Kitchen Rock Star!

I'm a rock star.

Well, I don't play any instruments any more but I'm a kitchen rock star. I rock in the kitchen - yeah, you read right! Sometimes I amaze myself and if this whole social media thing doesn't pan out, I'm totally gearing my efforts towards cooking.

Last night, I made slow cooked flank steak, sweet potato waffle fries, corn, and an apple crisp. I'll give you two of those recipes - I promise.

Here's the thing, I've never made flank steak - until last night. I altered someone else's recipe and it was AMAZING! It was equal parts spicy and sweet. The original recipe called for water, and I swapped it out for a little vino. I also added more brown sugar than necessary. Plus I sauteed the onions before putting it in the crock pot. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Flank Steak -  1 3/4 lbs to albs (cut in half)
1 small can of green chiles
1 large vidalia onion, chopped and sauteed
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1/4 teaspoon of cumin
1 cup of red wine
1 tbsp of olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic minced (depending on taste)

What to do:

1. In a small pan, brown flank steak in olive oil on both sides, then place in slow cooker. In the same pan, add your chopped onions - sautee for about 7 minutes on medium to high heat, then place it in the slow cooker. 
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to slow cooker. 
3. Cook on low for 4-5 hours if you prefer it sliced, cook 5-6 hours if you prefer it shredded.

You can do what we did and combine the corn with the meat and place it in a tortilla. YUM!!!

So, the other thing I made is seriously the easiest thing in the world to make but it looks complicated... apple crisp.

Ingredients:
5 large apples, peeled, sliced, and chopped
1/2 stick of butted, melted
Caramel topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar

What to do:
Pre-heat the oven to 425f
In a small bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar - mix it well.
In a small, square pan, add all of your apples - spoon in some of the flour/sugar mixture to the apples and mix well (about 2-3 spoonfuls).
Glob about 3-4 of the caramel topping to the top of the apples
Sprinkle the rest of the flour/sugar mixture on top of the apples.
Pour the melted butter on top of the flour/mixture.
Place your pan in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the mixture is browned on the top.
Let rest for 5 minutes outside of the oven.

We ate this concoction with french vanilla ice cream and caramel.

I would have posted pictures but, um, everything was gone before I could get the camera. Next time, fans, next time. Let's pretend the apple crisp looked like this:

Compliments of Betty Crocker.

So, if internet marketing doesn't work out and I don't do anything with my MA, I'll become an awesome kitchen rock star.

Pesadich Cheesy Zucchini Pods

My journey to find healthy Passover recipes got sidelined this week by a bad cold. My cold was so icky that I started getting dizzy and found myself totally unable to move. NOT FUN! I also sound odd since I lost my voice. Yoav no longer enjoys my singing - which sucks since I sing him to sleep just about every night.

Anyway, I'm pushing myself a bit more today to get back into the groove of things. Yesterday I went shopping for some Passover stuff and I was a little disappointed. We're about a week away from Passover and the only things I could find were matzo and matzo meal. Yay.

I picked up some Parmesan cheese and zucchinis yesterday at the grocery store and decided to make a Passover-friendly version of zucchini tots. This dish is totally milchig (dairy) so it won't go very well with your brisket but does pair nicely with a salad and matzo pizza.

Another Yummy Recipe

Cheesy Zucchini Pods
Ingredients
1 cup zucchini, chopped into small bits
1 egg
1/4 sweet onion, diced (yellow will work, too)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1/4 cup matzo meal
1 tsp. granulated garlic
Salt and Pepper

What to do
Preheat your oven to 200c/400f and spray a mini-muffin tin with olive oil spray. Chop up your zucchini and let it lay out for about an hour on a paper towel to get the extra water out. While you wait, cut up your onion.

Once your hour is up, combine your zucchini, onion, egg, cheese, matzo meal, garlic, salt, and pepper.

Use a spoon to scoop it out of the bowl and put it in the muffin tin. Place your muffin tin in the oven and let it all bake for about 15-20 minutes. You want the top to be browned. Serve it warm!

