Author: chanie

Spaghetti Squash Shakshuka

If you’ve been following me on Facebook or Instagram, you probably know that I’ve been doing the Whole30 diet. Ever since I had baby #4 back in October, shedding the pregnancy pounds has not been easy. My go-to weightloss plan has always been The South Beach Diet, but it just wasn’t working for me this time around. I guess as we get older, our bodies change and what may have worked for us in our twenties, just doesn’t cut it during the big 3-0.

I had been seeing the Whole30 plastered all over Instagram and I was curious to see if it would work for me. My friend Melinda of Kitchen-Tested was raving about the diet, and after pushing it off for some time, I finally took the plunge! I chronicled my Whole30 diet via social media, sharing my meals for everyone to see. It held me accountable and made me feel like I had to stick to the program, or else I had a lot of people to answer to!

One of my biggest rules of dieting is to eat well. If I munch on salad greens every day, I feel deprived, miserable and hungry! On the other hand, when I take the time out to prepare a satisfying meal, I feel full and I don’t end up with cravings. Three meals a day becomes more than enough and I don’t feel the need to snack in between.


And so, each day, I challenged myself to come up with exciting recipes and dishes. Omelettes certainly became boring over time, so I turned to one of my favorite dishes – shakshuka. I prepared jalapeno shakshuka, marinara shakshuka and even meat shakshuka! But I really hit the jackpot with this incredible spaghetti squash shakshuka. The strands of spaghetti squash coated in runny egg yolk is so spectacular, you feel like you’re eating something so indulgent – and you are!

Dishes like these carried me through the Whole30 without a single mistep. I originally went on the diet to lose weight, but I never imagined the amazing after-effects that 30 days without sugar, dairy, carbs, legumes or alcohol would bring. Yes, I lost 8 lbs, but even better than that was that my sugar-cravings all but disappeared and I never feel the need to snack anymore. I eat when I’m hungry – and I eat well, but that is all! I feel so in control of my eating habits, and I don’t crave that added drizzle of honey or the teaspoon of sugar that I once did. In fact, just a few days after I completed my Whole30, I spent Shavuot with friends where I was surrounded by dairy delicacies and delicious dishes of all kinds. When I tried to eat a salad that had a sweet salad dressing, I was so overwhelmed by it’s cloying nature that I literally could not swallow it. There is no question that the Whole30 changed my taste towards food and my attitude as well. I much prefer savory to sweet now, in fact I plan to continue following the Whole30 diet until I lose another 20 lbs. After that, I will transition to a Paleo diet (the Whole30 is based on it, it just has more restrictions).

One of the other great outcomes of the Whole30 diet, is something I could have never imagined. When I began posting photos of all of the delicious meals I was preparing, the requests for recipes poured in. At first, I shared the recipes under the photos, but after a few days I realized, why don’t I just compile a 30-day meal plan? And so, without much ado, my Paleo ebook was born! Writing a cookbook has seemed so far away for the longest time – and a real, physical, turn-the-page kind of cookbook might be. But this ebook has allowed me to share over 100 recipes without nearly as much work as a hardcover book would be. I am still working on the last bit of edits and recipe testing, but the ebook should be available within the next 2 weeks! Stay tuned for more details in my upcoming posts and look out for the #Paleoebook hashtag via social media. I think I smell a giveaway.

Spaghetti Squash Shakshuka

1 leek (white and pale green part only)
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 bag baby spinach
1/2 spaghetti squash (how to roast spaghetti squash)
splash of vegetable stock (about a 1/4 cup)
salt and pepper, to taste
5 eggs
fresh parsley, for garnish
Feta cheese, optional

Method:

Saute leek and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add baby spinach and continue to saute until wilted. Add spaghetti squash and vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper. Make wells in the squash and crack eggs in each well. Cook until eggs are set (it helps to cover the pot). Sprinkle with parsley and feta, if desired.

 

Related Recipes:

baked portobello shakshuka
quick and easy marinara shakshuka

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Quinoa Pad Thai

The first time I ever tasted Pad Thai was when I attended the Center for Kosher Culinary Arts, last year. It was pasta day, I think, and we were experimenting with different types – including rice noodles. We made our own chili paste from scratch and it was so hot, I cried just from blending it. I took one bite of the Pad Thai and my mouth was on fire! Even though my tongue could barely take it, there was just something about the stuff and I kept going back for more (and refilling my glass of water!). Even with cilantro (one of my least favorite ingredients) the stuff was just. that. good. It wasn’t long before I was making pad Thai at home for my whole family to enjoy.

