t know yet how much he loves eggplants. Alex, my younger son, who…
Couscous With Caramelized Onions & Toasted Almonds
My older sister, Liraz, gave me the recipe. I love how she makes it but she lives 6,745 miles away from me. God knows, when will I be able to fly again. This is a great side dish. The other…
Gluten-Free Reifat (Anise Cookies)
I experimented with my grandmother’s Moroccan Anise Biscuits (Reifat) recipe and came up with a delicious gluten-free version that can also be made vegan. These biscuits are easy to make, only require one bowl to wash, and contain a small…
Vegan Overnight Stew (Hamin)
Hamin (the Sephardic version of Cholent) is a traditional Jewish overnight stew that has been made by Jews around the world for generations, specifically for Shabbat, as they were prohibited from cooking or lighting fires from Friday sundown to Saturday…
North African Hot Sauce
Harissa is a North African spicy sauce made with dried California (Anaheim) peppers, small hot chilies, garlic and spices. Traditional harissa is very spicy—too spicy for me—and I like spicy food. My sensitive palate doesn’t appreciate when one flavor cancels…