Category: Dinner

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese


Bolognese is a meat-based sauce for pasta originating in Bologna, Italy. Traditional Bolognese includes a mirepoix of onions, celery and carrots but it can be adapted to suit your taste and dietary needs. In my house, we call Bolognese “smashed meatballs” because that’s what gets my kids to eat it :) I love to make this recipe because unlike meatballs and burgers, this meaty pasta sauce requires no ‘fillers” such as bread crumbs and does not contain any sugar. Serve it up on a bed of spaghetti squash, or, with its traditional accompaniment, tagliatelle pasta.

Spaghetti Squash Bolognese

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 container mushrooms, sliced
1.5 lbs. extra lean ground beef
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper, to taste
spaghetti squash (click on the link for how to prepare)

Method:
Saute onion and garlic till translucent. Add celery, carrots and mushrooms and continue to saute until golden. Remove from pot. Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Drain meat. Return meat and veggies back to the pot and add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 30 minutes-1 hour.

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Pan Seared Tuna Steak

Years ago, I ordered tuna steak at a restaurant for the first time. I had never eaten it before, so I had no idea what it was supposed to taste like. When the kitchen delivered a bone-dry piece of tuna, I thought that was the way it was meant to taste, and that was it for me. I had no interest in ever eating it again. Fast forward a few years and I was watching an episode of Chopped on the Food Network. They mentioned one of the competitors websites so I checked it out. I happened upon a video of the chef preparing a pan-seared tuna steak and it was the most beautiful piece of fish I had ever seen. The very next day I was off to the fishmonger. I heated up my skillet, and in 5 minutes flat I had the most juicy, mouth-watering piece of fish. I can’t say enough how simply delicious this is. No need for spices, sauces or fancy marinades – just a sprinkle of salt and pepper and you’ll be blown away!

Pan Seared Tuna Steak

1 tuna steak
olive oil
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper

Method:

Rinse tuna steak and pat dry on paper towel. Heat up a frying pan over medium-high heat and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle tuna steak with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and add seasoned-side-down to the pan. You should hear it sizzle (if you don’t, your pan is not hot enough). Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. Sear for 2 minutes and flip, searing the second side for 2 minutes as well. Using tongs, hold the fish on its side and sear all around. Remove from pan and slice into 1/4″ slices. If you like your tuna more well done, continue to cook until desired doneness.

Simple Cabbage Salad

1/2 head cabbage, sliced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp safflower oil
2 tbsp rice vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
black sesame seeds
scallions, for garnish

Method:

Slice cabbage into thin strips. Mix with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sesame seeds. Garnish with scallions.

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Creamy Pareve Mashed Potatoes

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, what’s a kosher girl to do? Those turkey drippings have got to be sopped up by something. Enter my perfect pareve mashed potatoes – creamy, fluffy and oh so delicious. Traditionally, butter and milk are used to bind the potatoes, while some include sour or cream cheese for added creaminess. With turkey as the main component of Thanksgiving dinner, dairy is not an option. Of course margarine, soy milk and toffuti cream cheese/sour cream can do the trick, but you’ll be left with an overwhelming taste of soy. I know some people who use mayo, but that just doesn’t work for me. Instead, I opt for a healthy dose of olive oil to bind the mixture, while chicken stock stands in as a flavorful creamer. The results are lighter, yet still smooth and delicious (which leaves room for the smorgasbord of calories awaiting you).

Now that you’ve got your mashed potatoes nice and creamy, it’s time to talk about add-ins. When I was growing up, my mother never made mashed potatoes without a side of caramelized onions. Not surprisingly, that’s my go-to every time. Still, there are some other options out there, so go ahead and mix up your favorite version.

– spices: garlic salt, smoked paprika, curry powder, lawry’s seasoned salt
– pepper (some people like to use white pepper so the potatoes don’t have black flecks)
– fresh herbs: oregano, parsley, basil, cilantro, thyme, rosemary
– caramelized onions and/or mushrooms
– roasted garlic cloves
– horseradish or wasabi
– chipotle or poblano chilies
– lemon juice and/or zest
– sundried tomatoes
– pesto or tapenade
– spinach
– chives
– truffle oil
– mustard

Have you got your own version of pareve mashed potatoes that you’d like to share? Tell us about it in the comments below!


