Category: Paleo

Pina Colada Ice Cream

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas. I love me some banana cake with frosting, but I’m not a fan of strawberry + banana anything. Banana “nice cream” is a great invention, but sometimes I want some ice cream that’s good for my body that doesn’t taste like, well, bananas.

Enter the humble pineapple. I’ve turned it into a rotisserie stand in my cookbook, Millennial Kosher, and now it’s solving my nice cream problems with it’s unique ability to blend up into a creamy and dreamy dessert.

Like bananas, the pineapple must be frozen before making “nice cream”, and the addition of coconut and rum makes you feel like you’re on a tropical island somewhere. Which is kinda nice considering I haven’t been to one in about 12 years.

So while my Instagram is flooded with photos of Mykonos, I’ll happily enjoy some of this guilt-free ice cream on my porch in Upstate New York, savoring the smell of grass and the breeze sweeping through the mountains. Enjoy the last licks of summer, it’s almost over! (insert sad emoji face here).

Pina Colada Ice Cream
YIELD: 6 servings

1 ripe pineapple, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can full fat coconut milk
2 tbsp rum, optional
2 tbsp maple syrup, or, to taste
pinch of salt

Method:

Place the pineapple in a ziploc bag and freeze overnight. Refrigerate the coconut milk overnight.

Carefully remove the coconut milk from the fridge and scoop out the coconut cream from the top of the can, leaving the liquid on the bottom (drink or discard). Place the coconut cream into a food processor along with the frozen pineapple chunks, rum, maple syrup and salt, Blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Serve immediately or freeze until ready to serve.

Related Recipes:

passion fruit coolada
persimmon coconut ice cream
nutella banana nice cream
orange creamsicle pops

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Grilled Chicken Wedge Salad
with Carrot Ginger Dressing

Grilled chicken salad is my dish of choice for summer. There always seems to be some leftover chicken in the fridge and I love the challenge of coming up with new ways to eat it – depending on what I have on hand. I typically go with Middle Eastern-inspired recipes when I use pargiot, or dark meat cutlets, and I go Asian or Indian with chicken breasts.

The iceberg salad with carrot ginger dressing is my favorite starter at Asian restaurants – it’s just so light and fresh and really the perfect way to start a meal of heavy Chinese food. I’m always picking out the big chunks of iceberg that are wedged into each other, so I decided to make a salad that is all about the wedge!

Traditional wedge salad is smothered in bacon and blue cheese dressing – and aside from the fact that it’s not kosher, I’m not even tempted, because, well….blue cheese. I prefer not to eat food that tastes like stinky socks, you know? But this right here? This is I can get behind. With creamy avocado, peppery radishes and crisp cucumber, you don’t even miss croutons and the dish will leave you feeling light and refreshed – just how I love my summer salads.

Grilled Chicken Wedge Salad

1 head iceberg lettuce, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, spiralized (or thinly sliced)
1 avocado, peeled into ribbons (or cut into chunks)
2 pieces grilled chicken, diced
3 radishes, thinly sliced
carrot ginger dressing (recipe follows)

Method:

Arrange all the ingredients on a platter and drizzle with dressing, to taste.

VARIATION: for a vegan salad, grill tofu using the same method as the chicken.


Carrot Ginger Dressing

1/4 c light olive oil
2 tbsp white miso paste (may substitute with tahini paste)
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1” piece ginger
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sriracha
1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Add all the ingredients to a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Related Recipes:

Asian lettuce wraps
grilled chicken fattoush with za’atar ranch
grilled chicken salad with jalapeno honey mustard dressing
grilled chicken shawarma salad

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Roasted Eggplant Shakshuka

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’ve got a thing for stuffing roasted eggplant halves. I’ve made it a bunch of different ways – in fact – I had so many variations that I wanted to put into my cookbook, Millennial Kosher, that I almost wanted to do a stuffed eggplant chapter! Alas, we had to nix this shakshuka recipe because I already had 2 other stuffed recipes in the book (fully loaded stuffed eggplants and lamb moussaka eggplant boats).

It was a hard decision because this recipe is just THAT good. But the great part about being a food blogger is that I knew I could eventually just post it on the blog, and this seems like the perfect week! With the Nine Days upon us (a period of mourning in which observant Jews abstain from eating meat), we’re all looking for light and healthy vegetarian fare, and this fits the bill.

