Gatherer Stew
I fell in love with cooking when I started to cook without recipes. When I let my intuition tell me what to do with the ingredients I have in hand. I would take the vegetables out of the fridge or…
Lentils Cooked With Eggplant & Tomatoes
I googled the history of lentils and found out a few interesting and fun facts.
“Cured” Golden Beets (Gravlax)
I love to treat vegetables like meat. The other day I was curious to see what would happen if I pretended that a bunch of roasted golden beets were raw salmon. I somehow knew that they would resemble cured salmon…
Smoky Eggplant Dip
There are so many ways to include vegetables in your meals. The most exciting way, in my opinion, is to make a bunch of mezes /tapas /small plates for dinner instead of a typical main dish-side-and-salad dinner. This is a…
Paprika & Chili Oil
I don’t know whose idea it was to infuse oil with spices but it’s a good one. My Moroccan grandmother and mother always kept a jar of oil infused with paprikas in the fridge. My mother infuses canola oil with…
Sunflower Seeds Brittle
I adapted this brittle recipe years ago from My New Roots cookbook. Before the pandemic I used to make it on a weekly basis. I put it in my boys’ lunch bags. It’s gluten-free, grain-free, vegan and refined sugar free…
Perfect Roasted Cabbage With Tahini & Tomato Puree
In my family and Homeland we have a lot of respect for vegetables. They get as much or more attention than meat. Almost every restaurant has at least two or three or more types of interesting and delicious vegetable dishes.…
Blood Orange Waldorf Salad
Here is another recipe you can make with oranges or blood oranges beside orange madeleines and caramelized oranges. I thought about making my grandmother’s orange salad with black olives but the boys wouldn’t like it. I decided to make my…
Chickpea & Jerusalem Artichoke Soup
When I was a kid my mother used to make this hummus (chickpea) soup on a weekly basis during the winter. It never snowed in the Negev, the desert of Israel, but it did get bone-chillingly cold. I’ve always said…
7 Plant-Based Mains For Cold Days
If you’re looking for plant-based, filling mains to keep you warm and cosy, and healthy of course, here are our favorites. Those which my boys love as well (except for the slow roasted eggplant).
Smoky Eggplant & tomato Mezze
My friend introduced me to this mezze. It’s her Kurdish Iraqi grandmother’s recipe. We love it, including our 13 year-old Alex. Serve it with 2-3 other mezzes or sides such as turnip hummus, roasted sweet potatoes, and carrot & harissa…
Winter Fruit Salad
The first time I discovered the combination of fruits and rosemary was at Sage, a vegan bistro in Silver Lake. Until then rosemary was something that I used mostly in potato dishes, breads and crackers. Its piney wooden flavor is…
Sfenj with Cardamom
Sfenj (or “Sfinj”) are Moroccan sufganiyot / donuts / beignet. Of all the sweet fried doughs, Sfenj are my favorite and the least harmful. The dough doesn’t contain any butter or milk, and has only 2 heaping tablespoons of sugar.…
5 Easy Thanksgiving Sides (Vegan & Gluten-free)
Every year my American friends are in charge of the traditional dishes while I am in charge of the plant-based sides or mains. These recipe are simple but festive and very impressive. Click on the caption for the recipes.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Tahini & Tomato Puree
Sweet potato lovers, this is for you. If you’re not, try this dish then see if I changed your mind. I only like them when they’re cooked or prepared with acidic, citrusy or nutty flavors. They’re too sweet for me…
Epic Baba Ganoush
According to Wikipedia, Baba Ganoush is a Levantine dish. According to me, it’s Shabbat at my mother’s. She has been making it every Friday for Shabbat dinner since I was a kid. Some people make their baba G with tahini…
Simmered Okra, Sugar Peas & zucchini In Curry
When I run out of ideas, I start chopping veggies and let them tell me what to do with them. Most of the time, they tell me to keep it simple. Simple yet very satisfying like this one. You can have…
Yeasted Gluten-Free Bread With Walnuts
Before you start: the bread needs 1 hour to proof, 1 hour to bake and minimum 2 hours to cool down. 4 and a little bit hours in total but worth it. I adapted the recipe from a magnificent cookbook…
Indian-ish Yellow beans
We live on side dishes. Instead of making a main dish with a side dish, I prefer to make two or three vegetables dishes with a condiment on the side. The meal is lighter but filling, and fulfilling. You can…
African Stew
I adapted the recipe to this magnificent African stew from Mark Hayman’s cookbook What The Hell Shall I cook? It’s not my kind of cookbook but he has many excellent recipes and vital information about nutrition. What makes this stew…