Author: chanie

Greek Salad with Feta Croutons

Well hello there everyone! It seems like forever since I’ve actually blogged a new recipe here on BIB! I’ve been in full on cookbook mode these passed few weeks and I couldn’t be more excited about how things are moving along! I was so nervous about how I’d be able to juggle the cookbook, social media posting, messages and blogging but somehow it’s been working. Blogging has definitely taken a back seat, and for the first time in six years of blogging, I’ve starting skipping a week or two here and there. There was a time I thought everything would come crashing down if I didn’t post every. single. week. but lo and behold, the blog is still here and everyone is alive and well.

The truth is, it was hard getting back into it but I couldn’t let Chanukah go by without a few special recipes. I mean, it really is my favorite holiday and as many of you now, it’s both my birthday and Anniversary as well! Chanukah is my favorite time to fry up something crazy, make something Greek and go all out in the dairy department, and I’ve combined all three in this awesome salad!

Most of you have eaten Greek salad about a million times in your life, but you’ve probably never tried tried frying the feta into croutons. Yes! I said FRYING THE FETA INTO CROUTONS! How awesome, right?? At first I wasn’t even sure if it would work but a Chanukah miracle happened (early) and the feta fried up beautifully! It was also my first time using Trader Joes cholov yisroel feta which apparently has been a hidden treasure for the past several years, and OMG is it decadent. It’s crazy salty (which I kinda love), but oh so smooth and it also slices so, so nicely without crumbling. The breadcrumbs really help cut through all that saltiness, and with a forkful of veggies, it’s the perfect little bite.

It’s funny because I was never really much of a feta person, probably because I never had really good feta, so Greek salad wasn’t really on my list of faves. It might also have to do with the fact that I’m not a fan of goat or sheep milk products, and most feta is made with sheep milk. I’m so crazy sensitive to the taste, that I can tell if my butcher used the meat grinder to grind lamb before he grinds the beef, because I can taste even the slightest hint of it. And it’s so, so sheepy. I mean, I’m no picky eater but I just. can’t. swallow it.

What’s crazy is, I decided to give the Trader Joe’s sheep’s milk feta a try because so many people told me it was the best feta they ever ate (it’s imported from Israel after all), and even though it had the absolute, most slightest hint of sheep, I was able to tolerate – and even enjoy – it.

So, if you can find Trader Joes best kept secret, go grab a package for this awesome recipe, or use your favorite brand. This post is not sponsored by TJ’s, although how amazing would that be, right?

Greek Salad with Feta Croutons

2 heads romaine lettuce
1 pint grape tomates, cut in half
1 English cucumber, sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced into half rings
1 cup black olives, sliced
lemons, for serving

Spread all the ingredients out on a platter and top with feta croutons. Drizzle with lemon dressing.

Lemon Dressing:
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (use light if you don’t like the flavor)
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to a container and shake vigorously before serving.

Feta Croutons

1 package feta cheese, cut into cubes
1 cup panko crumbs
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp lemon zest
salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup canola oil, for frying

Prepare three bowls for dredging. Place the flour in one bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place the eggs in a second bowl and season with salt and pepper. In a third bowl, combine the panko crumbs, basil, lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a saucepan (I prefer to use a small saucepan so I can use less oil, a wider pan will require more oil to make it deep enough for frying).  Dip the feta cubes in flour, then egg, and then panko crumbs. Fry in oil until golden brown and drain on paper towels. You may make the croutons a few hours in advance and warm in the oven to crisp up before serving (if necessary).

Related Recipes:

spinach pappardelle with feta and fried poached egg
harissa whipped feta with za’atar eggplant chips
summer tomato feta salad
roasted eggplant parmesan with feta

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Food Files Cookbook + Giveaway!

