Choppe Salad With Croutons
Before I tell you about this easy and refreshing salad I want you to know where I stand about what happened in my country on 10 I was in London visiting friends when the Hamas horrific massacre occurred. I was…
DIY Parsley Salt
Do you write a journal? I do. I write almost everyday. Why? For different reasons. Partially because I want to leave something behind for my family. Perhaps my offspring would be as curious about their grandmother as I am about…
Burek With Cashew Cheese & Swiss-Chard
I loooove all pastries equally, but some of them, I have a particular weakness. Especially those savory stuffed pastries, made with puff pastry or phyllo dough. Any pastry that has the letters “BRK” in the name, like burek and burekas.…
Sautéed Beet Leaves With Eggs
Throwing away the beet tops is like tossing a gorgeous strand of human hair instead of donating it. I know weird analogy. It’s a shame not to cook those flavorful Swiss chard-like leaves. Particularly when organic and intact. They are…
Gluten-Free Turkish-Style Sesame Bagels (Simit)
These are Turkish sesame bagels, also known as simit, are made with all-purpose flour and yogurt. But I was curious what would happen if I substituted the two with gluten-free flours and vegan yogurt instead. If the recipe is here,…
Olive Oil & Anise Cookies
These fragrant Spanish cookies, tortas (cakes) de aceite y anís, are addictive. They are the refined and delicate sisters to the more rugged Moroccan anise biscuits, Reifat. While the recipes share the same warm, anise-scented essence, there are a few…
Easy Upside-Down Cabbage Bread
It’s been a while since I posted anything. As some of you know – from Instagram – we moved again. This time not too far. To a close by neighborhood with a better public high school. I hope we made…
Roasted Cauliflower Over Vegan Yogurt
Summer, you’re hot, toasty, sweaty, smelly, and draining. Yet, I miss you in the winter and welcome you with open arms in the spring, You and this delicious and light cauliflower dish. This recipe works also with labneh or lemony…
Lemony Tahini Dip with Tomato
Although I grew up in Israel and was familiar with tahini, the first time I had tahini as a dip, rather than as the sauce that moistens your falafel, was when I moved to New York in 1997. My friend-sister,…
Lentils cooked with Eggplant & Tomatoes
I got curious about lentils and how they were discovered so I googled the history of lentils and here is what I discovered: You won’t have to sell your birthright for this earthy stew. Lentils are not dirt cheap anymore…
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…
Schug, Herb & Garlic Spicy Sauce
When you have some 1 or more fresh or wrinkly jalapeños that you’re not sure what to do with, make this yemenite chimichurri. It would last for a month and you can use it during the week on avocado or…
Smoky Bell Peppers
The aroma of burnt peppers always reminds me of home, my mother’s house in the Negev, the desert of Israel. Every Friday noon my mother burns, directly on the flames, green hot peppers for Matbucha, spicy cooked tomato salad and…
Toasted Israeli Couscous With Pine Nuts, Currants & Parsley
A non-israeli friend of friends made this dish for Fourth of July, while we were visiting them in Montana. She told me that if she had known that we were Israeli, she would have made something else. I am glad…
Turkish-Style Yeasted Flatbreads
Most bread recipes normally take 1-2 hours to proof, this dough needs only 30-50 minutes. Another convenient fact is the number of ingredients; 2, flour and yeast. I adopted the recipe from Musa Dagdeviren’s magnificent cookbook The Turkish Cookbook .…
Leftover Rice With Caramelized Onions, Toasted Almonds & Herbs
I usually make this when I have leftovers of basmati rice. If you don’t have rice leftovers, it takes 12 minutes to cook basmati (but make sure you wash it thoroughly). You can make it with one type or bunch…
Smoky Butternut Squash, Eggplant & Bell Pepper Salad
I made this dish for lunch with friends and served it with hummus, tahini and burnt peppers and everybody loved it, except for my son, Leo, who doesn’t know yet how much he loves eggplants. Alex, my younger son, who…
Sweet Potato Falafel
My mother taught me how to cook but my father taught me to improvise, not to stick to the script, not to let anything stop me from cooking. Even if I’m missing some ingredients. You can always make a dish…
Parsnip Dip Topped With Croutons
In this recipe, I make hummus with parsnips instead of chickpeas. This makes it a great alternative for people who cannot eat legumes. However, this dip would appeal to anyone who appreciates earthy and unique flavors. Parsnips and turnips are…
Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Remember the days when cauliflower wasn’t popular? When she was considered boring? When no one knew what to do with her? Well those days are over, a decade ago. Now she is a mega celebrity that everyone wants to cook…