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An Asian-Fried-Shwarma Thanksgiving Fiesta! (Part 1)

Spending as much time in the kitchen as I do, and dealing with such massive quantities of food, I tend to get bored with putting out the same old menu over and over. I usually solve this problem a) by trying not to serve the same dish two weeks in a row (unless it's something really, really popular), and b) by mixing things up with different culturally themed menus, which has turned out to be a real crowd pleaser!

Themed menus happen at our place about one in every 3 Friday nights, and a lot of the time, I would say that doing a theme is even easier than not doing a theme. Not always though. Sometimes, for example, I might like spending hours rolling sushi or skewering meat, but that has to be on a week in which I feel really well organized and relaxed with my preparations. I say it can be easier though, because my themed menus are usually less complex and time-consuming than my non-themed menus. For example, if we're doing an Israeli theme, its a lot easier to do Israel salad, schnitzels, pitas etc than it is to do some of the other types of mains and sides that I sometimes put out.

  

Here are some menus that I will cover over the next few blog posts, some in greater detail than others, and each one is good for 50-60 people: 

1. Asian Shabbos
2. Thanksgiving Shabbos
3. Mexican Shabbos
4. Kentucky Fried Shabbos
5. Israeli Shabbos

Asian Shabbos

This may be my most time-consuming themed menu, but its always worth it because everyone loves it! Plus, I only ever undertake it when I know I'll have enough time and help to do it well :) Since I usually don't do a fish course on Friday night when we're expecting a large crowd (logistically it's difficult and even with only one course and dessert there's always enough food), the sushi or salmon salad is definitely optional. The fruit kebabs are not Asian per say, but at the end of such a huge and filling meal, I like to serve something elegant, light, refreshing and colorful.

The Menu:

Optional Starter: Sushi or BBQ Salmon Salad

Asian-Style Shredded Cabbage Salad (See recipe in previous post)
Asian Lettuce Salad
Honey-Soy Green Beans (See recipe in previous post)
Egg Rolls
Wontons
Easy Egg-Fried Rice
Sticky Sesame Chicken

Optional Beef add-on: Mini Garlic Beef Satay

Dessert - Fruit Kebabs over vanilla ice-cream

Leftovers Option: Sushi Salad

My Recipes

BBQ Salmon Salmon

Ingredients:

1-2 lb boneless salmon fillet (can be pieces or whole)
3 tablespoons garlic granules
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
3/4 cup BBQ sauce (I use Jack Daniels)
1/3 cup sesame oil (or olive oil)

Baby Spinach leaves
Cherry/Grape tomatoes cut into halves
Cucumber cut into chunks
Sesame Seeds (toasted is best)

Lay the salmon flat in a pan and sprinkle/drizzle with garlic granules, honey, soy sauce, BBQ sauce and sesame oil - in that order. Make sure there will be enough sauce covering the fish to pour over the entire salad later. If necessary, add more of everything, especially BBQ sauce.

Bake for approximately 20 mins in a 365F oven, or until fish is cooked through.

Cool the salmon completely (overnight is best)

Cut the salmon into 1 inch chunks and mix together with the leftover sauce and all the salad ingredients. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve. [Alternatively, cut the salmon into chunks and lay on a platter of spinach leaves, interspersed with the tomatoes and cucumber chunks, then drizzle with the remaining sauce and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.]

I have made this salad maybe 1,000 times, and it's always a hit!


Asian Lettuce Salad

Ingredients:

2 large bags shredded romaine or any crunchy lettuce
2 cans baby corn
2 cups almond flakes (toasted is always best)
2-3 cups fried wonton strips (see below)

Dressing: (This is from www.gourmetkoshercooking.com). I usually x3 it.

4 tablespoons sugar
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
Pinch fresh or dried ginger

Toss all the salad ingredients together with the dressing, except for the wonton strips which should be added at the very last moment. Do not overdress (your salad or yourself).

Egg Rolls
 

Ingredients:

3 packs egg roll wraps (I use Nasoya)
12-15 cups shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
4 tablespoons garlic granules
2 tablespoons salt
Sprinkling of pepper
Optional: scallions or any onions
Optional: a drizzle of soy sauce
Canola oil for frying
Sweet and Sour sauce for dipping
 
Throw the cabbage, spices and optional ingredients into a food processor and shred until quite small. Place about 1.5 tablespoons of cabbage mix about 2 inches from the edge of an egg roll wrap. Dab the edges of the wrap with water and fold over. Tuck in the sides. Keep rolling until you have a tube. Repeat until all your mix is rolled. Fry in 1-inch deep medium-hot oil, turning over once until browned. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 60 egg rolls

Don't forget your dipping sauce!
 