Creamy Pareve Mashed Potatoes

4 Idaho potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil (use full-bodied or extra-light depending on your taste)
1/3-1/2 cup vegetable stock (I like Imagine)
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
chives, for garnish

Method:

Peel potatoes and cut into chunks. Do you best to keep the pieces the same size so they will cook evenly. Add potatoes to a pot, cover with water and sprinkle with salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then lower the flame slightly so that the water maintains a rolling boil. Continue to cook the potatoes until they fall apart when poked with a fork. Pour potatoes into a strainer and drain well. Return potatoes to the pot and turn the flame on low. This will evaporate any leftover water so that the potatoes won’t be mealy. With a potato masher, mash the potatoes well, making sure that no lumps remain. Remove from heat and mix in olive oil, chicken stock, salt and pepper. If needed, add more chicken stock. Mix in your fillers of choice and serve.

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{Leftover} Turkey Pot Pie

With the weather turning cold and rainy, pot pie is the perfect comfort food to usher in the fall. It’s also a great dish to make when you’ve got lots of leftover chicken or turkey, and other root vegetables that are on their way out. With a large chunk of turkey roast leftover from the chag, I knew I had to come up with something light and tasty to turn it from “leftovers, again!”, into something fresh and exciting.

Chock full of healthy veggies and low fat turkey, this “litened up” version of a chicken pot pie is even better than the classic. Sweet parsnips, carrots and squash are the perfect accompaniment to the turkey, while the filo dough makes for a rustic, flaky crust.

Visit my guest post on Cookkosher.com for the recipe!

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Honey Mustard Salmon

{A Resolution & A Recipe}

As any mother can attest, getting into the Yom Kippur spirit while we are stuck at home playing boardgames with our kids (not to mention fasting) can be extremely difficult. We are lucky if we get a chance to pick up our machzor, let alone daven, or attend shul. When I need to switch off the Mommy button and get into davening mode, there is one tefillah that will do it for me – “U’Netaneh Tokef” (translation here). The powerful words of this special prayer really help me zero in on the awesomeness of the day, as well as the most important things in life, that we hope to merit in the coming year. The words have always tugged at my soul, but when I learned the story behind the prayer, they became even more meaningful (read it here).

When I ask Hashem to grant me life vs death, to live in harmony vs being harried, to enjoy transquility vs suffering, to be enriched vs impoverished etc…to merit all the positive things vs the negative, I realize that inasmuch as I am asking Hashem for these things, I need to look inside and ask myself, am I doing the same? Am I choosing the positive over the negative?

By nature, I am more of a pessimist, and tend to see the glass half empty. Growing up, I’d wax philosophical and say, “I’m not a pessimist, I’m a realist. This is the way the world really is.” But I’ve grown up and matured enough to realize that there is both good and bad in this world. It is up to us how we choose to see it. As it says in Koheles, “Everything has an appointed season and there is a time for every matter under the heaven…A time to kill and a time to heal… A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time of wailing and a time of dancing….”

For me, it takes an effort to see the good in things, but this year, I am renewing my commitment to look at things in a positive way. Just as I am asking Hashem to look at the good in me, and to bless me with all things good, I must look inside myself and do the same. Seeing the world in a positive light, facing challenges with a positive outlook, and choosing to see the good in people, only serves to enhance my life and the lives of those around me.

This “recipe” (if you can call it a recipe!), is one which my family enjoys each year at the seudah on Erev Yom Kippur. I realize that it, too, is comprised of sweet honey and bitter mustard. While delicious, I will also eat it with a prayer that this year, the good should overpower the bad and that we should all merit to see the “honey” in our lives, and not know of any bitter “mustard”.

Wishing all BIB followers a Gmar Chasimah Tova and an easy fast!


Honey Mustard Salmon

6 salmon fillets
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup yellow or spicy mustard
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix honey and mustard in a bowl until incorporated. Rinse fillets and pat dry. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the honey mustard sauce over the salmon and bake for 15 minutes, until flesh is opaque and flakes with a fork.

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