Category: Brunch

Smoothies Two Ways!

I’ve never been a big smoothie drinker, and mostly because I just find it a hassle to have to blend everything up. You have to shlep out the blender, clean it after, and all for a drink? It doesn’t seem worth it.

But a new product on the market has totally revolutionized the smoothie industry – Swirbie! The fruit comes in nifty pods that all but dissolve in your drink, no blender required. I am hooked!

My kids have been drinking smoothies all summer, no blender necessary, and we even get to prepare smoothies on Shabbos. I love to add the pods to coconut water, seltzer or different varieties of milk for a truly refreshing drink.

One of the best parts about the pods is that since they’re frozen, you don’t need to add ice, so there’s no watering down your drink. I call that a win-win!

This chili lime smoothie was inspired by Trader Joes viral chili lime seasoning, and I’ve been drinking it on repeat, it’s that good!

Chili Lime Mango Smoothie

2 Swirbie mango pods
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp honey, or, to taste
pinch of cayenne pepper
tajin spice or Trader Joes chili lime seasoning, for the rim, optional

Method:

Add mango pods, coconut milk, lime juice, honey and cayenne to a mason jar and shake until the mango dissolves. Rub the lime around the rim of your serving glass and dip in tajin spice. Pour the mango smoothie into the glass and serve immediately.

One of my favorite smoothie blends that I picked up from living in Israel is banana + date + tahini + milk. The flavors pair really well and it makes for a filling breakfast on the go.

And for a truly decadent treat, top off your smoothie with some shredded halva (or halva floss, as I like to call it!), it really takes it over the top.

Swirbie pods are available in strawberry, mango, peach, blueberry, banana and spinach flavors. You can use them on their own or blend two flavors together for an equally delicious drink!

You can find Swirbie pods in the freezer section of your local kosher supermarket.

Banana Tahini Smoothie

3 Swirbie banana pods
1 cup almond milk
2 tbsp raw tahini
1 tbsp silan (date honey)
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
sesame seeds and halva, for serving, optional

Method:

Add banana pods, almond milk, tahini, silan, cinnamon and salt to a mason jar and shake until the banana dissolves. Dip the rim of your serving glass in tahini and dip in sesame seeds. Pour the banana smoothie into the glass, top with shredded halva and serve immediately.

This post is sponsored by Swirbie.

 

Related Recipes:

pear ginger and oat smoothie
pumpkin pie smoothie
tahini frappuccino

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Sweet Chili Cauliflower Poppers

Happy Chanukah everyone!! You gotta love this holiday of parties, fried foods and presents, it really is my favorite! Partly so because I like to do without the pressure. Quick and easy recipes, throw together a cheese board and buy some donuts and we’re good to go!

There’s also 8 days to spread out the homemade stuff – so I tackle one thing at a time – classic latkes one night, a mashup on another. Some funnel cakes and deep fried oreos if we’re having a party and these SUPER EASY cauliflower poppers for the prettiest and simplest appetizer!

Sure in general I’m all for the homemade from-scratch stuff, but we all need an easy recipe in our back pocket that’s semi-homemade, and breaded cauliflower florets are a gift to foodie kind!

I first tasted a variation on this recipe at an Israeli-style cafe in Florida, they’re all over the sweet chili sauce! It came out still steaming and crispy from the fryer with a mayo dip on the side and something about it was just addictive and delicious! I realized that it was really easy to replicate at home, so I’ve been making it ever since and they are always a crowd pleaser!

I went a little Asian with the toppings and dip but you can go Middle Eastern with some parsley over the top and some za’atar ranch on the side, or maybe Mexican with some taco seasoning and cilantro with some salsa for dippings.

Get dippin’!

Sweet Chili Cauliflower Poppers

24oz. package breaded cauliflower florets
20oz. jar sweet chili sauce
1 scallion, chopped
1 tsp toasted black and white sesame seeds
canola oil, or cooking oil spray
spicy mayo, for dipping

Method:

To fry: heat oil in a deep fryer and fry the florets until crispy. Alternatively, heat oven to 425 degrees, spray the poppers with oil and bake until crispy.

While the poppers are hot, toss with sweet chili sauce, top with scallions and sesame seeds and serve immediately.

VARIATION: try this recipe with breaded broccoli poppers or chicken nuggets!