Now when I started to ease up on my carb-load, I knew I had to come up with a lower carb pad Thai recipe to enjoy. Enter quoina – the super grain. Or super seed, I should say! Quinoa, after all, is not a grain or legume – it’s called a Pseudo-cereal and is botanically related to spinach and beets. So although some refer to it as an ancient grain, you can rest assured that this protein-rich superfood is a great low-carb alternative to pasta and rice.

They may teach you to make pad Thai in culinary school. But they don’t tell you the obvious things, like not to write your recipes on scrap pieces of paper. When I was developing this quinoa pad Thai dish, I hit the nail right on the head – it was perfect! I wrote the recipe out on the edge of my calendar, and what do you think happened? I promptly forgot about that golden combination of ingredients, and weeks later, when I went to look up something in the calendar, I decided to rip out all the old months that had already passed. And there my recipe went – crumpled up amid egg shells and dirty plates – right in the garbage.

I realized the error of my ways the next day and I ran outside to see if the garbage truck had taken out the garbage yet. Oh yes, I was right about ready to put on some gloves and sort through the trash! No such luck, my garbage had already been picked up and my prized recipe was doomed for the garbage dump. So, I did what any pad-Thai-obsessed-girl-on-a-diet would do…I made it again. That’ll teach me never to write my recipes on the edge of my calendar! (Did I mention this is not the first time this has happened?)

Quinoa Pad Thai

1 cup quinoa
1/2 red pepper, thinly sliced
1 small carrot, julienned (I use this julienne peeler)
3 tsp peanut oil, divided
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey (dark meat preferred)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sambal oelek (garlic chili sauce) or sriracha
1 cup bean sprouts
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro
1/3 cup peanuts
lime wedges, for garnish
sriracha, for garnish

Method:

Place the quinoa in a small pot with 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the soy sauce, honey, lime juice and sambal oelek. Set aside.

Heat 1 tsp of peanut oil in a wok and stir fry the carrots and peppers just until slightly softened, 1 minute. Remove from the pan. Whisk eggs, add a bit more peanut oil to the wok and scramble. Remove from the pan. Add a bit more peanut oil and add garlic. Saute just until softened and add ground turkey. Cook until turkey is no longer pink and add the soy sauce mixture. Return the carrots, peppers and eggs to the wok and stir to combine. Add the quinoa and bean sprouts and stir to incorporate. Sprinkle scallions, cilantro and peanuts over the top and garnish with lime wedges and a drizzle of sriracha.

Related Recipes:

summer rolls with spicy dipping sauce
spicy roasted edamame

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Goat Cheese Ice Cream

We all have bucket lists – things we hope to accomplish one day, dreams we hope to bring to reality. I’d love to visit Italy, tour the South of France, and live on a farm. I’d also love to go grape stomping, write a cookbook, and sell baby hats on Etsy (I’m weird, I know).

My foodie bucket list is a whole ‘nother story of things I want to accomplish in the kitchen. It used to be really long, but I’ve slowly been making my way through. In the past year, I’ve made pasta from scratch, filleted and cooked a whole fish, butchered a duck (and made confit), mastered omelettes and egg poaching, made falafel from scratch (with raw garbanzo beans!), made all kinds of nut butters, cooked a killer risotto, and learned to make a spicy Pad Thai.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do, was make my own ice cream. Last year, my cousin gave me a gift certificate to chefscatalog.com for my birthday (I know, she’s amazing, right?) and I decided to buy myself an ice cream machine. As soon as the box arrived in the mail, I froze the ice cream bowl and went straight to work making some of the recipes that were included with the machine. I made classic vanilla, strawberry and coffee ice cream – each of which was delicious. But I wanted more.

So I started experimenting with my own ingredients to come up with unique flavors like guava and persimmon. Making ice cream from scratch was fun and exciting, but like many hobbies, my passion dwindled and my ice cream maker got lost somewhere way-up-high in the pantry. As the weather began to warm up, I decided to dust off my machine once again and up the ante on my ice cream making skills. Instead of making a ice cream with a base of heavy cream, I decided to challenge myself to making creme anglaise – a custard made of milk, sugar and eggs that is often used to make ice cream. One more thing to check off my bucket list.

