Baby Bok Choy Salad

There are some foods that should NOT be made on Thursday nights. Thursday in my household is typically pizza night. For good reason. I work a full day Friday, and if I want enough food to feed my hungry little monsters all Shabbos long, I need to use Thursdays to put up chulent and challah. To make fruit crisp and rugelach.

But I couldn't help myself tonight. The baby bok choy was calling my name. It was fresh and crispy. Green and luscious. Downright beautiful. Plus, with all the Shabbos groceries to unpack, I needed some more space in the fridge. What's a girl to do?

You can't blame me for making this salad. Especially not after you've made it yourself. It's that good.

Baby Bok Choy Salad
serves 4, about 5 minutes prep time (once the bok choy is clean)
I used almond butter but you could definitely substitute peanut butter. If you can get a hold of any, use natural peanut butter (as in NOT Skippy). The taste is more 'real.' (It tastes like actual peanuts!)


10-15 heads of baby bok choy, cleaned
3 scallions
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 tablespoon natural almond butter
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon honey
sesame seeds, optional, for garnish

Chop the bok choy coarsely, each leaf into two or three pieces. Slice the scallions nice and thin. Combine the bok choy and scallion in a roomy bowl.

Combine the remaining ingredients (except the sesame) in a separate cup or small bowl. Stir very well till completely smooth.

Pour the dressing on the salad and serve immediately, garnished with sesame seeds if desired.

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Marinated Zucchini Salad

I'm vacationing this week - mostly at home, with little getaways here and there - so I'll keep this post simple.

This recipe screams summer. It doesn't require an oven or even a stove. It's cool and refreshing, and uses just a few basic seasonal ingredients.

I hope you make it and enjoy it as much as we did.

Marinated Zucchini Salad
Serves 4-6

3 medium sized zucchinis
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
Juice of ½ lemon
1 scallion, white and light green part only, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

First, peel the zucchini and then julienne it into very thin matchsticks. Use a mandoline if you have one; if you use a knife, cut the pieces as thin as you can. They need to be really thin to get ‘cooked’ by the marinade.

Mix the oil, salt, lemon juice and scallions in with the zucchini. Let it sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or in the fridge for up to 24.

When you’re ready to serve, stir in the mint. This dish works well at room temperature or cold. It’s great as leftovers too, if you have any.

Linking this up to What's in Season, Real Food Wednesday, Ultimate Recipe Swap, and Pennywise Platter Thursday. 

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Hummus, plus 3 tips for getting kids to eat healthy

If you're a mother to picky eaters, you develop your own set of rules about healthy eating. White potatoes don't count as a vegetable; sweet potatoes do. Pickles are junk food but olives are healthy. Canned vegetables are off limits, unless, of course the vegetable drawer is bare because Mommy didn't have time to shop, in which case they are a-okay. Celery and baby carrots, regardless of what they are dipped in (don't ask) are great. And, even if you smother it in parmesan cheese and alphabet noodles, vegetable soup is still a super food.

Here are three strategies I've developed for getting my kids to eat healthy. What are yours? Please share them in the comments section below!

1. Hummus. See recipe below. My kids love vegetables cut up pretty dipped in hummus. 
2. Soups. My kids will eat pretty much any vegetable if it's pureed in a soup. My current favorites: Parsnip Soup, Roast Vegetable Soup, and Butternut Squash Soup.  
3. Get 'em while they're hungry. When my kids get home from school, they'll eat just about anything. If I welcome them home with a platter of cut up fruit, they'll devour it in minutes. It's an amazing thing that warms any mommy's heart. 

Hummus from scratch
I prefer to make my own tahini rather than buying the store bought paste. I hate how the store bought stuff settles and needs to be remixed. The homemade tahini is  just SO much fresher, and really no extra effort once you're pulling out (and washing) the food processor anyway. This recipe calls for 1 cup of sesame seeds even though you only need about half that amount. Less than a cup just doesn't puree well in my food processor. So I make a cup and put away half for another use.  It lasts for about a week in the fridge. 

1 cup sesame seeds
1/3 cup olive or canola oil
3 cans chickpeas, drained, but reserve 1 cup of the liquid
1/2 teaspoon salt
Aleppo pepper or cayenne pepper
juice of 2 lemons
1/2 teaspoon cumin

Combine the sesame seeds and olive oil in the food processor. Process for a good 5 minutes, scraping down the sides from time to time, until all the seeds are smooth.

Remove about half the tahini paste from the machine and put it away for another use. (I just add lemon juice, a bit of water, and spices for a wonderful homemade tahini that's great on salads.) Add the chickpeas, salt, pepper, lemon juice and cumin to the food processor. Add the reserved chickpea liquid a bit of a time, till the hummus reaches the desired consistency.

Refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Linking this post up to Weekend Bloggy Reading, KOAB Recipe Exchange and Ultimate Recipe Swap 

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Green Salad with Roasted Vegetables

It's happened at last. The winter has gotten to me. 

I'm tired of snow. I'm tired of cold. I'm tired of my warm winter clothes and the ugly landscape out the window.

I want summer tomatoes. Basil and thyme. Strawberries and blueberries. Lemon balm. Local parsley and cucumbers. I want my herb garden!!!

This salad makes the most of winter produce. Roasting the vegetables brings out their sweetness. The balsamic vinegar and olives give it a pungency, a welcome saltiness. If I can't have summer back, this is a pretty good way to make the most of the winter. Pretty, pretty good.

(Linking this up to Pennywise Platter Thursday and Real Food Wednesday.)

Green Salad with Roasted Vegetables
I really prefer this recipe with baby spinach instead of Romaine, but it works well with Romaine or any dark lettuce. This recipe feeds one as a main dish for lunch, or 2-4 people as a side dish. (Me, I eat the entire salad and will not share.) 