If you’re a fan of shakshuka, I’ve got lots of other variations available on the blog too, like this Mexican Quinoa Shakshuka, the beet, kale and goat cheese version that WhatJewWannaEat guest posted for me when I was on maternity leave,  this fun zoodle version, one with garbanzo beans and labneh, another one with spaghetti squash and spinach, and even a stuffed portobello one. Can you tell I have a thing for runny eggs in spicy tomato sauce??

All the above versions are kinda great – but I’m partial to the ramen shakshuka in my cookbook, and this incredible variation. The silky fire roasted eggplant with the runny egg and the spicy tomato sauce marry so well together, it’s a wonder no one came up with this before!

If you’re a fan of stuffed roasted eggplants, you can also try these other ideas: roasted eggplant parmesan, roasted eggplant parmesan with feta,  stuffed roasted eggplant, and sous vide stuffed eggplant with dukkah and pomegranate.  I wasn’t kidding. I heart stuffed eggplant. Almost as much as shakshuka. Ok as much as shakshuka.

Roasted Eggplant Shakshuka

2 eggplants
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced into half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 red pepper, thinly sliced into half moons
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 (15-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
1 tsp harissa
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch sugar, or to taste
4 eggs
fresh parsley, for garnish

Method:

Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise and place flesh-side down on a greased baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and broil on high on the top rack of the oven for 20-25 minutes, until skin is charred and the flesh is soft. Lightly break up the eggplant flesh and season with salt and lemon juice (if desired), to taste.

Prepare the shakshuka sauce: Heat olive oil in a large skillet; add onion. Sauté until translucent. Add garlic and red pepper; sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add cumin and smoked paprika; sauté until fragrant. Stir in tomatoes with their liquid, tomato sauce, harissa, sugar, salt and pepper; cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Place prepared eggplants boats on a baking sheet. Lightly break up the eggplant flesh to make room for the shakshuka filling. Divide the shakshuka sauce between the eggplant boats; make a well in the center of the sauce on each. Crack an egg into a small bowl; gently slide it into the sauce on an eggplant boat. Repeat with remaining eggs and boats. Bake until eggs are set, about 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley.

NOTE: If you don’t have harissa, you can add some diced jalapeno and saute along with the red pepper and garlic.
VARIATION: For quick and easy shakshuka sauce, use marinara mixed with a little harissa and cumin or use store-bought matbucha.
TOPPINGS: If desired, top the eggplant with labneh, crumbled feta, za’atar, or roasted chickpeas.

Related Recipes:

Mexican quinoa shakshuka,
beet, kale and goat cheese shakshuka
zoodle shakshuka,
garbanzo bean shakshuka with labneh
spaghetti squash shakshuka
stuffed portobello shakshuka

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Asian Lettuce Wraps

Summer has officially begun! Last week, we made the 3  hour trek to the Catskills in Upstate New York where we spend our summer. I’m more of a city gal myself, but the city heat is unbearable, so I welcome the cool mountain air, rolling hills, grass and trees (something we majorly lack in Brooklyn)! The ten weeks we spend here fill my kids with vitality like a tank fills with gas. The long summer days spent carefree in the the outdoors are life’s best medicine, and I’m so thankful I get to give it to them.

As for me, some of my best memories are the ones I spent in the bungalow colony as a child. I love waking up to the smell of the mountains, and when I sit outside sipping my coffee and listening to the birds sing their song, it’s like pure heaven. But I can do without the endless laundry (they change like four times a day!), constant meals (all the swimming and biking makes them ravenous), and not seeing my husband the whole week (someone’s got to pay for all the food and laundry detergent we go through lol!).

I’m not really sure how much I’ll be able to keep up my blogging from here. I didn’t bring any props with me and I’m keeping things simple in the kitchen. But I did bring my camera and I loved the challenge of putting together a summer recipe without all of my fancy ingredients and food styling stuff. It’s also a learning experience working with different natural light, so I was happy to prepare these simple summer wraps and blog about them. Otherwise, I’ll be keeping things light around here, and probably blogging a lot less than usual. But I hope you’ll all be taking a break too!