Related Recipes:

falafel cauliflower poppers
cauliflower nachos
smoked paprika popcorn cauliflower

sweet-chili-cauliflower-poppers

Dips & Spreads

Walk into any kosher supermarket and you’re likely to find a display case of wall to wall dips. What is it about Jews and dips and when did this cultural shift happen?

In Sephardic culture, SALATIM have adorned their Shabbos tables for generations. Unlike most mayo-based dips that you find in Ashkenazi cuisine, salatim are usually cooked down for hours (think matbucha!) and are exclusively savory.

Growing up in an Ashkenazi home, dips were not really a THING. And come to think of it, neither was a smorgasbord of salads. Life was a lot simpler back then, and if we had some pickled cucumber salad, chrein (horseradish with beets) and tahini (my dad is Israeli after all) we were happy campers. Perhaps it’s our foodie culture or this generation’s need for abundance that has our Shabbos feasts outdoing the most lavish Thanksgiving spreads. Luckily, I like to play around in the kitchen, so spending my Fridays whipping up multiple dishes isn’t the worst thing. But for those who find cooking overwhelming, Shabbos prep can be a chore, and believe me I get it. That’s where store-bought dips come in handy, and the good news is, you don’t really have to buy them.

I’ve never been that big on prepping dips, probably because they are just a vehicle for eating more challah. We always have hummus and tahini around, and I’ll make (or buy!) olive dip on occasion, but dips for me are an “extra”, a cherry on the top if I’m feeling extra fancy or I want to go all out for special guests.

If I have tomatoes on hand that are too soft for salad, I’ll usually cook down my tomato jalepeno dip (recipe in my book) and we absolutely love garlic confit smeared over challah (recipe also in my book), but in general, I prefer NO-COOK dips that I can just throw into the food processor and be done with it! One of my favorite kitchen hacks for making dips it to cover the bowl of my food processor with plastic wrap before putting the cover on, so the oil or mayo doesn’t splatter all over the top of the machine when I blend, and I can make one dip after another with minimal clean up.

The best part about making homemade dips in the food processor is that amounts don’t really matter. You can throw most things from a jar into your machine with a big dollop of mayo (lemon juice keeps it tasting fresh, and salt is always a given) and you’re good to go. Here are some good combos!

No-Cook Dips & Spreads

Mayo-based:
pimento stuffed olives + mayo + lemon juice + salt
pickled hot peppers (stems and seeds removed) + mayo + lemon juice + salt
chipotle chili in adobo + garlic + mayo + lime juice + salt (pictured)
fresh dill + garlic + lemon zest + lemon juice + mayo + salt
salsa + mayo
chimichurri + mayo
jalapeno honey mustard
za’atar ranch (pictured)
green goddess
spicy mayo
sundried tomato aioli
balsamic aioli

Tapenades:
sundried tomato + marinated artichokes + fresh basil + lemon zest + olive oil + salt (pictured)
sundried tomato + black olives + capers + garlic + parsley + olive oil + lemon juice + salt
assorted mix olives + olive oil + lemon juice

Other:
pesto
hummus
harissa tahini
halva dip
guacamole
harissa whipped feta
herbed crema
pico de gallo

 

Related Recipes:

trio of sweet challah dips

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Sweet Chili Broccoli Salmon

I have a confession to make: I can’t spell brocolli. I mean broccolli. No broccoli! Thank G-d for auto-correct because I just can’t get it right.

I’ve always been a good speller but I’ve got a few mindblocks:
broccoli
nauseous
exercise

It’s a good think I don’t get nauseous from eating broccoli after I exercise otherwise I’d have 3 typos in the same sentence, ha!


Actually speaking of broccoli, it’s one of my favorite veggies, and I can legit eat an entire tray in one sitting! I love it raw, I love it steamed, roasted and stir fried. I’m not even partial to fresh broccoli, the frozen stuff is just fine for my standards, so long as it’s thawed properly and not mushy. Mushy brocolli is gross, Mushy brocolli doesn’t deserve to be spelled correctly.

So for all you broccoli lovers out there – thaw your frozen broccoli, never boil it! I like to run the frozen broccoli under cold water just to lightly thaw and then stir fry over high heat. That’s it. Perfectly tender broccoli every time.

Sweet Chili Broccoli Salmon

olive oil cooking spray
2 lbs. skinless fillet of salmon, cut into cubes
2 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup flavored breadcrumbs
3 tbsp sesame seeds, plus more for garnish
24oz. frozen broccoli florets
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
13oz. bottle sweet chili sauce
1 scallion, thinly sliced
prepared rice, for serving

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Set side.

