Category: Lunch

Crispy Rice Sushi Salad

Let’s be honest: leftover rice is rarely exciting. It’s dry, a little clumpy, and often destined for the microwave. But with one simple trick — a sheet pan and a little oil (and spice!) — you’re not reheating rice. You’re upgrading it.

If you’ve ever scraped the bottom of a rice pot and secretly loved those toasty, crunchy bits (or peeled the entire crust off a pot of tahdig!) – THAT’S crispy rice. It’s all about the crrrrunch — nutty, golden nuggets of caramelized crispiness. That texture alone could carry a dish, but when tossed with fresh toppings and punchy sauces, it becomes the foundation of something truly next level.

So move over boring ‘ole sushi salad, and let your CRISPY RICE sushi salad begin!

CRISPY RICE SUSHI SALAD

Crispy Rice
4 cups leftover jasmine rice
2 tsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp chili garlic paste, sambal oelek or chili crisp
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp grapeseed or avocado oil

Salad
1-2 cups leftover salmon, tuna or kani
2 Persian cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 cup edamame, thawed
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 avocado, diced
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1/3 cup spicy mayo
1/4 cup sweet sauce

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the rice out. Add the soy sauce, chili paste, sesame oil and grapeseed oil and stir until incorporated. Bake for 35-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes until the rice is crispy but not burned.

Transfer the crispy rice to a large bowl. Top with flaked salmon, cucumber, edamame, scallions, avocado and sesame seeds. Drizzle with spicy mayo and sweet sauce and serve.

Related Recipes:

sushi salad
crispy rice carrot salad with harissa 
crispy rice latkes
chili lime crispy salmon

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Devil-ish Egg Chicken Caesar Salad

Sometimes the best meals come from a little fridge foraging. This deconstructed deviled egg chicken Caesar salad was born from a handful of Shabbos leftovers—grilled chicken, day-old sourdough (I always save a chunk for croutons!), and a couple of soft-boiled eggs—and turned into something unexpectedly delicious. It’s got all the bold, briny, umami-packed flavors of a deviled egg, reimagined in salad form with creamy Caesar dressing, crunchy croutons, and savory bites of chicken. It’s hearty, flavorful, and a perfect example of how a few humble ingredients can come together to create something special.

 

Devil-ish Egg Chicken Caesar Salad

1/4 loaf sourdough (5oz), torn into pieces and crumbs
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4-5 cups curly kale, stems removed, roughly torn
1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 grilled chicken breasts, diced
3 soft boiled eggs

Umami dressing:
2/3 cup mayonnaise
3 tbsp minced capers
2 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread the sourdough onto a baking sheet and mix with smoked paprika, olive oil and salt. Bake until crispy, about 15-20 minutes, stirring every few minutes.

Mix the dressing in a small bowl. Using gloves, massage most of the dressing into the kale, leaving a few spoons for later.

Spread the chicken over the kale, top with sourdough croutons. Drizzle remaining dressing and top with soft boiled eggs.

Related Recipes:

Asian chicken salad
green goddess chicken salad
curry chicken salad
honey mustard chicken salad
kitchen sink chicken caesar salad

Fully Loaded Stuffed Eggplants

I’m celebrating Yom Haatzmaut and my favorite place in the world today with one of my tried and true favorite recipes – fully loaded stufffed eggplants. I love them so much I put them in my first cookbook, Millennial Kosher, and it’s the dish I make the most often when I’m looking to fill up on something light and healthy!

Fully Loaded Stuffed Eggplant

1 eggplant
1 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt, to taste
fresh squeezed lemon juice, to taste
Israeli salad (recipe follows)
red cabbage salad
roasted chickpeas
sumac onions
8 mini Israeli pickles, sliced
1/4 cup store-bought or homemade hummus
1/4 cup prepared tahini
1 tbsp harissa
fresh parsley or cilantro, for finishing
optional additions: falafel, shawarma

For the eggplants:

For optimum flavor, you can fire-roast the eggplants over an open flame on your stovetop. Because this is messy and time consuming, I prefer to broil them. To do this, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and place flesh-side down on a greased baking sheet. Brush the skin with olive oil and and sprinkle with salt and broil on high on the top rack for 20-25 minutes, until skin is charred and the flesh is soft.