Fried Wontons

Ingredients:

2-3 packs wonton wraps (I use Nasoya)
2 lb ground meat
4 tablespoons ground ginger (or you can use fresh)
4 tablespoons garlic granules (or fresh garlic)
generous sprinkling of salt and pepper
Optional: scallions, water chestnuts

Canola oil for frying

Grind the meat, spices and optional ingredients together in a food processor. Place a teaspoon of the meat mixture into the center of a wonton wrap. Wet the edges with a dab of water and fold over into a triangle. Repeat until done.

Drop into approximately 1 inch of medium-hot oil until browned on one side. Turn over until browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 50-60

Leftover wanton wraps can be cut into strips, fried and used in the Asian Lettuce Salad (above) 

Easy Egg-Fried Rice

Ingredients:

6 cups uncooked Rice (most basic kinds should be ok, I use long-grain parboiled)
5 eggs
bunch of chopped scallions
2 cups of frozen peas
canola oil
soy sauce
optional: salt

Boil rice according to instructions. Set aside.
Sramble and fry eggs in a small amount of oil. Chop into strips and set aside.
In a large pan or wok saute the scallions and peas in about a cup of oil for 7-8 mins.
Throw the rice back into the pot (wok) with the peas, scallions and oil in batches, drizzling in soy sauce at the same time. Make sure that all the rice has made contact with the hot surface. Mix in the egg at the last minute.

Add soy/salt to taste 
  
Sticky Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

Chicken pieces (I use all drumsticks) spread out single layer on a tray
Sauce (multiply quantities as needed) - 1 cup honey, 1/2 cup ketchup, 1/2 cup soy sauce
Canola Oil
Sesame seeds

Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.
Drizzle with oil.
Bake in a 390F oven for approximately 1.5 - 2 hours, turning once or twice.
When done, sprinkle generously with sesame seeds.

Mini Garlic Beef Satay

Ingredients:

Any beef or steak cut into small cubes or strips
Kebab sticks
Marinade: (multiply quantities as needed) - 7 cloves of garlic, 2x2x2 inch cube of fresh ginger, 1/2 cup olive, sesame or canola oil, 1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup soy sauce
Optional garnish: chopped scallions, chopped peanuts or sesame seeds

String 4-5 pieces of beef onto wet kebab sticks (or use dry ones and cover the exposed ends with aluminum foil, pulling it off before serving (I prefer this method even though it takes longer) and lay sticks out in a pan.
Place marinade ingredients in a food processor and blend for a minute.
Pour marinade over kebabs. Cover and refrigerate. Leave for an hour (overnight is even better).
Grill or broil kebabs, turning over if necessary.

Tip: You don't need to use much meat per stick for these, especially if they are accompanying lots of other dishes. I prefer them as mini sticks, rather than a large bite.


Fruit Kebabs over Vanilla Ice-Cream

Ingredients:

Any fruit (I like to use pineapple, watermelon, purple grapes and peach or nectarine)
Kebab sticks
Pareve ice-cream (I prefer to buy it, but I'm sure many of you have great recipes - feel free to share.)

String chunks of fruit onto kebab sticks. Serve each fruit kebab over a mini-cup of ice-cream.

Lisa's Shabbos Day Sushi Salad

Ingredients:

6-8 cups cooked Sushi Rice (seasoned with rice vinegar)
2-3 shredded sheets of Nori (seaweed)
1/2 cup Black Sesame Seeds
1 chopped Avocado
1 diced carrot (peel and dice before Shabbos)
1 peeled and diced Israeli cucumber (ditto)
One of the following: cooked piece of salmon, handful of shredded lox, can of tuna
Kikkoman Soy Sauce

Throw all the solid ingredients into a bowl. Dowse with soy sauce to taste. Mix well. I use my hands (with plastic gloves) to mix it, which helps to blend the sticky rice with everything else.

Serves 20 - 30 people 

Stay tuned for more to come...
 

Flying Schnitzels!

A couple of years ago, on a flight from Tel Aviv to JFK, I beheld a sight that has been stuck in my mind ever since - a young mother (my bassinet row buddy) trying to pacify her 7ish-month-old baby by sticking an enormous lollypop into her mouth. Yikes.  I mean I know that in Israel people feed their kids Bamba before they can crawl, which is just weird, but I really thought that the lollypop thing was morosely counterproductive.  Under which of the food group categories do lollypops fall anyway? Insert more ranting and raving here. Yup, you guessed it. I don't give my kids processed sugar. 