Place eggs into a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. Place breadcrumbs in a second bowl and mix with sesame seeds.

Dip the salmon cubes in eggs and breadcrumbs and place on baking sheet. Spray generously with olive oil cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the salmon is cooking, place the broccoli florets in a strainer in the sink and run water over it until mostly thawed. Pat dry.

Heat oil in a skillet and stir fry the broccoli over high heat until tender. Add the sweet chili sauce to coat.

When ready to serve, add the salmon to the broccoli and coat completely with the sauce. Garnish with scallions and serve with rice.

Related Recipes:

sweet chili salmon with wasabi crust
broccoli parmesan poppers 
fish tacos with broccoli slaw

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Sabich Burgers with Peach Amba

On my recent trip to Israel, a humble pita sandwich filled with unlikely ingredients stole the show: The Sabich. A combination of fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, hummus and Israeli salad  is stuffed into a pita and drizzled with tahini and amba, a pickled mango sauce similar to Indian chutney.

The origins of sabich go back to Iraq, where the sandwiches were traditionally eaten on Shabbat mornings. The Iraqi’s brought it with them when they immigrated to Israel in the early days of the state, and it’s named is said to be an acronym for main sandwich components:  salat, beitzah, hazilim (salad, egg, eggplant).

What makes sabich so good? it’s the mishmash of textures and flavors which seem to work so well together — crunchy, creamy, tangy and spicy in every bite!

But above all, it’s the amba that really makes the sandwich and everything else it comes in contact with! I first tried traditional jarred amba a few months ago and let me just say, it was NOT love at first bite. Unripe mango was cut into sticks and pickled in a spicy brine which did not please my palette in the least. But then, I tried the amba at Goldie Falafel in Philly and I was like WHAT. IS. THIS. SORCERY. So, I went to the source of all things Israeli Cuisine, Mike Solomonov’s cookbooks and I was on my way to the most amazing chutney I’d ever had.

So the best amba, I learned, is not, in fact, pickled. It’s cooked down into savory sauce that makes everything better! You can even blend it up into a smooth dip and use it to marinate meat or poultry – all of which I have tried with much success!

This summer, I decided to swap out mango for peaches, for a more seasonal sauce and it just blew it out of the park! Solomonov has done it with apples for topping latkes, and strawberries in the summer, which I’d love to try sometime too. Feel free to switch up your fruit to make it your own – just do it, you won’t regret it!

Sabich Burger
YIELD: 8 burgers

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2″ thick slices
1 1/2 cups plain panko breadcrumbs
3 tbsp za’atar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper, to taste
canola oil, for frying
8 burger buns
8 eggs, prepared sunny-side-up
1/2 cup prepared hummus
1/2 cup prepared tahini
sliced tomato
cucumber ribbons

Method:

Set up a dredging station:

In one bowl, stir the panko crumbs with the za’atar and salt, to taste. In a second bowl, add the eggs with salt and pepper. And in a third bowl, add the flour with salt and pepper.

Heat some canola oil in a frying pan. Using one hand for wet ingredients and another for dry ingredients, dip the eggplant in flour, eggs and panko, shaking off the excess in between. Fry the eggplant until golden on both sides and drain on paper towels. Remove to a baking rack so the eggplant stays crispy.

When ready to serve, place some hummus on the bottom half of your bun, top with sliced tomato, cucumber ribbons, 1-2 slices of fried eggplant, sunny side up egg, amba and tahini. Serve immediately.

Peach Amba
adapted from Israeli Soul by Mike Solomonov

2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1 tsp hilba (ground fenugreek)
1 tsp smoked paprika
4 medium ripe peaches, peeled and diced
1 tsp kosher salt
juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the onion, saute until softened but not browned. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the mustard, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, hilba and smoked paprika and saute until fragrant. Add the peaches and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until the peaches break down and soften, about 15-20 minutes. If the mixture starts to stick to the pan, add a bit of water. Stir in lemon juice, cool and refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

NOTE: if the amba is too tangy for your taste, add a squeeze of honey or maple syrup.

 

Related Recipes:

sabich latkes
amba bloody harry 
roasted eggplant shakshuka
harissa whipped feta with za’atar eggplant “chips”

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