Category: Recipes

Beet & Chickpea Salad


I had some leftover pickles and chickpeas from yesterday’s post, plus some beets in the fridge, so I made one of my Shabbos staples – this beet and chickpea salad that’s super easy to put together, budget friendly and oh. so. good. Perfect for your mezze spread, or just because!

 

Beet & Chickpea Salad
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
8 mini Israeli pickles, sliced in half lengthwise and chopped
2 large pre-cooked beets, diced small
1 small red onion, diced small
small bunch of parsley, chopped
1/3 cup prepared tahini
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
kosher salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Chop and mix! It’s as easy as that!

Related Recipes:

roasted beet salsa

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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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Rainbow Carrot Salad

I was so excited to get into the kitchen with my friend Rachel Simons, from Seed & Mill to cook up a recipe from her new cookbook, SESAME! To know me, is to love TAHINI – I am legit sesame-obsessed, and Rachel really helped me look at sesame in a whole new way.

We started by toasting up the sesame seeds in a dry pan and as the kitchen filled up with the smell of toasted sesame, we transferred them to a mortar and pestle where Rachel gently pressed on the seeds to crush them into the most incredible magic dust that was nutty and crunchy with an irresistible mouthfeel. Definitely my new favorite technique!

We used the same powder to create a delicious, light, umami dressing for the prettiest pile of rainbow carrot ribbons that Rachel brought from Union Square market. She shaved some scallions and chopped some carrot greens to sprinkle over the salad, and we drizzled on some Seed & Mill tahini for a fabulous finish.

So so good!

Rainbow Carrot Goma-ae Salad
Serves 6 to 8
reprinted with permission from Sesame by Rachel Simons, Ten Speed Press

⅓ cup well-toasted sesame seeds
1½ tablespoons sesame oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dashi powder (we used 1 scant teaspoon of Trader Joes umami seasoning)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic flakes
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
½ teaspoon honey or maple syrup
¾ pound rainbow carrots, shaved with a vegetable peeler
3 or 4 scallions, sliced on the diagonal (optional)

Method:

1. In a mortar with a pestle or in a food processor, grind the sesame seeds until some of the oil has been released and the seeds are slightly crushed, but the mixture has not yet become a paste. Instead, it should look like crunchy wet sand.

2 In a medium bowl, whisk the ground sesame seeds, sesame oil, soy sauce, dashi powder, rice vinegar, water, mirin, granulated garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and the honey until well combined. Taste and add more salt, if desired. Set aside.
3 In a serving bowl, toss the dressing with the carrots until evenly coated. Top the carrots with the sliced scallions (if using) and serve immediately.

Related Recipes:

Simanim carpaccio

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Olive Apricot Chicken

About to board a flight for Florida to join the Passover program at PGA National Resort and Spa with Kosherica and Leisuretime Tours! Just wanted to get this recipe up for y’all quickly!

Happy Passover!

Olive Apricot Chicken

6 chicken bottoms
2 leeks, white and pale green parts, chopped
1 head garlic cloves, peeled
1 cup dried apricots, halved
1/2 cup sliced olives
1 heaping tbsp paprika
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch red pepper flakes
1 tsp kosher salt
3 tbsp silan
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1 1/2-2 cups chicken stock

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the chicken into a baking dish. Spread the leeks, olives, apricots and garlic around the chicken. In a small bowl, combine the paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, salt, silan, lemon and olive oil. Brush the mixture over the thicken thighs. Sprinkle with cilantro. Add the chicken stock around the chicken and cover with a layer of parchment paper and foil. Bake for 1 hour (check after 30 minutes to see if you need to add more chicken stock, it should be saucy), uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes, basting every 10 minutes with the sauce.

 

apricot harissa chicken
chicken tagine for Amit

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Thai Chicken Curry

So here’s my Pesach philosophy, bear with me.

I’m not a fan of all the processed junk that they make to mimic the flavors of year-round-ingredients that people can’t use on Passover – like imitation mustard and caramel-colored brown sauce that they call “soy sauce”. No. Just no.

Passover, to me, is a time to go back to basics and use what’s natural and wholesome. What a way to eat! And that doesn’t have to mean boring and bland chicken and potatoes or 8 days!

It all boils down to the produce – relying on lots of fresh herbs, aromatics and spices to help build a dish from the ground up.

For this recipe, I tried to keep it simple – so while the curry paste is non-traditional it’s doable and not too spicy. And the processed ingredients like almond butter, coconut milk and coconut aminos, are all wholesome and natural. Just the way our Passover should be!

Thai Chicken Curry

For the Thai-ish Chili Paste:

1 large shallot
3″ chunk ginger
4 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemongrass
2 Thai chilies
handful of cilantro stems
2 tsp chili powder
zest and juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp tomato paste
kosher salt, to taste

Blend all the ingredients in the food processor until pasty (add a splash of water, if needed, to get it going). Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.

For the curry:

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 heaping tbsp minced ginger
1.5-2 lbs. dark meat chicken, diced into bite-size pieces
kosher salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup creamy almond butter
1 can full fat coconut milk
1/3 cup Thai-ish curry paste
2 tbsp coconut aminos
1-2 tbsp honey
juice of 1/2 lime

For serving
zucchini noodles
cilantro
chopped scallions
sliced almonds
lime wedges
thinly sliced Thai chilies

Method:

Heat the olive oil in a wok or deep skillet. Add the garlic and ginger and saute until softened, 1 minute. Add the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and saute until cooked through and no longer pink.

Add the almond butter, coconut milk, curry paste, coconut aminos and honey and stir to incorporate. Cook over medium heat until the sauce is slightly thickened and creamy. Season, to taste, with salt. Add the lime and stir to incorporate.

Serve over zucchini noodles (lighty saute for 2-3 minutes until tender-crisp) and garnish with cilantro, scallions, Thai chilies, almonds and serve with a lime wedge.

NOTE: You can also use cashew butter instead of almond butter.

Related Recipes:

peanut chicken curry
panko crusted salmon with almond butter sauce
cucumber salad with almond butter dressing
Almond Butter Tahini

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