Some of life's episodes are simply too precious not to write about, and so before I get started on the obvious topic of what I do feed my children, I just have to tell the story of my trip to Australia earlier this week...

When we found out that my husband would be slumming it in the Holy Land this summer, running back-to-back trips for our IU students, after some discussion we decided that it wasn't really a viable option for me and and the munchkins to tag along this time. Instead, we figured that it was as good a moment as any for us to go visit Grandma and the rest of the clan in Melbourne. My husband would meet us there after he was done with his trips, and so I would only have to manage the journey alone with my kids one way.  No big deal.  Or so I thought.

Apparently taking a 26-hour trip that included a 4.5-hr flight, a 3-hour connection and a 15-hr flight alone with a 15-month old and a 2-and-3/4 year old is kind of a big deal, or at least that's what people started telling me. I even started to believe it myself - to the point that weeks before the trip I would find myself lying awake in the middle of the night picturing all the scenarios in which things could potentially go wrong. (Examples - cancelled flights, missing our connection, non-stop screaming kids, delays, lost luggage, a jammed stroller, being suspected of kidnapping and attempted child-trafficking, confiscated/lost blankies - so many possibilities.)

Rather than remain paralyzed with fear, however, I decided to just prepare myself as best I could. I read everything I could find about air travel with infants and toddlers (It's funny, most of these articles covered the 2:1 parent-to-child ratio, not the other way around, like the concept of one parent traveling with 2 small children was too much for even the experts to get their heads around), went out and bought a new stroller, wrote and revised packing list after packing list and enlisted help getting to the airport since my husband had already left for Israel 5 days before our own departure. I also prayed extensively, had several other people I know pray extensively, and tried to glean bits and pieces of inspiration from Torah wherever I could. For one, the night before we left, I received advice from our Sages via Pirkei Avos (Ethics of Our Fathers) to greet everyone I met with a cheerful countenance. 

You gotta love those Sages and their sagely advice. Smiling at everyone from Indianapolis to Melbourne plus all my other planning (especially the praying) really seemed to pay off: Here is some of what happened:

 

• Checking in at Indianapolis airport, my two great friends and IU students Leah and Becca who had driven with us to the airport were offered "gate passes", which meant that they could walk/help us all the way through security and to the gate. Has anyone ever heard of this? This was a massive help, since going through security even without 2 small children, a double stroller and lots of carry-on baggage can be stressful at the best of times.
• Stepping off the plane in LA, I noticed an airline representative (Eliyahu HaNavi?) holding up a sign with my last name on it. I think it was my last name anyway; there was one letter missing, but who's counting, right? In any case, we were the last ones off, and there was no one else behind me, and so I was able to enlist this man's help shlepping my carry-on and wheeling my stroller between terminals 5 and 3 at LAX - almost a mile of walking, I would guess.
• Next, checking in at the V-Australia counter for our flight to Melbourne, I was sent yet another sherpa to carry my belongings and walk us all the way through security.
• My flight from LA to Melbourne was virtually empty, and so aside from securing a bassinet for my son, I also managed to have the row behind us blocked off so that my daughter could lay down and sleep more comfortably that she surely would have if forced to sleep sitting up. Generally I'm not a big fan of the exit row, being that there are no seats in front of you under which to stow your bags (and they are therefore up top and out of reach during take-off and landing)  - this and the fact that the armrests don't budge and the tray tables are really inconveniently located. So this was perfect. 
• Arriving in Melbourne, I was handed my suitcases from the baggage claim dispenser, offered help getting through arrivals, and spared having my bags x-rayed at Customs, even though I declared a bunch of food. (Australian Customs are generally known to be very strict, and most of the time you can't bring in any food at all.) That was it.

Journey Complete. 

So, in short what actually happened? What happened was that out of all the things that could have gone wrong, none of them actually went wrong. The trip at times was even rather enjoyable - we had fun - and it was all such a big lesson for me - not to WORRY! I mean, Hashem is literally always flying the plane!