I was recently lucky enough to receive a copy of the beautiful new cookbook, Food Files, benefiting Yeshiva of Flatbush. The book is a compilation of beautiful, healthy, seasonal and original recipes from home cooks in Flatbush, Brooklyn. As a food blogger, I’m honored to receive review copies of cookbooks all the time. Sometimes the books are nothing to write home about, and they end up in the growing “give away” pile in the basement. Other times, the books are so beautiful that they’re worthy of your coffee table, and this, my friends, is one of them.

I was pleasantly surprised at the simple yet sophisticated style of this book, the stunning photos and the original recipes. All too often cookbooks are filled with recipes and adaptations of recipes that we’ve all seen before, but Food Files is filled with truly original dishes that capture the inventive cook.

Some of the recipes that caught my eye include homemade burrata, cauflower tabbouleh with raw falafel balls (yes!!), porcini mushroom latkes with truffle infused chive cream, farro leek soup, date hazelnut and feta salad, lemon poppy seed pancakes, green chili mac ‘n cheese, spiked sweet potatoes (recipe below), Chilean sea bass kanafe, mushroom stuffed ribeyes, no bake chocolate hazelnut cheesecake, peanut butter honeycomb pie, and tartufo martinis.

With Thanksgiving just a week away, please enjoy sample recipes for Asian Glazed Turkey Breast and Spiked Sweet Potatoes from the book, below!

Food Files makes a great Chanukah gift and is available for purchase here, but I’m so excited to be giving away a copy of their cookbook as well!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

To enter the giveaway to win a copy of Food Files:

1. Leave a comment below letting me know your favorite cookbook.
2. For an extra entry, follow Busy In Brooklyn via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. Just be sure to leave a note in the comment letting me know where you follow.

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents (for international entries, prize can only be shipped in the U.S.). Winner will be chosen at random at 10:00 AM EST on Thursday, November 23rd, 2017.

Asian Glazed Turkey Breast
Recipe by Julie Ebani, reprinted with permission from Flatbush Food Files

FOR THE MARINADE:
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup sake or dry white wine
5 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14- to 15-pound) turkey breast,
on the bone
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 to 10 sprigs thyme
1 tablespoon cornstarch, diluted
in 1/4 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Make the marinade: In a bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients. Mix well and set aside.
Place the turkey breast in a large roaster. Sprinkle the curry powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper evenly over the turkey breast. Put the thyme sprigs inside the cavity of the turkey, between the breast and the bone. Spoon the marinade over the turkey and roast it, uncovered, for 2 hours, basting about every 15 minutes so that the flavors are well
absorbed. If you see that the skin is getting too dark, cover it lightly with foil. Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
To make the gravy, transfer the juices of the turkey to a small saucepan and bring to a boil. When the liquid is boiling, lower the heat and allow the liquid to simmer, uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, until it has reduced by half. Add the cornstarch mixture to the liquid and let it simmer until it thickens to a gravy-like consistency, about 2 minutes.
The turkey can be served whole and carved at the table, or it can be served already sliced, with the gravy drizzled on top. Reserve the rest of the gravy to be served on the side.

Spiked Sweet Potatoes
Recipe by Micki Horovits, reprinted with permission from Flatbush Food Files

1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup whiskey
1/3 cup maple-flavored agave
Cinnamon, to taste
4 to 6 sweet potatoes, peeled
and cubed
Oil, to coat the baking pan
1/4 cup brown sugar, for topping
1 bag marshmallows

Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a bowl, mix the orange juice, apple cider, whiskey, agave, and cinnamon together. Add in the sweet potatoes and stir to coat.
Place the potatoes in a large, lightly oiled oven-to-table baking dish. Crumble the brown sugar on top. Bake for about 1 hour, until the sweet potatoes are glazed and soft.
When the sweet potatoes have come out of the oven, top them with marshmallows. Be generous; they should almost be packed in, and you shouldn’t be able to see the sweet potatoes underneath.
Raise the oven temperature to broil. Broil for a few minutes, until the marshmallows are toasted and golden brown.