Lighty break up the eggplant flesh and season with lemon and salt, mix gently.

To plate, place 1/2 eggplant on a dish, spread hummus over the eggplant. Top with red cabbage slaw, Israeli salad, onions, pickles, and roasted chickpeas. Garnish with parsley and drizzle generously with tahini.

For Israeli salad:

2 plum tomatoes
1 Persian cucumbers
fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Finely dice tomatoes and cucumbers. Drizzle with olive oil, lemon and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh parsley or chop finely and add to salad.

Related Recipes:

roasted eggplant shakshuka
eggplant chips with whipped feta

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Kani Mock Crab Cakes

Friday’s look very different in my house from week to week. With my kid’s leaving to their dad’s every other weekend, I don’t cook for Shabbat every week, and when I do, I’m not always hosting. I have my busy hosting weeks where I plan my menu on Thursday night, write up a shopping list, and shop early Friday morning. And then I have my lazy Fridays where I pull out whatever I have in the fridge from the week and plan a last-minute meal. I love both styles of cooking – one where I have to be more organized, and the other where I get to be creative and play.

This past weekend was the free kind and I had a package of kani leftover from our build-you-own-sushi-bowls dinner on Monday. I had made flaked salmon, so nobody went for the kani, and I wanted to use it up. Mock crab cakes were the obvious choice, and I had some hearts of palm in the fridge, a bunch of peppers, dill from my soup, and plenty of saltines leftover from my stomach virus (so fun!!!)…. the perfect mix for some patties.

Kani Mock Crab Cakes

16oz. kani (mock crab), diced small
1 red pepper, finely diced
2 hearts of palm, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, chopped
1 cup crushed saltine crackers
3 tbsp chopped dill
1 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard
zest of 1/2 lemon
dash of tajin
1/3 cup mayo
2 eggs + 1 egg white
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tbsp grapeseed oil + 1 tsp toasted sesame oil, for frying

Crumbs:
2 cups panko
1/3 cup toasted black and white sesame seeds
kosher salt, to taste

Spicy Mayo
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tbsp sriracha
2 tsp sesame oil

Method:

In a large bowl, combine the kani, red pepper, hearts of palm, garlic, scallions and seasonings, mix with a spoon until incorporated. Place the crumb ingredients onto a flat plate or small sheet tray and stir to combine.

Press the kani mixture together to form patties and dredge in the crumbs until coated on both sides.

Heat the oils in a frying pan and fry the patties until golden on both sides, adding more oil, if needed.

Serve with spicy mayo.

Related Recipes:

Asian kani bites
kani caesar salad with nori croutons
kani salad

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Ramen Salad

I found these new Ramen toppers at the store and was inspired to create a Ramen Salad using some of my favorite components of ramen soup – namely, soft boiled eggs and shitake mushrooms. I love putting a jammy yolk on just about everything, but it works especially well with kale, and I often top my kale Caesar salad with them too!

This is not your typical salad, but the ingredients come together so well, with the crunchy onion garlic ramen and Asian dressing. Serve with a side of crudo and you’ve got yourself a full meal!

Ramen Salad

3 soft boiled eggs
1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame oil
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
4 cups chopped kale
1 cup frozen edamame, thawed and rinsed
1 avocado, diced
1 cup Gefen onion garlic ramen toppers

Dressing:
1/3 c grapeseed oil
2 tsp sesame oil
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 clove minced garlic
1 tbsp honey
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1/2 lime

Method:

For the soft boiled eggs, bring a small saucepan to a boil, reduce to a simmer and lower the eggs into the water with a spoon (I like to pierce them with an egg piercer first to make peeling easier). Simmer for 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the eggs to an ice bath.

While the eggs are cooking, trim the shitake mushroom stems and slice them into strips. Saute in the grapeseed + sesame oil until browned and softenened. Season with salt and pepper.

In a small bowl combine the dressing ingredients. Whisk until emulsified.

Thinly slice the kale and add to a large salad bowl. Top with mushrooms, edamame, avocado, ramen and soft boiled eggs. Add the dressing and lightly toss. Enjoy!

Related Recipes:

Kale Crunch Salad
Wilted Kale And Kabocha Squash Salad
Weekend Leftovers Ramen Bowls
Pulled Brisket Ramen

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