Breaking Bread Class
Hi everyone! I will be teaching a class next month at Los Angeles Valley College. If you live in Los Angeles, please join us. It’s going to be a fun and important class. Baking bread is a valuable skill that…
Simple, Gluten-free Turkish-Style Sesame Bagels
I asked Kobi (that’s what I call it), the AI, to write a blog post about these Turkish bagels, and this is what it came up with: These gluten-free Turkish sesame bagels, also known as simit, are a delicious and…
Roasted Pumpkin, Candied Pecans With Basmati Rice
Last week I was given 5 boxes packed with an huge variety of produce from Melissa’s Produce and four days later another big box arrived from Talley Farms. Now that I am a “micro-influencer” on Instagram, I am offered products…
tortas de aceite y anís (Anise Cookies)
These delightful Spanish cookies, tortas (cakes) de aceite y anís, are very similar to Reifat, Moroccan anise biscuits. I wonder who came up with the recipe; Did my ancestors bring it to Morocco with them after they were exiled from…
simple cashew Ricotta
The recipe video for this cashew cheese is the most popular video on my instagram. I think the reason is that it’s pretty easy to make, and that it doesn’t require many or weird ingredients. You’re probably asking yourself, “Yes…
Cabbage Tarte Tatin
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…
Creamy Chana Masala
Vegan-boy wants chana masala. Teenage-boy prefers something with Korma sauce. Helicopter-dad doesn’t care. He’ll eat anything. Although he prefers to avoid chickpeas. They make him gussy. Neurotic-mom is up for Indian but not korma. It’s too sweet for her. To…
Gluten-Free Basic Yeasted Bread
Whenever the neurotic mom passes by a bakery that sells good sourdough bread, like Gjusta in Venice Beach, she buys one or two boules for her family. She can eat gluten, though it might give her headaches. Sometimes she takes…
Crushed Ginger & Garlic Cubes
Teenage-boy craves Indian curries every day. His mom loves Indian food but hates peeling and grating ginger and garlic. Sometimes she asks teenage-boy to do it for her or cook for them. He is usually up for it. But most…
Vegan Chocolate Bar Topped With Granola
Vegan boy complains that there’s nothing sweet in the house. He threatens to go to CVS to buy candy. Neurotic mom says “Wait! Don’t go, I’ll make something”. Quickly she melts a bar of Trader’s Joe’s 72% dark chocolate and…
Roasted Cauliflower & Cilantro 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…
Seed & Seaweed Crackers
Some people on instagram got upset that I called a non-dairy cheese cheese. Well a) what am I supposed to call it? and b) don’t they have other things to get upset about? I adapted this recipe from Everyone’s Table…
Tahini Dip with Tomato
Although I grew up in Israel and was familiar with tahini, I never forgot the first time I ate tahini as a dip and not as the sauce that moistens your falafel in pita (and makes it easier to swallow).…
Roasted Butternut Squash, Mushrooms & Walnuts
Not much is happening these days. The highlight of the previous week was our visit to Underwood Family Farms, in Moorpark CA. When my boys were little we used to go there often. They used to love going there. I…
Iranian-Inspired Eggplant Mezze
When I was a kid, my mother cooked eggplants on a weekly basis. Everyone in my family loved them – especially eggplant dips and fried eggplants – but me. I thought baba ganoush was disgusting. Until I was in 11th…
Potatoes & Sauerkraut Stew
I started to have a blast in the kitchen when I felt comfortable improvising and cooking without recipes. Now don’t get me wrong, I love being tucked in bed with a good cookbook or discovering a great recipe online but…
Lentils cooked with Eggplant & Tomatoes
I googled the history of lentils and learned a few interesting facts about them. Man has been eating tiny dried lentils practically since the beginning. Wow, really? I wonder how my ancestors knew they were edible. By 6000 B.C.,…
Turkish-Style Chickpea Salad
I always associate the word Turkish with food, good food – even when someone brings up Turkish prisons, Turkish Coffee or the Bride from Istanbul. Unfortunately, I’ve never been to Turkey yet but it’s on the top of my list.…
“Cured” Golden Beets (Gravlax)
The other day I was curious (not sure what to do with myself and a bunch of golden beets) to see what would happen if I treated the golden beets as if they were salmon. Why? Because they both have…
Smoky Eggplant Dip
My favorite meals are those vibrant dinners which are assembled from a bunch of dips, sides and small plates instead of ordinary main dish-side-and-salad dinner. We eat like that everyday but it never gets boring because they are colorful and…