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Skirt Steak Tacos

Cookbook. Cookbook. Cookbook. That’s all I can think about these days. In the morning, afternoon and evening, even in my sleep. I was literally typing up recipes in my dream the other night…yes! It’s really happening!

Here are the stats as of 11/9/17, 10:41 AM:}

132/145 recipes tested
13/145 recipes to retest
11/145 recipes photographed
59/145 recipes written
0/145 headnotes written
0/3 intro chapters written

Would you look at those numbers? When I think about all the work I have ahead of me, I get so overwhelmed and stressed. But then I look back at the 132 crazy, amazing, unique, delicious and doable recipes that I’ve created for this book and I have to be proud. Yes, there is so, so much to do. But it will happen. And it will be glorious when it does.

Meanwhile, we’ve mostly been eating the recipes I’ve been testing (my 11 year old wanted to know why the dinners have become so weird in the house, with several courses, sometimes mismatched foods that don’t go together!), so I’ve been pretty quiet on social media these days. I did take the time to celebrate persimmon season with these awesome skirt steak tacos, and I’m so happy to share the recipe with you here!

Skirt Steak Tacos

1 skirt steak, soaked in water for 30 minutes
freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp grapeseed or canola oil
soft corn tortillas
shredded red cabbage
fresh lime
cilantro, for garnish
Persimmon Guacamole
Cilantro Lime Crema (use vegan sour cream)
Pickled Onions

Method:

Heat a cast iron skillet until smoking. Using paper towels, dry the skirt steak thoroughly. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Grease the skillet with oil and add the skirt steak. Cook until a crust forms and the skirt steak releases from the pan, about 3 minutes. Turn over and repeat on the opposite side. Rest for five minutes and slice thinly against the grain.

Heat the corn tortillas over an open flame until lightly toasted on both sides. Fill the tortillas with skirt steak, red cabbage, persimmon guacamole, pickled onions, crema and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Related Recipes:

refried bean tacos
Old Bay fish tacos
coconut crusted fish tacos with plantain tortillas
fish tacos with broccoli slaw

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Zucchini Basil Soup


I’ve dreamt about this day for a very very long time. In just a few short months, I’m officially going to add cookbook author to my resume! I can’t believe this is really happening, somebody pinch me! The truth is, this news isn’t exactly new. It’s been almost a year in the planning. But I’m finally able to spill the beans and share it with you all! My cookbook is being published by Artscroll Publications and is set for release in May 2018. It’s going to KNOCK YOUR FREAKIN SOCKS OFF!

It’s no surprise that I’m avid cookbook collector, and something I see a lot in kosher cookbooks is the same traditional recipes made over and over again, with slight tweaks and changes. I can’t give away my cookbook theme quite yet, but let me just say, there’s going to be something for everyone. The cookbook will have fresh, new recipes that you haven’t seen before, and there’s going to be a mix of healthy recipes, indulgent recipes, everyday recipes, holiday recipes, quick and easy recipes, and slightly more gourmet recipes. The book will have some of your favorite recipes from the blog (about 20%), but mostly brand new recipes that you’ve never seen before (80%!). I’ve been testing and retesting recipes for months, and as I near the end of the testing stage, I’m going to move on to recipe writing and photography. I’m both nervous and excited for this huge undertaking, but mostly I’m anxious to share it all with you!

I’m going to do my best to keep things exciting here on the BIB blog, but if I don’t post as much as usual, just know that it’ll all be worth it in the end. I’ll keep you posted with more details as they become available!


Zucchini Basil Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 large zucchini, roughly chopped
4 cups vegetable stock
salt & pepper, to taste
handful of fresh basil
fresh basil or arugula, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes, for garnish

Method:

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, saute until translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the zucchini, stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the zucchini is tender. Add the basil and puree with an immersion blender until smooth and creamy. You can adjust the consistency by adding water, if needed. Serve and garnish with greens, pine nuts and sundried tomatoes.