Wishing you a light, healthy and refreshing summer!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

2 lbs dark meat turkey
3 cloves garlic
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp grapeseed oil (or other neutral flavored oil)
2 tbsp soy sauce.
1 1/2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp sriracha plus more for garnish
kosher salt, to taste
Boston lettuce
optional toppings: carrot sticks, radish, scallions

Method:

Heat the sesame and grapeseed oil in a skillet and add the ginger and garlic. Saute until fragrant but not browned. Add the ground turkey and season with salt. Cook over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks, until the turkey is crumbled and no longer pink. Add the soy sauce, lime juice and sriracha and stir to incorporate.

Divide the turkey among lettuce cups and top with carrot sticks, sliced radish and scallions. Finish with sriracha.

NOTE: to make these Paleo/Whole30, use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and substitute hot sauce for the sriracha.

If desired, you may pickle the carrots and/or radishes as follows:

OPTIONAL PICKLES
julienned carrots, sliced radishes, sliced cucumbers
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt

Bring the vinegar, water, sugar and salt to a boil. Remove from the heat. Add veggies and set aside to cool. Refrigerate until ready to use.


Related Recipes:

quinoa pad thai
curried chicken lettuce wraps

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Fruit Salad with Basil Honey Lime Dressing

To me, Passover, or Pesach, is all about tradition. I’ve never actually hosted the holiday in my own home, but I imagine that when I do, I’ll be making the same foods that my mother always made.

I have fond memories of my mom’s Passover ratatouille, mock chopped liver, beet salad and cucumber salad all neatly arranged in mason jars on the door of the fridge. She always had big jars of simple syrup on the counter, which she used to sweeten everything from chicken to fish, meat and nuts. Towards the second days, when everyone had enough of the heavy meals, she always diced up a huge fruit salad in our giant glass Pyrex. And she doused it in simple syrup too.

The simple syrup didn’t bother me, especially as a kid, because the fruit tasted like candy. But the bananas – they just threw the whole thing off. There were never really rules to what went into the fruit salad – it was whatever was leftover around the house – but it almost always had melon, kiwi, sliced bananas, walnuts, and oranges.

There was always someone in the house who was walking around scratching their throat from one of the fruits – probably the kiwi, and I think it was usually my sister. But we still ate it – bananas, oranges and all – and we sipped up all those sweet drippings from the bottom of the bowl like they were liquid gold. Ah, Passover memories.

While everyone is busy preparing trays of Passover brownies, whipping up macaroons and fancy pavlovas – I’m here to say that it’s really just about the tradition. Fruit salad may be simple, but it’s what my Momma always made, and it’s what I plan to make when I host Passover in my home in the coming years.

For this recipe, I’ve done away with all the fruits that I picked out of my Mom’s fruit salad – the awful mushy bananas, pithy oranges, and throat-scratching kiwi’s. Instead, I used melons, mangos, plums and nectarines, and fancied it up with a basil honey lime dressing (a lot healthier and more flavorful than the simple syrup of my youth!). Feel free to adjust this salad to your liking – adding more lime juice for extra tartness, or more honey for extra sweetness. And you can also switch up the herbs with some fresh mint instead of basil, if you so desire. Don’t forget to top it off with some coconut whipped cream and chopped nuts to really take it over the top!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very fruitful and happy Passover!

Fruit Salad with Basil Honey Lime Dressing

1/2 cantaloupe, peeled and diced
1/2 honeydew, peeled and diced
3 mangos, peeled and diced
4 nectarines, diced
4 plums, diced
handful of basil (about 20 leaves)
juice of 2 limes (3-4 tbsp)
1/4 cup honey
coconut whipped cream, optional
chopped nuts, optional

Method:

Add all the diced fruit to a bowl. In a food processor or blender, blend the basil, honey and lime juice. Alternatively, you may chop the basil into thin ribbons and mix with the lime juice and honey. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix. Serve with whipped cream and chopped nuts.

VARIATION: Feel free to use any fruit of your choice. Try using fresh mint instead of basil. Add lime zest for a stronger lime flavor.

NOTE: Add more or less honey, depending on the sweetness of the fruit.

YIELD: approximately 2 quarts.

Other Passover Desserts:

marzipan apple crisp
nutella banana ice cream
chocolate ganache tart with macaroon crust
raspberry sorbet

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