Once I'm not taking massive amounts of cold medicine, I'll be eating these while I drink some white wine.

Enjoy this recipe - I'm off for a nap!

Low-Sugar Tzimmes

With my chicken soup recipe behind me, I can start to focus on more healthy Kosher for Passover foods. While I've enjoyed scouring the interwebs to find recipes, I've been coming up short lately because not many of these recipes are strictly Kosher for Passover but they have given me some ideas.

Over at Joy of Kosher, you can find a plethora of recipes for Pesach but none of them are particularly healthy... except this one: avocado salad... or as you may call it guacamole. It's not rocket science and it pairs really nicely with whole wheat matzo crackers.

Since I live in the Holy Land, my Seders often lack an Ashkenazic feel. Crazy, right? A lot of Israelis adapted to the dietary restrictions of their Sephardic and Mizrahi counterparts - me included. My theory: if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. Mind you, the first time I told my grandmother this, she thought I lost my mind. I reassured her that I'm very much a Polish Jew. My maternal-grandfather welcomed the change, though, and encouraged me to keep with it (more as a form of protest against the "system").

Still, there are things I miss during Passover here. One of them is Tzimmes... think of it as a really yummy dessert-like alternative that you eat with your meal. It's a good pairing with a savory dish like roasted chicken or brisket. This version replaces all the sugar with agave syrup and honey. It's also really easy because you can bake it.

Ingredients (serves 4 people)
1/4 bag frozen baby carrots
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can of yams
1 cup raisins
1 can of apricots
1/4 cup agave syrup
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup of orange juice

What to do
In a casserole pan with a lid, place your carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, raisins, and apricots into the pan. Stir it around and then add in your spices. Add in your orange juice, then mix well.  Stir in your honey and agave syrup. Cover the pan and bake it for one hour at 250f.

Slow cooking it brings out a lot of the flavor but this won't look like a sweet potato casserole. It'll look slightly more like a stew. If yours is looking a little dry, add more orange juice.

I really love this dish because I feel like I'm eating something sweet and I can skip all the Kosher for Passover desserts! Plus, the vegetables contain good-for-you vitamins. With the sugar content brought down, you're in for a healthier treat!


** if you can't find Kosher for Passover apricots, opt for pumpkin or squash.


 

Healthy Chicken Soup

Friday I posted a healthy passover recipe and I plan to do it over and over again this week! Passover is actually a wickedly cool holiday but I'll spare you the story. Let's just say the Jews were slaves in Egypt, Moses came by and said "let my people go" - so, the Pharaoh did... and then he went running after them. The Jews didn't have enough time to let their dough rise, so what was baked was actually a cracker-like thing called Matzah. The end. Well, not quite...

Anyway, I've been on a mission since just before Shabbat started this week. My mission: finding healthy Kosher for Passover meals. Why? I really really REALLY want to keep with my new health goals and I'd like to keep losing weight.

In truth, all I can think about right now is chicken soup. I came down with a cold yesterday so chicken soup is on my mind. I don't make traditional, high fat chicken soup. Instead, I make a lower fat version by substituting some of the chicken pieces with boneless chicken breast. I went in search of a low fat kosher chicken soup recipe and came up with ... nada. None of the recipes compared to my soup.

Not really my soup, but still yummy!

I don't own a stock pot so all of this goes into a small-ish Israeli style (read: piece of crap) crock pot. This recipe takes half the time to cook when compared to my grandmother's recipe. Oddly enough, I learned this recipe from my cousin Shula. When I moved to Israel, I lived with my cousins Shalom and Shula (I actually call them my aunt and uncle). When I got sick about a month after arriving, Shula made this for me and I couldn't believe she made it so quickly.

Ingredients
1pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
3 chicken legs, with skin on
1 parsley root
2 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 yellow onion, split in half
1 large potato, split in half
1 red pepper, split in half
3 cloves of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

What to do
In a pot or a crock pot, place the chicken into the pot and completely cover with water plus 1 inch. Let that stew on low heat for about an hour.