No one said that mastering cooking techniques was easy. I must have gone through 2 dozen eggs and 4 quarts of milk until I managed to make a custard base that didn’t curdle. But practice makes perfect, and this creamy, yet mildly tangy cheesecake ice cream is living proof.

So what’s left on my bucket list? Well, I want to make my own kimchi, learn to can my own jam, make marshmallows from scratch, make authentic French macaroons, learn to use a smoker, eat more Indian food (make naan!), make my own sausage, play around with doughs (from galletes, to gourmet challah and homemade pita), cook a whole turkey for Thanksgiving (can you believe I’ve never done that?!), expand my knowledge of cheese & wine, eat more polenta, cook with (kosher) bacon, and experiment with plantains.

I’m sure I’m leaving out at least 100 other things, but lets see how far I get this year! In the meantime, I’m relishing the fruits of my labor with this unbelievably creamy and decadent dessert made from Natural & Kosher chevre goat cheese. I couldn’t think of a better way to end a dairy meal on the holiay of Shavuot. Chag Sameach!

Goat Cheese Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
8 oz Natural & Kosher goat cheese
fresh fruit, or compote, for serving

Method:

Set a large fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and set the bowl in larger bowl of ice water.

Add the milk, sugar and honey to a large saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean and add the seeds and pods to the pot. Heat the milk mixture until sugar and honey are dissolved and small bubbles start to appear.

In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and slowly stream in 1/3 of the milk, whisking as your pour. Add the eggs/milk mixture slowly to the pot with the milk mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

Continue to cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken and coats the back of a spoon, about 4-5 minutes. Watch carefully! If the mixture gets too hot, the eggs will curdle. Immediately strain the sauce into the bowl set over the ice water bath.

Add the goat cheese to the sauce and whisk until melted and incorporated. Pour it through the mesh strainer to filter out any bits of cheese.

Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight and pour into ice cream machine. Churn until mixture reaches the consistency of soft serve ice cream, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer.

Serve with moscato strawberries, apricot sauce, plum compote. strawberry rhubarb sauce or fresh fruit!


This post was sponsored by Natural & Kosher Cheese. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Google+, or via their Blog

Other Shavuot Desserts:

blueberry apple crisp
sachlav rose water pudding
cinnamon buns with speculoos cream cheese frosting
classic cheesecake
sour cream chocolate chip cake

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Moscato Strawberries Two Ways

Ah strawberry season…you are finally here! There is nothing I love more than to walk into a supermarket and be greeted by the sweet scent of strawberries. (OK, to be honest, I’d prefer to walk past the farm stand and smell the sweet scent of freshly picked strawberries).

I wait all year for sweet berry season, when the strawberries are so naturally sweet, they’re like nature’s summer candy. I never understand those people that dip their strawberries in sugar, I mean, aren’t they sweet enough?

While I may not agree with dipping my strawberries in sugar, I do love me some macerated strawberries. Macerated strawberries are strawberries that are sprinkled with sugar to draw out the liquids and create a sweet, syrupy sauce, without cooking. I like to add a hint of balsamic vinegar to balance out the sweetness, for a truly luscious summer dessert.

Besides for balsamic macerated strawberries, I also love to macerate strawberries in some light and sweet Moscato wine. The wine infuses the strawberries with it’s peachy goodness, while the strawberries infuse the wine with their juicy sweetness. Win-win, wouldn’t you say?

This stuff is delicious straight out of a glass, but you can also serve it over ice cream, pound cake or even yogurt.

Moscato Macerated Strawberries

1 lb. strawberries
1 cup Moscato wine
3 tbsp honey

Method:

Wash and hull strawberries and cut into quarters. Place in a bowl with wine and honey and let sit in refrigerator until strawberries soften and release their juices, 2 hours-1 day.

VARIATION: try macereating other fruit like blueberries or raspberries.

Now if you’re a strawberry purist and think raw strawberries should only be eaten straight out of the carton (or dipped in sour cream), I totally get you. Macerated strawberries are not for everyone! Buttttt I want to shift your attention to another preparation – that of cooked strawberries, ala strawberry sauce! Of course you can simmer up some strawberries with lots of sweet sugar for a thick strawberry syrup that’s achingly sweet. Or…or you can do something a little more glam and little less cloying, and simmer your strawberries in some honey and moscato until you get a lovely sauce that’s just perfect over angel food cake or lovely on some goat cheese ice cream.