Related Recipes:

spinach white bean minestrone with zoodles
roasted tomato soup
roasted butternut squash soup

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Tempeh Rice Bowl

It feels like FOREVER since I’ve blogged last and I have so much to tell you!!  If you’ve been following me on social media, you probably watched or heard about the LIVE I did with my husband a few days ago. I’m not sure why I didn’t do it sooner, but my inspiring husband has steadily lost 90 over the past few years and has been keeping it off and inspiring so many with his weight loss journey.

Most of us had a hard time NOT piling on the pounds over the holidays. With three consecutive days of feasting – twice, there was meal after meal of multiple courses, and even eating healthy, one would probably consume a lot more calories than on an average day. I wasn’t surprised, when after the Chag, I suddenly sold a bunch of copies of my Whole30 ebook. We all wanted to shed that holiday weight, so I decided to go live on Instagram with my husband, so he could share all the wisdom and experience he has amassed over the past few years.

In general, my husband is very much an “all or nothing” person. If he decides to take something on, he goes all the way. He reads every diet book, researches everything about the human body and learns what vitamins, minerals, grains etc. he can take to optimize his health and weight loss. Needless to say, with 15,000 viewers, the live went viral. I received literally thousands of messages and everywhere I went, everyone was talking about it! We decided that sharing his wisdom in written form would be the best idea, so he is currently working on an ebook that we will be selling in a couple of weeks. I’m so excited!

One of things that my family has committed to over the past few months is Meatless Mondays. I really think it’s important, after all the heavy Shabbat food, to lighten things up and give our bodies a break from all the animal protein after the weekend. As an adventurous cook who never experimented with vegan food before, I’ve really been loving the challenge of Meatless Mondays. My kids have also been so open to trying new things and these refried bean tacos have become one of their absolute favorite dinners!

The truth is, we’re a bean-loving family so vegetarian chili and bean tacos are easy for me, but one thing I’ve really never liked is tofu. No matter how it’s prepared, no matter the promises of a crispy result, I just can’t get past the mushy marshmallow-like texture of tofu. Tempeh, on the other hand, is made from pressed soybeans and it has a really firm texture. I tried it for the first time during the summer, and I found that if prepared properly, I really enjoyed it. My husband, too, has taken to it, and this is one of our favorite preparations. If I’m honest, my kids haven’t yet jumped on the tempeh train, but we’re working on it!

Regardless if you’re ready for tempeh or tofu, or whether or not you tuned in to watch the story of my husband’s weight loss journey, I hope this post inspires you to eat healthy post Chag!

Tempeh Rice Bowls

1 cup white or brown rice, cooked according to package directions
1 avocado, sliced
1 cucumber, julienned
1 carrot, julienned
4 radishes, sliced
1 package tempeh, cut into cubes
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp grapeseed, avocado or canola oil
kosher salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1″ piece ginger, grated
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sriracha, or to taste
2 tbsp water
4 eggs, cooked sunny side up
for serving: sliced nori, sesame seeds, sriracha, soy sauce and sweet sauce.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, sriracha and water.

Heat the oils in a wok or skillet and add the tempeh. Season, to taste, with salt. Saute the tempeh until browned. Pour the sauce over the tempeh and cook, stirring, until the sauce reduces and thickens and the tempeh is glazed with the sauce.

Divide the rice into 4 bowls. Top with carrots, cucumber, avocado, radishes and tempeh. Garnish with a fried egg, nori, sesame seeds, and sriracha. Serve with soy sauce or sweet sauce.

VARIATION: If you’re not ready to take the tempeh plunge (I totally get it!), then you can make this with chicken instead! Just saute the chicken in the oil until no longer pink and proceed as above.

Other vegetarian dinners:

vegetarian chili
refried bean tacos
stuffed sweet potatoes
falafel burgers
cajun quinoa burgers

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