Add in your parsley root (parsley also works for this), celery, carrots, onion, potato, red pepper, and garlic. Fill the rest of the pot with water, leaving about an inch or so at the top. Continue cooking for 1-2 hours on low heat ... depending on how much flavor you want. Discard your vegetables, use the chicken for something else, and strain your soup. Add your salt and pepper to taste.

This is an idiot-proof recipe. You seriously cannot mess it up. Timings vary and so does taste - if you want a heartier soup, keep the pot going for three hours. If you want a milder taste, cook for two hours. Either way, the lack of chicken skin cuts the fat down.

Add whole wheat matzo balls to this and you're good to go for Passover. Let's hope I kick this cold quickly - it's getting on my nerves!

Maple Roasted Veggies for Passover

Good lord, Passover is coming. Most Jews do not like this holiday. Why? The food. The idea of giving up bread for a week doesn't really thrill people. A lot of Jews can't stand this holiday for another reason: cleaning. There are specific instructions for how to clean your house for Pesach. Do we do them? Uh, no. Instead, Craig and I eat all the hametz (leavened foods that are forbidden during Passover) the week before and give away what's left. We don't have much cabinet space, so blocking off a cabinet and locking it for the holiday isn't an option.

No carbs for you!

Anyway, Passover is also referred to as "the Atkins Holiday" in my family. It's the time when people in my brood decide to "diet" and go eight days without eating anything with carbs. Well, almost anything. Since we're not allowed to eat bread and other foods that rise, we simply use the holiday as an excuse to eat a crap-load of meat.

Problem: Craig and I don't have the money to do stuff like that. I'm not a huge meat eater anyway (I prefer veggies but I won't go so far as to say I'm a vegetarian), so the Atkins aspect of the holiday doesn't entice me.

Solution: eat more veggies!!

Goal: eat healthier foods this passover! I'm really getting into roasted veggies right now and Passover is the perfect time to make things like a veggie kugel and roasted asparagus. I can't wait to create more!

Stay tuned - this week I'm giving Passover a trial run and posting the recipes. Today's recipe: Maple Roasted Veggies

The trick to this dish is finding veggies that match the sweetness of maple syrup. If it's hard to find maple syrup that is Kosher for Passover in you neck of the woods, use dissolved brown sugar (1 tablespoons).

Ingredients
1 cup frozen carrots
1 cup cubed sweet potato
1 bunch of asparagus
1 tablespoons maple syrup or dissolved brown sugar simple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like spice)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil or olive oil spray

What to do
In a mixing bowl, toss in your carrots, sweet potato, and asparagus. Mix them around. Coat your veggies with olive oil then add your cinnamon, ginger, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Mix it well.

Place your mixture on to a pan (parchment paper works best for lining but you can use aluminum foil, too). Make sure the pan is large enough so that everything lays nicely in one layer. Put your veggies into the oven - set at 300f - and let it roast for about 30-40 minutes. You don't want to burn the veggies, just roast them. If you notice that you're veggies are turning a little black, turn the heat down.

About five minutes before you take out your veggies, add your maple syrup and place the veggies back into the oven.

This recipe is low in sugar but high in flavor. Enjoy!!

Bed Rest Approved Dinners

I'm kind of limited in what I can do lately. I'm on bed rest and my range of activity is somewhat slim. I can do endless DIY activities as long as they are not stressful and I take breaks to relax... and they need to be done inside my house. I can also cook and I can go to the grocery store. That's about it. Going to IKEA would probably make me a monster and would raise my blood pressure. So, I'm stuck entertaining myself.

What have I done so far?

• Made pillow covers using safety pins and a button
• DIY Micro-Dermabrasion using baking soda and orange juice
• Made low-cal/low-fat dinners

Not bad for someone who is on bed rest, right? Well, this was all just this week's activities so far. I still have the rest of today and tomorrow to get through.


I wanted to share two really yummy dinner recipes that I made that are both low in fat and really easy to make. I made creamy roasted veggie gnocchi for dinner last night and I also made pan-seared potato kreplach (think tortellini) with a lemon butter sauce for dinner a few nights ago. Ready for the recipes?