-----

In terms of food, I wanted to bring a nice selection so that my children would have some of their regular favorites to choose from. I brought:

- washed, cut up strawberries (our favorite )

- grapes

- whole apples

- oranges (my daughter loves to peel them)

- cheddar cheese cut into chunks

- fruit straps

- cheese crackers

- Trader Joes' mini bags of potato chips

- homemade mini spelt schnitzels (recipe below)

- mini cups of applesauce

As the trip progressed I gradually threw out things that were getting squashy, crushed or warm, but there was definitely enough to choose from the entire way, and I was even able to supplement with the kosher 'rolls' supplied by the airline plus some peas and carrots from the dinner selection that my son gobbled up.

Aside from food, I also brought:

- coloring books

- lots of stickers

- cheap crayons

- my iPad loaded with 99-cent episodes of Dora, Diego and Sesame St.

- 2 changes of clothes for each child

- night-time diapers, wipes, tissues and diaper-sized garbage bags dispersed throughout my 3 carry-on items

- a bag of ear plugs to share with the people around me, just in case

It turned out I had pretty much everything I needed to get us through, short of enough juice and water which I was anyway able to pick up on my way through LAX.

-----

 

I will be the first to tell anyone that I know less than nothing about child-raising. I was in fact so focused only on my pregnancy with my first, that the first night in the hospital after giving birth, I couldn't believe the chutzpah of the nurses who woke me up to see if I wanted to feed this child.  Hadn't I just experienced something like a train wreck? Wasn't I a patient in a hospital? Growing up, I was also never the babysitting-type, and never really super close to anyone with babies or small children.  

One thing I always knew instinctively, however, was that I would do whatever I could to raise my children with good eating habits, just as I was. Or try to anyway. And so for the first 2 years of my daughter's life (and now my son's), we kept her away from processed sugar. Also no homemade cookies, cake, cupcakes, etc. Nothing. And do you know what? Now, when she sees desserts etc., we don't make excuses why she can't have any, or try to deny her what she wants. We let her take one, and she'll take a sniff or a tiny bite and give it right back or throw it out. She just has no interest. Mission accomplished. For now anyway...

Once I'm back on track with cooking and normal life, I want to add more recipes and meal ideas for healthy, gourmet food that is great on the Shabbos table and that kids love too. Just to get a taste though, here is my very popular schnitzel recipe:

Mini Spelt Schnitzels

Ingredients:

Chicken breasts bashed and cut into strips (veal is also a personal favorite, if you can find it)

For every 1 cup of spelt flour (or any other kind of flour or matza meal that you choose to use):

1/4 cup paprika

1/4 cup garlic granules

3-4 tablespoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

(Optional: 3/4 cup crushed walnuts or almonds)

Eggs cracked and beaten into a bowl (amount of eggs depends on your amount of chicken)

Canola oil for frying

Method:

Coat chicken pieces in egg mix, then flour mix

Fry in hot oil on both sides until brown and crispy

Drain on paper towels

Leftovers (if you happen to have any) can be turned into this easy Schnitzel Salad:

Sliced Schnitzel pieces

Romaine or Iceberb Lettuce

Tomatoes

Cucumber Chunks

Mayo, Salt, Pepper and a squeeze of Lemon Juice.

Yum!

The 10 Greatest Vegetable Crimes of All Time

One of the greatest moments of my life happened sometime last year when a long-time vegetarian student of mine decided to break her 9-year meat fast on my Shabbos cholent. Or something along those lines. The details are a little shady at this point, but it definitely did go something like that. It may have been '7 years' and it may have been 'schnitzel.' Either way, it was completely understandable. Meat tastes awesome, and nothing else on this planet tastes as good. 

But vegetables taste amazing too. And the less we do to them, the better they usually are for us. Sometimes it seems as though there are people amongst us who are afraid to serve vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, sweet corn, green beans etc. - as they come, baked or boiled with just a little seasoning and oil for taste.  I'm actually trying forget one particular Shabbos table experience in which there wasn't a vegetable in sight. Take that back. There wasn't a fresh vegetable in sight. There was a mushy-grey reconstituted something that may once have been a potato, but I hardly think that counts. If my memory serves me correct (again, my memory is not the best) I think I may have even come away from that meal suffering from a mild case of scurvy. 

In terms of vegetable side dishes that I love to serve, be served, see and eat on Shabbos, it could be that I do have a slight anti-kugel bias. The traditionalists will want my head for saying thus, but I just don't really like them, and I happen to think they're way overdone.  But sometimes they can be well-made and taste delicious and look classy. And to prove that I'm not completely inflexible, earlier today I myself even made potato kugel cupcakes for this coming Shabbos. (My husband looked pretty happy when I told him I'd made cupcakes with sprinkles - and shortly afterwards much less happy when I told him that the cupcakes were actually cupcake-size potato kugels and the sprinkles were really flax seeds. Oops.  My kids really liked them though. I mean, my son ate the whole thing including the paper.)

