Category: Dinner

Lemony Hawaij Chicken Couscous Soup


When I need comfort food, it’s hawaij for me! The Yemenite spice blend has both sweet (hawaij for coffee) and savory (hawaij for soup) versions. You can purchase my blends through the link in my profile (or on Amazon) or look for a mix in your local Middle Eastern market.

To make your own hawaij for soup and hawaij for coffee, you can get the recipes in my cookbook Totally Kosher!

To view the reel on Instagram click here.

Lemony Hawaij Chicken Couscous Soup
Yield: 8 servings

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs. pargiot (boneless dark meat chicken), diced
salt and pepper, to taste
1 large onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 large carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp hawaij for soup (NOT hawaij for coffee!)
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
8 cups chicken stock
8.8oz Israel couscous (NOT instant couscous)
zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1 large handful fresh parsley

In a soup pot, heat the olive oil. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook over medium-high heat until browned, 6-8 minutes. Remove from the pot. Add the onion, celery and carrots and saute until softened and starting to take on some color, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for an additional minute. Return the chicken to the pot, add the hawaij and stir until fragrant and incorporated. Add the chickpeas and chicken stock and bring to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add the couscous and simmer until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove from the fire. Add the lemon zest and juice and stir in the parsley. Serve.

Related Recipes:

Hawaij Couscous
Hawaij Honey Cake With Labneh Frosting
Couscous Stuffed Capons

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Smash Shawarma Pita

I don’t know about you but I am living and breathing Israel right now, and all I can do is see how I can put an Israeli spin on everything, including my food, obviously! I love a good Smash Burger so I decided to get in on the Smash-Burger-Taco trend except make it Israeli by using ground turkey spiced with shawarma seasoning, and smashing it onto a pita half! I couldn’t get them out fast enough – my family polished them off! Winner winner shawarma dinner!

To view the reel on Instagram click here.


Smash Shawarma Pita

1 lb ground dark meat turkey (lamb or chicken works too)
2 tbsp shawarma spice
Salt, to taste
2 pitas, split
Oil, for frying
Toppings: red cabbage slaw, Israeli salad, Israeli pickles, sumac onion, tahini

Method:

Mix the ground turkey with shwarma spice and a bit of salt. Divide into 4 portions. Heat a skillet over high heat with 2 tbsp oil, add a portion of turkey, cover with pita and smash with a burger press or heavy bottomed pot. Cook until golden, flip and cook until browned and crsisp. Top with toppings of choice. בתאבון!

Related Recipes:
Sheet Pan Shawarma
Grilled Chicken Shawarma Salad
Chicken Shawarma

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Kitchen Sink Chicken Caesar Salad

I can eat chicken Caesar salad every day of the summer, and I always make it a little different, depending on what’s in my fridge. No chicken? leftover meat or burgers will do! No lettuce? iceberg can work! The rest is up to the produce bin – shaved raw corn (fave!), snap peas, cabbage, kohlrabi, all the crunch and lets not forget the croutons! I used roasted chickpeas here cuz YUMMMM but whatever’s in the pantry is up for grabs – bottom-of-the-bag pretzels, crackers, chips – all fair game! So open your fridge and make it your own!

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Kitchen Sink Chicken Caesar Salad

1 head romaine, chopped
Quarter head red cabbage, thinly sliced
Handful of baby cucumbers, halved
Handful of raw sugar snap peas, thinly sliced
Handful of radishes, thinly sliced
2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed
1 cup roasted chickpeas

Dressing:
3/4 cup Mayo
2 tbsp Dijon
1 scallion, chopped
1 heaping tbsp capers, chopped
Handful of dill, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp rice vinegar

Mix and combine!

Related Recipes:

Grilled Chicken Salad with Jalapeno Honey Mustard Dressing

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Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef

This week, my foodie friends and I decided to throw a dumpling party, where each attendee contributed another dumpling from around the world! You can watch a roundup here! I decided to go with tamales since I’ve always wanted to learn to make them the authentic way. First, I researched barbacoa recipes for the tamale filling (which you can also fill with beans, pulled chicken, cheese or veggies).

Barbacoa is actually the Spanish word for barbecue. It generally refers to meats over an open fire, but in Mexico, barbacoa evolved into a specific cooking style in which meat is slowly cooked in a pit dug into the ground, which is covered with agave leaves. Cooking the meat sealed in a pit steams the meat by sealing in the moisture while also imparting it with smoky flavor. Home cooks adapted barbacoa to the kitchen and converted it into braised beef, which works well in the Instant Pot or crockpot.

Barbacoa is typically made out of tougher cuts of meat, goat or lamb that require long, slow cooking times. Chuck roast, brisket and beef cheeks are common, but I used deckel because it’s a budget friendly with good marbeling. While tough, the meat breaks down into tender pulled beef in the Instant Pot.

The tamales were a huge hit at the party (full recipe coming soon), and I used my leftover meat to make pulled beef tacos for dinner the next night. I love that this recipe is spicy, savory and full of flavor, different from the sweet pulled beef I’m used to eating. Give it a try!

 

Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef

Chipotle Sauce:
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 tbsp adobo sauce (from the can)
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

Beef:
3 lb. beef chuck, deckel, 2nd cut brisket or other fatty braising cut
salt and pepper, to taste
2 tbsp olive oil
1 Spanish onion, thinly sliced into half moons
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups beef broth
4 oz canned diced green chilies
3 bay leaves

Method:

In a food processor, blend the chipotle sauce ingredients and set aside. Heat the instant pot to the sauté setting. Season the beef with salt and pepper and add the olive oil to the pot. Sear the meat until browned (you can cut it in half if it doesn’t fit into the pot), remove from the pot and set aside. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Stir in the tomato paste and continue stirring until it darkens in color. Pour in the beef stock and scrape any bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the green chilies, bay leaves and chipotle paste and stir until incorporated. Return the meat to the pot and set it on high pressure for one hour.

Release the pressure and pull the beef apart. Serve in tamales, tacos, over rice or in pulled beef sandwiches.

VARIATION: If you don’t have an instant pot, sear the beef in a pot and continue as above. Transfer to a slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours, or prepare the recipe in a Dutch oven and braise at  325 degrees for 4 hours or until fork tender.


Related Recipes:

kosher tamales
Blogoversary BBQ Brisket
easiest crockpot pulled beef
skirt steak tacos

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Sheet Pan Lasagna


Sheet Pan Cottage Cheese Lasagna!
Your favorite Shavuous dish, only easier! You’re welcome!

PS do you call it patch-keh or patch-kee???!

To view the reel on Instagram click here.

Sheet Pan Cottage Cheese Lasagna

16oz lasagna sheets, broken into pieces
16oz whipped cottage cheese
1 clove of garlic
Zest of half a lemon
2 frozen basil cubes
1/2 tap dried oregano
1/4 tsp Freshly ground pepper or pinch red pepper flakes
1 egg yolk
1 26oz jar marinara sauce
12oz shredded cheese
3 cups kale or spinach
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Mix together in a bowl the cottage cheese, garlic, lemon zest, basil, oregano, pepper, and egg yolk until incorporated. Cook your lasagna sheets in boiling water and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet with the marinara sauce, cheese, and spinach and mix it all together. Drizzle olive oil over it and place dollops of the cottage cheese mixture on top. Finish with more shredded cheese and parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Related Recipes:

Shavuos Recipes

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