Creamy Roasted Veggie Gnocchi
First of all, I hated gnocchi growing up - just ask my step-dad. I wouldn't touch it when he made it. I will only eat this stuff if it's in a creamy sauce. So, here's what you need:
1 package of Gnocchi
1 cube of veggie bullion
1 cup of frozen cauliflower
1 cup of frozen broccoli
1 cup of sliced zucchini
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter

2 cloves of minced garlic
1 cup of low fat milk
1/8 cup of low fat Parmesean
Salt and Pepper to taste


Here's what you do:
Take a large pot, fill it with water, put it on the stove and add your veggie bullion. Let the water boil.


As the water boils, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Take a large mixing bowl and dump in your veggies. Add your olive oil to the mix, lightly sprinkle the mixture with salt and mix well. Take a baking pan covered in tin-foil and sprayed lightly with PAM - now pour the veggies on to the pan and place the pan in the oven.


Once your water is boiling, add your gnocchi. When all of the gnocchi are at the surface, they're ready to be drained! Once they're drained, set them aside.


Return the pot to the stove and make sure your setting is on medium-low. Add your butter and minced garlic to the pot, stirring quickly. Then add your milk - make sure the milk doesn't burn! Once your milk starts to bubble, add your cheese and stir the mixture until everything is melted. Turn your stove off and add the gnocchi to the mixture. If your veggies are nicely browned, add them as well.


Serve hot!


To make this dish slightly lower in fat, substitute the butter for olive oil. 

Pan-Seared Potato Kreplach in a Lemon-Butter Sauce
For most of my life, kreplach was something you ate in chicken soup and it always came with meat inside. It wasn't until I moved to Israel that I realized there's a wide variety of kreplach on the market. I'm pretty sure if my grandmother knew what I did to kreplach, she'd scold me. This form of kreplach is like tortellini so you can always substitute one pasta for another. Here's what you need: 
One package of frozen kreplach or any kind of tortellini
2 tsp. butter
4 cloves minced garlic
1/8 cup of lemon juice
1/8 cup of flour
Salt and Pepper to taste

Here's what you do:
Take a large pot, fill it with water, put it on the stove and let the water boil. Once it boils, add half of the package of kreplach - then place the rest in the freezer. When all of the kreplach are at the surface, they're ready for draining! Drain them and put them aside for now.

Grab a large and deep pan or skillet. On a medium setting, melt the butter and garlic together - mixing vigorously. Add your lemon juice and mix well. To thicken the mixture, add the flour slowly, making sure you mix as you go. You may not need the full 1/8 cup. Once the mixture looks less buttery, add your kreplach to the mixture. Let the kreplach sit for a few minutes and stir it. You want the pasta to sear, not burn, so keep a watchful eye. Once your mixture has browned on both sides, remove it from the pan and eat it!

Serve hot!!

To make this dish slightly lower in fat, skip the butter and use olive oil instead. If you use olive oil, do not use flour. 

Both of these dishes are very low impact - meaning they won't take you long (both dishes took me less than 20 minutes from start to finish). You can add veggies to each dish or substitute the veggies I used. We try to buy seasonal veggies because they're cheaper but the frozen ones are just as good.

Eat in good health! 

Good Days and Bad plus Some Recipes

I started my day panicking for no apparent reason. Seriously. Just kind of started panicking. I have a lot on my mind but I'll save that for another day. When I calmed down, I cracked open the book I've been reading since July. Initially, I bought Lunch in Paris: A Love Story with Recipes when I was in Detroit. I needed something to keep my mind off of what was going on: my grandmother was dying before my eyes. In the end, I opted for books on the Holocaust - it made me feel closer to her. I knew I'd eventually come back to Lunch in Paris but I didn't know when.

I believe that certain things come into our lives when necessary. For me, those things are usually books and recipes. Sometimes songs. When I picked up and continued reading Lunch in Paris the timing felt right; I just finished reading five books on the Holocaust. I thought it was supposed to be a fluffy love story but as I read more, I realize that Elizabeth Bard (the author) is a lot like me. Stuck between two places.