My main point is that the less you do to a vegetable, the better it generally tastes. I mean, who doesn't prefer a delicately spiced roast potato over a lump of kugel? Who doesn't love a hot cob of fresh sweet corn, or a crisp lettuce and tomato salad with just a touch of vinaigrette? Much of the time certain vegetables like potatoes and sweet potatoes even taste better with the skin on (and contain more vitamins and other nutrients). Plus its easier, so why are we always running for the peeler?

Here are some easy, delicious and beautiful vegetable side dish ideas:

Baked Carrots 

Peel desired amount of carrots, and cut into half or quarter-size sticks. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake in a 350F oven until soft and golden. (Optional: honey - drizzle over carrots towards the end of baking time.) These can also be served cold as a 'baked carrot salad' on Shabbos day (add black sesame seeds.)

Baked Sweet Potatoes

Peel or wash desired amount of sweet potatoes and cut into circles or wedges. Drizzle with canola or vegetable oil and bake in a 350F oven until done (baking time depends on amount of sweet potatoes).

 Asian Green Beans

Throw a bag of frozen green beans onto a tray and bake in a 350F oven for approx. 30 minutes. Drizzle beans with sesame or olive oil, honey and soy sauce to taste. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. These can be served hot or cold.

Finally, here is my list of the top 10 Vegetable-related Crimes of all time:

1. Not giving them credit for who they really are and trying to turn them into something else.

2. Not serving them on Shabbos

3. Not forcing kids/husbands to eat them

4. Adding sugar to them (carrot cake may be the only exception)

5. Not or inadequately checking them for bugs

6. Overcooking them

7. Peeling them when they don't need to peeled

8. VeggieBurgers (It's just insulting to the real thing)

9. Ketchup

10. Canned sweet potato

 

Corned Beef...

and Italian Chicken! Who doesn't love Graduation Shabbos?

The 30 Minute Gourmet First Course Challenge

I'm pretty sure that, in our first few years of marriage, my unsuspecting husband was under the impression that I actually couldn't count to ten. This is because, while on a Sunday we would always agree to cap that week's Shabbos table at 4 - maybe 5 - guests, by Wednesday or Thursday this number had inevitably risen to 10 or 12.

It's not my fault. I guess I'm just a super Jew when it comes to the mitzvah of Hachnasas Orchim/ hosting guests :) After all, we are guests in Hashem's world, so why not emulate His ways and host guests in our world? Also, I'm pretty sure I learned at sem that turning away anyone who needs a place for Shabbos is tantamount to a criminal offense...

And so... when we were offered the opportunity to move to America and host open-house Shabbos tables for Indiana University's starving Jewish student population, I simply COULD NOT WAIT to get started.

In the early months, the challenge was definitely not in learning to cook for large crowds (our first Friday night we had 4 guests), it was more a matter of a never knowing how many people to expect and therefore cater accordingly. (Undercooking is basically not in my vocabulary, and I don't like to waste food either.)  In our first semester on campus we could expect anything from 15-30 students for dinner and 10-15 for lunch. By the end of the year we were pulling in a solid 40-50 for Friday nights and 15-25 for lunch.

By now, we can expect anything from 40-90 on a Friday night, and anything up to 35 for the lunch meals - depending on what we are are competing against on the academic calendar - plus anyone who shows up for Third Meal. It therefore definitely took some time before I was able to figure out a menu that was flexible enough to be stretched at meals where we are bombarded with people, and can also be reinvented as different dishes in meals to follow.

It also needs to be said that while I may be somewhat of a perfectionist - read: obsessive-compulsive - when it comes to my food presentation, other responsibilities in my life dictate that I also need to cook FAST. Obviously, when catering for such a large volume of people, it is definitely preferable to get started earlier in the week. However, sometimes I can't even get started cooking until Thursday night, and on those weeks I absolutely need to do everything in fast-forward mode. 

I can't wait to blog about all my favorite dishes to serve to large crowds, but in the meantime I just want to share one super-fast, delicious and gourmet menu that anyone can do and that can feed 25 people.  This menu includes 3 accompaniments for challah, a fish dish and 2 salads, contains no added sugar, and is a great starter course for Shabbos or even Sheva Brachos. It also goes exceptionally well with home made Spelt challah or Spelt rolls (see previous post.)

