Lentils, Eggplant & Tomatoes
Here are a few things I learned about the history of lentils with my commentary:
Chickpea With Caramelized Onion
I always associate the word Turkish with food, good food – even when someone brings up Turkish prisons, Turkish Coffee or the Bride from Istanbul. Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Turkey yet but it’s on the top of my list.…
Golden Beets Cured Like Gravlax
One day, I got curious what would happen if I cured golden beets as if they were salmon. Since the color and the white streaks of of the beet reminded me of salmon. So I coated the beets in kosher…
Smoky Eggplant Dip
My favorite meals are those vibrant dinners which are assembled from a bunch of dips, sides and small plates instead of ordinary main dish-side-and-salad dinner. We eat like that everyday but it never gets boring because they are colorful and…
Easy Sesame & Sunflower Brittle
Before the pandemic, I used to make this brittle weekly for my boys’ lunch bags. It’s a treat that checks all the boxes: gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, and free from refined sugar, yet deliciously crunchy. I had the pleasure of filming…
Perfect Roasted Cabbage With Tahini & Tomato Puree
In my family and Homeland we have a lot of respect for vegetables. They get more attention than meat. You’ll never hear my mother rave about a steak or sausages. But she’ll always describe to you the perfect green beans…
Turkish Style Flatbreads
They should teach in elementary school how to make basic bread. All humans should know how to create this godly attribute. Even French people and lawyers. The process of mixing flour, yeast (or sourdough starter), salt and water into a…
Waldorf Salad With Blood Oranges
My older sister who is a great cook and baker gave me the recipe for this salad. She used to make it a lot when we lived in New York. Her recipe is with pineapple but I didn’t have any…
Chickpea & Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
When I was a kid my mother made this chickpea soup once a week during the winter. It doesn’t snow in the Negev, the desert of Israel but it is freaking cold. I always say that the winter in New…
7 Plant-Based Mains For Cold Days
Here are our most favorite, plant-based main-dishes for puffy-coat weather or semi cold swather weather. They’ll keep you warm, cozy and nourished. Except for the slow-roasted eggplant, the rest of the dishes are kid friendly (well, my kids and their…
Smoky Eggplant & tomato Mezze
My friend brought this mezze over for Shabbat dinner (Friday night). Her Kurdish-Iraqi grandmother used to make it. It’s teenager friendly. My 13 year-old son, who’s an adventurous eater but eggplant hater, loved it. You can serve with other mezzes…
Wintery Fruit Salad With Rosemary
I’ll never forget the night my husband and I stumbled upon the mind-blowing combo of fruits and rosemary. It was back in 2010, right after we’d moved to Los Angeles from Israel. We were checking out Sage Vegan Bistro in…
Epic Baba Ganoush
According to Wikipedia, Baba Ganoush is a Levantine dish. According to me, it’s Shabbat at my mother’s. She has been making it every Friday for Shabbat dinner since I was a kid. Some people make their baba G with tahini…
Indian Style Okra & Zucchini
Even as a recipe developer I sometimes don’t know what to make for dinner. When nothing comes to mind I start rinsing and peeling the vegetables I have in hand. And while doing so something interesting happens. I start cooking…
Gluten-Free Yeasted Bread
Everyone should learn how to make bread even if they live above a boulangerie. When I made my first loaf at age 24, I felt the same sense of freedom and achievement I felt when I passed the driving test…
Indian Style Yellow beans
We, my immediate and extended family and I, live on side dishes. Instead of making a main dish with a side dish, we make two or three vegetables dishes with a condiment on the side or a bunch of mezzes…
African Stew with Peanut Butter
I adapted the recipe from Mark Hayman’s cookbook What The Hell Shall I cook? Mark adapted it from Hugh Jackman. I googled the recipe to see where it originally came from; Central and West Africa but I was wondering who’s…
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…
Baked Nectarines, Peaches & Plums
I intended to make a fruit crisp but I accidentally over processed the nut mixture into a sandy mixture. So I mixed it with 1 egg to fix it and the crust came out chewy, like nougat. It was tasty…