2 parsnips
1 carrot
1 onion
2 tablespoons olive oil

6 baby peppers left whole, or 1 bell pepper sliced in thick wedges

salt and pepper to taste
a handful of green or black olives

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 cups baby spinach, Romaine, or other dark lettuce, cleaned and chopped coarse

Preheat the oven to 425*. Peel the parsnips, carrot, and onion. Cut them in even slices, about 1/8 inch thick.

Pour the olive oil onto a large aluminum baking sheet. Add the sliced vegetables plus the peppers. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well. 

Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times to be sure the vegetables brown evenly. When they look ready, turn off the oven and let them rest in the oven for a few minutes to be sure they are fully roasted. (Sample one if you like, just to be sure.) 

Add the olives to the vegetables and then toss it with vinegar. (At this point, the salad can sit for a few hours at room temperature.) 

Right before serving, add the greens and toss once again. 

Linking this up to KOAB Recipe Exchange!

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Spinach Salad

I LOVE fresh spinach. For years, I avoided it because of how difficult it is to clean and check for bugs. (Eating bugs is strictly forbidden in kosher law, so all greens have to be carefully inspected before eating.) But when my local Costco started carrying triple washed organic baby spinach, I decided to find out once and for all how spinach is checked. It turns out not to be all that difficult! Check the Star-K website for instructions, or talk to a rabbi yourself.  

One of the very nice things about fresh spinach is that you can prepare it a few hours before eating. The greens are tough and take quite a while to get soggy. So this is a great salad to take to work for lunch.

Fresh Spinach Salad

2 cups raw baby spinach, washed well, thoroughly dried, and checked for bugs

4 or so spears of hearts of palm, sliced

A handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

A cucumber or bell pepper, chopped 

Some toasted sunflower seeds, if you like

½ teaspoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the vegetables in a nice large salad bowl. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds. Add the vinegar, oil, and seasonings. Toss and eat within a couple of hours.

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Slow Cooked String Beans

String beans and tomatoes

One thing that I never tire of on Friday night is string beans. I make them every week, and I never get bored of them. I do try to vary the recipe when I can, and I was pleased to come up with a new one last week. What's really nice about this one is that it works even with mediocre winter string beans, and since it's a slow cooked recipe, you can leave it in the oven for hours on Friday night, if your oven's on. I usually prefer crisp string beans, but this recipe is really nice for a change.

Do you have any good string bean recipes? Please share your favorites in the Comments section below.

Slow Cooked String Beans
1 lb. string beans, ends trimmed
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped coarsely
1 plum tomato or a handful of grape tomatoes, chopped
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
a dash of cinnamon
a dash of Aleppo pepper or cayenne
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I use canola)
1/4 cup water

Preheat the oven to 300*. (If you need the oven at 350*, the recipe will probably work fine, but you may need to add a bit more water and decrease the baking time.)

Combine the vegetables in an ovenproof dish, preferably glass. Add the spices and salt, and stir.  Sprinkle the oil and water over all. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 2-3 hours until the string beans are as soft as you like them. Give the beans a mix from time to time. If the mixture looks dry, add a bit of water. The baking time varies based on the freshness and size of the beans, and also based on how soft you like them. Serve hot, at room temperature, or even cold.

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Some MORE Jersey tomatoes!

Well, I thought we had the last of the summer tomatoes last week, but I found some more today and restocked. We just can't get enough of these! Here's a really simple preparation which works well when you have delicious summer tomatoes. It takes just a bit of seasoning to highlight their flavor.

Simple Tomato Salad
2 large tomatoes, 4 plum tomatoes, or a pint of cherry tomatoes, cut in chunks
1 scallion, diced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
salt to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Let them sit for at least 15 minutes if possible to let the flavors blend. Serve at room temperature.

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Last of the Jersey tomatoes

We're enjoying the last of the summer tomatoes - and herbs - here in New Jersey. It's amazing how much flavor is packed into this six ingredient salad. Even my one-year-old enjoyed it. Good to the last drop! If you make it with parsley, use a 1/2 cup (or more!) of herbs. Use less if you're making it with basil.

2 large beautiful summer tomatoes,chopped coarse
1/4-1/2 cup fresh parsley or basil, chopped
1 scallion, diced
1 teaspoon oil (vegetable or olive)
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar or fresh lemon juice
Salt to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a nice large bowl. Mix gently and serve within 15 minutes.

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Traditional plus fun

I love traditional Jewish Shabbos foods but there's something to be said for variety and originality. Chicken soup and chulent get just a little boring week after week! This week I had a vegetarian guest for Shabbos so I had to do things a little differently (without an awful lot of time on my hands). I supplemented the traditional chicken soup with a fun spaghetti salad (made 100% out of veggies) and I added lots of salads to the menu. Guess what? The kids ate the salads! And I had more fun!


















Veggie Spaghetti Salad
3 green zucchinis, yellow squash, or a combination
1 yellow onion
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
A dash of black pepper
2 tablespoons of your favorite fresh herbs, diced (try basil or lemon verbena)
2 tablespoons dry white wine, like sherry

Sauté the onion in the oil. While it's getting nice and golden, cut the zucchini into thin julienne. Here is my really important tip to make this easier: go out and get yourself a Kuhn Rikon Juli Peeler. It is a great $6 investment for this recipe and lots of others. If you don't have one, you can just julienne the zucchini the old fashioned way.

Once the onions are golden, add the zucchini and sauté for about 5 minutes, till warmed through. Add salt and pepper.

Right before serving (you can serve warm or at room temperature), stir in the herbs and wine.

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