There are days in Israel where I want to curl up and cry. On other days, I want to set the country on fire. On my really good days, I just want to go for a walk and enjoy the scenery. My problem now: my good days are few and far between. I consider it a personal victory when I go through a day without someone chiding me for my lack of understanding the Hebrew language AND without someone saying "you need to be more Israeli." I'm not Israeli. I'm an American who happens to have Israeli citizenship.


I take that back. I am Israeli. I'm not a Sabra.

I wasn't born in this glorious country - which is why 99% of this place pisses me off. But it's still my home and the only home for the Jewish people.

This is the only place where Shabbat dinner is sacred among families.

Last night, we ventured out of our home to go to a friend's house. As usual when dining with friends, everyone bring something. Because I am forever my grandmother's granddaughter, I brought enough to feed a small Syrian army. I made Quinoa Salad; Lebanese Lentil Soup (recipe found here); House Salad with Japanese Steak House-style Dressing; and Pita Chips.

Like I said, small Syrian army. My yet-to-be born child will be lucky if he's not fat by the time he's 10.

Most of the food was REALLY easy to make - some of it was time consuming but all of it was delicious... to me. I think cooking for Shabbat made me a happier person yesterday - so I will count yesterday as a "good" day in Israel. So good that I will leave you with my recipes:

Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 cup water
1 Bag of Lettuce or cut up romaine lettuce
1 Cucumber, deseeded, cut into small pieces
Dried fruit (I used cranberries but raisins or cut up apricots work well)
1 Can of Mandarin Orange Segments (do not drain)
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Pinch of Salt 

Prepared
Put a small pot on your stove and let it sit on the heat for a minute - add your quinoa then let that sit for a minute or two. Add your water and cover the pot. Take the pot off the heat and place the pot in your fridge when the quinoa looks like this:

 

In a large salad bowl, combine your lettuce, cucumber, and dried fruit. Take your can of orange segments and set aside 1/8 cup of the juice - drain the rest of the oranges and add to the salad. Take your orange liquid and add your olive oil to it with the salt. Set it aside. Once your quinoa is cooled, add it to the salad (without the liquid mixture). Toss the salad well. 

When you're ready to eat, wish the liquid/oil concoction together and add it to the salad. Give the salad a good toss and serve. 

House Salad with Japanese Steak House-style Dressing

Ingredients

(Dressing)

2 large carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
5 small shallots (or 1 large one), peeled and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seed oil
3 tablespoons canola oil
1/4 cup water 

(Salad)

1 cucumber

1 Bag of Lettuce (with carrots and red cabbage)

Prepared 

(Dressing)

Boil water in pot on the stove - once the water is boiling, add your carrots and let boil for 3-5 minutes, then drain the water and add the carrots to a food processor. Pulse the carrots until finely chopped. Add the shallots and pulse again until the mixture is finely chopped. Add your ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and oils - then pulse again until the mixture is combined well together. Add your water, mix well and move it to a seal-able container.

(Salad)

Peel, cut, and chop your cucumbers. Add them to a large salad bowl. Add your lettuce mixture to the bowl. Mix well. When the salad is ready to be served, spoon 2 spoonfuls of dressing over the salad - do not mix. Enjoy.

Pita Chips

Ingredients 

5 pitas

1/8 cup olive oil

1/8 teaspoon salt (or a pinch)

Za'atar (optional but really yummy)

Prepared 

With a pizza cutter or bread knife, cut each pita into 8 sections. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Place the pita sections onto the sheet and brush the top of each piece with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and Za'atar lightly onto each section. Place in the oven at 150 degrees C (300 degrees F) for 40 minutes. After 30 minutes, check to see if the pitas are hard and browned. If not, keep them in the oven for another 10 minutes and check again. Repeat in 10 minute increments as needed.

Do not eat them while they're hot!!!

If you've made it this far - I want to add that I highly recommend the book mentioned above. It's an easy read and you can easily relate to Elizabeth. I promise.