Speaking of goat cheese ice cream, I just may have the creamiest, most delicious, sweet yet mildy tangy cheesecake ice cream coming your way. Oh yes. You’re welcome.

Moscato Strawberry Sauce

1 lb. strawberries
1 cup Moscato wine
3 tbsp honey

Method:

Wash and hull strawberries and cut into quarters. Place in a pot with wine and honey and bring to a simmer. Cook strawberries until they begin to fall apart (you can mash them a little with a fork to help them along), and the sauce thickens to a syrup, 20-30 minutes.

Related Recipes:

Moscato, honey & vanilla bean poached apricots
cherries in red wine syrup
strawberry limonana
strawberry rhubarb soup

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Dairy Made Easy Cookbook Review & Giveaway

Leah Schapira & Victoria Dwek turn out new cookbooks faster than I develop recipes. Their latest addition to the Made Easy series is a fantastic collection of dairy recipes, just in time for Shavuot!

Like Starters & Sides Made Easy, Passover Made Easy, and Kids Cooking Made Easy, the Dairy edition is layed out in the same attractive, easy-to-read style. Even their cookbook-making skills seem made easy. They’ve mastered a template that provides a small soft-cover book that’s beautifully styled, easy to flip through, and filled with tips and tidbits, all without seeming overwhelming. The beautiful pictures draw you in and the down-to-earth recipes make you want to open your pantry right then-and-there to whip up one of their quick and easy dishes.

Besides for 60 easy-to-make recipes, you’ll also find a comprehensive cheese guide, a Make It Light section, a Make it Pareve Guide, and bonus serving ideas. Leah and Victoria fill each page with great tips, like how to measure frozen fruit, how to soften butter quickly or how to bake pizza without a pizza stone. They also share their thought processes and family anecdotes in a fun and friendly way.

What do I not want to make from this cookbook? It’s filled with mouthwatering recipes for breakfast, great starters & sides, soups, salads & sandwiches, and of course pizza, pasta and dessert (hello 180 calorie cheesecake!).

Some of the recipes I look forward to trying are the granola thins, arancini, sweet chili home fries, stuffed sole, French mushroom soup, hasselback baguette, honey pomodoro pizza, cajun creamy penne, cheese buns, peanut butter creme brulee and strawberry cheesecake ice cream.

In honor of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, I’m giving away a free copy of the Dairy Made Easy cookbook! To enter, simply leave a comment below with your favorite Shavuot dish. You can also follow Busy In Brooklyn via any of the channels below for an extra entry. Just be sure to leave a note in the comment letting me know where you follow.

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest 

Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Winner will be chosen at random at 10:00 AM EST on Monday, May 26th, 2014.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Roasted Veggie Pasta

from Dairy Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek
Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications
http://www.artscroll.com/Products/DMEP.html

8 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 lb fusilli or penne pasta
2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
2 red onions, cut into wedges
1 zucchini, cut into half moons
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp garlic powder
kosher salt, to taste
coarse black pepper, to taste
6 oz feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tbsp chopped fresh or frozen basil

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. In a 9 x 13-inch pan, combine cherry tomatoes, red onions, and zucchini. Toss with olive oil and garlic powder. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add pasta to vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Preheat oven to broil and broil for 10 minutes, stirring after 5 minutes.
5. Add feta cheese and basil; stir to combine (the heat will melt the cheese). Serve hot or at room temperature.

Tips:

-You can add more veggies to the mix. We also love this pasta with red peppers instead of tomatoes.
-We made the pasta in this photo using broken lasagna sheets.

Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake

from Dairy Made Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek
Reprinted with permission from the copyright holders: ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications
http://www.artscroll.com/Products/DMEP.html

12 servings

Batter:

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder

Chocolate Nut Mixture:

1 (10­oz) bag chocolate chips
2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10­inch tube pan.
2. In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda.
Sour cream should bubble and expand. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar.
Beat until light and creamy. Add eggs and extracts.
4. Add half the flour and baking powder. Add sour cream mixture,
then remaining flour. Beat until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. In a medium bowl, combine chocolate chips, walnuts,
cinnamon, and sugar. Sprinkle some of the chocolate nut mixture into the  pan. Add half the batter over it, then half of the remaining chocolate ­nut mixture. Add remaining batter and top cake with remaining chocolate­ nut mixture. Bake for 50­-60 minutes, until top is firm and crispy. Let cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

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