Warning: Do not undertake this menu unless you are sure you will be able to handle  a paparazzi of followers stalking you for your recipes for years to come.

THE MENU: 

Homemade Authentic Middle Eastern Houmous

Homemade Basil & Walnut Pesto

Oven-Roasted Garlic Heads

Baked BBQ Gefilte Fish (Store bought frozen-logs with a homemade tweak)

Asian-style Shredded Cabbage salad

Boutique Tomato salad

THE INGREDIENTS:

Houmous (preparation time: 5 mins)

3 x 12 ounce cans of drained chick peas

3-4 heaping tbls tahini paste

generous squeeze of lemon juice (I use bottled but fresh would be nice)

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

salt/pepper to taste

olive oil, pine nuts and zatar or paprika for garnish

Basil-Walnut Pesto (preparation time: 5 mins + washing the basil leaves)

4ish packed cups of fresh basil leaves

4 cloves garlic

1 cup walnuts

1/3 cup olive oil

sprinkle of salt/pepper to taste

Oven-Roast Garlics (preparation time: 5 mins)

8-10 Heads of Garlic

1 cup Olive Oil

salt/pepper optional 

Baked BBQ Gefilte Fish (preparation time: 5 mins):

2 Frozen Gefilte Fish loaves

BBQ sauce

Optional garnish: Israeli cucumber or baby spinach leaves

Asian Cabbage Salad (preparation time: 5 mins plus washing/checking the scallions):

White or Purple Shredded Cabbage (approx. 2 large bags or 4 small bags)

Bunch of Scallions (Green Onions)

2ish bags of Craisins

2 bags chopped or flaked almonds (Toasted is nice, and you can also sub for walnuts or pecans)

generous sprinkling of Toasted Sesame seeds

 

Olive Oil

Honey

Soy Sauce

Vinegar (any type will do)

Salt

Pepper

Tomato Salad (preparation time: Let's say 5-10 mins or even faster if you use an electric chopper):

2 pounds ripe red tomatoes sliced into neat wedges (rough chopped is also fine)

Splash of Olive Oil 

Sprinkle of salt

Optional - chopped scallions, fresh chopped basil or cilantro

Optional - splash of balsamic vinegar and a dash of pepper

THE METHOD:

- Preheat oven to 400F

- Fish: Unwrap frozen gefilte fish loaves and place side by side in a 9x13 inch pan.  The paper removes easily when run under warm water

- Cover with BBQ sauce 

- Place in middle of oven for approximately 1 hr

- Garlics: Rub the outer shells off your garlic heads (as many as you want to roast) and slice of the tips of the inner shell closest to the root (as per picture below)

- Place in a foil tray and douse in olive oil and optional salt/pepper

- Place in top shelf of oven for approx 30 mins

(If you are planning on toasting your nuts for the cabbage salad, now would be a good time to throw them on a tray and stick them in the oven)

- Houmous: Toss all the ingredients for the houmous in a food processor (you can also use a bowl and an immersion blender, although this will take a couple of minutes longer)

- Taste. Adjust accordingly. Taste again. Repeat if necessary. Scrape into a serving bowl or tupperware for later. (Garnish with olive oil, pine nuts and either zatar or paprika before serving)

- Wash out food processor.

- Pesto: Toss in all the ingredients for the basil-walnut pesto.

- Taste. Adjust accordingly. Taste again. Repeat if necessary. Scrape into a serving bowl or tupperware for later. 

- Throw food processor in the sink for someone else to wash.

- Salad #1: Throw shredded cabbage, nuts (best to allow to cool first), scallions and craisins in your favorite salad bowl.

- Squeeze in approx: 1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, sprinkle of salt/pepper (no need to mix dressing in a separate cup)

- Toss salad. Adjust to taste. Sprinkle in sesame seeds. Toss again. Voila. 

- Salad #2: Throw sliced tomato wedges in a bowl. Drip olive oil on top. Sprinkle in salt to taste. Add in any optional extras (see ingredients list above).

- Remove garlics and gefilte fish from oven. Garlics can be served either in the shell, or with the cloves popped out floating in olive oil.

Add another layer of BBQ sauce to the fish if desired. Served sliced. A bed of baby spinach leaves or a border of cucumber circles adds color, contrast and taste to the plate.

You are done.

If anyone does take on this challenge, please let me know. I can't wait to hear how it goes!


Enjoy!

Seeded Spelt Challah... yum!