Easy Homemade Bruschetta
It’s strange to cook for one when you used to cook for two, four, or more. This week I am home alone. Hallelujah! My husband is in New York and the boys are in school. I was content eating my…
Fennel, Radish and Nectarine Salad
I can’t bring myself to cook with fire. It’s boiling outside and inside (we don’t have AC, most of the time the weather here in SoCal is perfect). Our meals these days are mainly raw salads with lots of crunchy…
Authentic Hummus
I always forget how much I love hummus and how easy it is to make until I make it. Here in Los Angeles, unlike in Israel, there are not a lot of hummusiyot, restaurants that sell only hummus. In Tel…
Easy Homemade Focaccia for Bread Lovers
My mother – a bread worshiper – and I agreed that focaccia is the best bread for people like us whose favorite part of the bread is the crust. Focaccia is basically one big crust.
Simple Homemade Wheat Bread
There was a single period in my life when I completely lost interest in cooking and baking. It was right after my youngest sister, Inbar, passed away at age 27. When she died, my love of baking left with her.…
Easy & Quick Kale Shakshuka
I’m allergic to the word “superfood.” So I’m not going to tell you kale is one. My grandmother, who lived to 96, didn’t even know it existed. Neither did the rest of my family, who never spent more than two…
Simple Rice Bowl with Kale, Jalapeño & Radish
I don’t understand people who don’t like rice, Ricists. I can live on rice, rice bowls. When I don’t know feel creative or not sure what to make, rice bowls are the solution. I start rinsing basmati rice and letting…
Potato Frittata with Sweet Potato
El-machamer is the Jewish Moroccan (Sephardic) version of Tortilla Española. My mother usually makes it often during Passover. The sweet potato and spinach are my addition.
Fruit Salad with Raisins & Rosemary
A while ago, my husband and I went to see a friend’s performance in Echo Park. We discovered that the show starts only at 11pm. So instead we strolled around the neighborhood and stumbled upon a busy vegan cafe. We weren’t…
Bread Rolls & Mini Challahs
When I was a kid, I used to be hypnotized by my mother and grandmother’s moves when they kneaded the dough for Shabbat bread. I couldn’t take my eyes off them—the way they stretched and punched as if it was…
Black Cherry Jammers
I was so happy when she said yes and wrote this post for my blog. Introducing, Yael, the woman who thought me almost everything I know about baking! When Shelly asked me to be a guest at her blog, I…
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
These cookies are so easy to make, I can make them with my eyes shut. My 5 year-old makes them all by himself—no without making a bit mess. I actually prefer to clean the mess than him eating a store…
Simple Moroccan-Style Carrot Salad
This is one of many cooked vegetable dishes, known as ‘salads’ or ‘salatim,’ which my mother prepares every Friday for the Shabbat dinner. It’s actually the second-favorite dish after matbucha in our household. The term ‘salad’ might seem confusing for…
How to Make Harissa
Harissa is a North African spicy sauce made with dried California (Anaheim) peppers, small hot chilies, garlic and spices. Traditional harissa is very spicy—too spicy for me—and I like spicy food. My sensitive palate doesn’t appreciate when one flavor cancels…
Simple Granola with Poppyseeds
I find most store-bought granolas and granola bars too sweet and too expensive. Why spend $10 for a small bag when you can easily make it yourself? The preparation is takes less than 5 minutes, you can control the sweetness…
Black Bean Soup & Green Rice
First of all, thank you for supporting me and my humble blog! I love getting your feedback, so please continue to do so. Feel free to request recipes and ideas for easy simple dishes. Second, can you believe that the first…
Dairy-Free Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
Leo: Mommy, we’re bored! Mommy: How can you be bored when you have a friend over? Leo: Can we play Skylanders? Mommy: Ok, I can put it on my blog. Mommy: No! Kenneth (Leo’s friend): So can we film a…
White Bean & Tomato Soup
All the women in my family make this soup and we all make it slightly different. For example my grandmother used to make this soup with a beef shank, which makes it more like a stew; My aunts Shuli and Sara add to…
Sfenj Moroccan Sufganiot
Chanukah is the holiday of lights, miracles, and sufganiyot (Jewish donuts). I usually make the classic sufganiyot filled with jelly, but this year I decided to go back to my roots and make sfinj, Jewish Moroccan sufganiyot. Mostly because the…
Chocolate Chip Cookies to Bake with Your Kids
Leo and Alex never refuse to help when I offer to make something sweet. So here they are making chocolate chip cookies. All on their own! Leo reads the directions, while Alex wildly and clumsily beats the batter, and I…