The Highly Requested Post

So many of you who are used to my regular posts, have asked me about food and recipes. Comfort foods….what are we eating? What do I make the soldiers? Today I’ll take a break from sad.

One of my friends came over for a visit last week and the conversation went something like this:

She: Do you know any good lawyers?

Me: Not here, why? In the US, yes…

She: I wanna get a bunch of people together to file a class action suit. When this is all over I’m gonna sue Gaza. I’ve completely blown my diet with all this stress eating and have gained like 8 pounds. I’m gonna sue them.

I know a lady that eats ice cream to de-stress. One that indulges in dark chocolate. Those are the Anglos. One of our family friends are ‘Latinolim.’ The husband is Cuban, the wife is Mexican. She makes Picadillo, and I’ll give the recipe for that Shabbat crock pot meal- I made it last week. Then there is Plov. It’s a Russian dish I think. Easy. I had John make that one.

I’m now harvesting all my vegetables out of my small garden. Tomatoes, carrots, radishes, beets, frizee lettuce and beans. So I’m trying my hardest to keep it fairly healthy.

I’m still getting my weekly order of the most gorgeous organic fruits and veg straight from the fields- zucchini, yams, cucumbers, lettuce, pears, apples, Cara Cara oranges, mandarins, avocados, pumpkin, butternut squash and bell peppers. Plus I get a sourdough bread, the best granola in the world and pomegranate juice.

I made a delicious wild rice salad with roasted butternut squash, sun dried tomatoes, feta and Kalamata olives. Its outstanding! It would be lovely for Thanksgiving. The colors!!

Autumn Comfort Salad

serves 6 as a side dish. Pareve or dairy

Ingredients:

• 1 small butternut squash
• 1 cup wild rice mix (white, red, wild, brown, purple)
• 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup roasted yellow or orange bell peppers
• 1/4 cup pepitas
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup Kalamata olives
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• Sea salt, freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 cup feta cheese cubes (optional)

. Set oven to 400 *F/200*C. Halve the squash, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper. Wrap in aluminum foil and roast on baking sheet for 20 minutes or until soft. Halve and seed pepper place on foil, unwrapped, skin side up and roast on baking dish. Prepare rice as directed. When rice is cooked, fluff, remove to colander and rinse well. Let drain. To assemble: in large bowl, place well-drained cooked and cooled rice. Remove skins from pepper and cut up flesh into thick strips. Place in bowl. Cut up sun dried tomatoes (if already in pieces in oil) add in 1/4 cup I drained if in oil. Cut squash into cubes and add to bowl. Cut up spinach into julienned strips and add to bowl. Mix all together with olives and spices. Pour 1/4 cup olive oil and mix in. Fold in cubed feta (optional if vegan or pareve). Scatter pepitas on top.

I’ve also been making pashtidas which are very popular here. A Pashtida is like a crust less quiche which uses whatever veg you have on hand- sweet potato, broccoli, tomato, onion, zucchini… any mixture of veg. I make it in a deep quiche dish with a custard on top. You can add cheese, shredded or cubed in any combo- feta, mozzarella, cheddar, Parmesan. I cook the veggies a bit first (roast, sauté or boil slightly) to soften. Then I just plop it in the pan, add the cheese and pour over the custard. Bake it at 375*F/185*C until firm in center and golden brown on Its great for breakfast, lunch or dinner and can be served hot or cold.

I’ve been making challah lately. It’s never turned out. You see, Hizbulla always gets a little noisy lobbing missiles and UAVs across the border on Friday afternoons. It makes one a bit skittish. The first week I forgot to let my dough rise the 2nd time. The next week, I forgot to knead it. Last week it was burnt. So it goes….

I made a very easy, very tasty Picadillo, a Cuban dish with ground meat. Excellent in the crockpot for a Shabbat lunch/dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1kg / 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 large brown onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 2 peeled, chopped apples
• 2 chopped pears
• 1 can tomatoes, chopped with juice
• 1 carrot, peeled, chopped fine
• 3/4 cup black olives, sliced in half
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika (sweet)
• 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 cup coffee or water

In large skillet, add some oil & sauté onions, garlic, pepper. When soft, add ground beef. Brown. Drain grease. spoon into crockpot. Add fresh & dried fruit, tomatoes and olives. Mix in spices. Add in extra liquid (black coffee or water). Place lid on crock and set on low to cook 8 hours. If programmable, set to warm to keep warm after it cooks. Serve with pine nuts and chopped cilantro.

I’m using up everything I have. We are being so frugal, letting nothing go to waste. I never know if there will be supply chain shortages and my pantry is well stocked with all the things I canned over the summer. I’m using all my scraps to make veggie broth each week. I had a nice basket of mushrooms that needed to be used up so I did this. Oh my!!!

All this is is sautéed mushrooms, fresh rosemary and onions in olive oil. We added it to baked potatoes one night. The next morning I put it in a simple omelette with Parmesan cheese. Yum!

This next one is an amazing comfort food for me. I first had it when we visited Israel for the first time in 2011. Once you have sweet potatoes prepared this way, I guarantee you will not go back to the sweet syrupy version. This is definitely a Thanksgiving dish!!!

Israeli Sweet Potatoes

Serves 4-6 as a side dish. Vegan pareve

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• 1 large red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 large bunch rainbow Swiss chard or mangold.
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp zaatar
• Sea salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 200*C/400*F. Peel sweet potatoes and slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds. Wrap in foil and roast 15 minutes until just softened, not squishy! Dice onions, tomatoes. Put to side. Chop up the greens, fine chop. In large frying pan, heat up olive oil on medium high heat until shimmery. Add onions and let soften until just turning brown/dark. Add in crushed garlic, onions and chard. Let soften about 2 minutes. Add in zaatar and salt, pepper. Plate the greens. Place sweet potato coins on top. Garnish with parsley and a sprinkle of zaatar.

One Friday I just couldn’t think straight, so I made a deconstructed Salad Nicoise with tuna, boiled potatoes, green beans, hard boiled egg- we don’t get croutons here, so I’ve learned to make my own. Delicious!!

I absolutely love Plov. It’s a Bukarian Russian specialty and the best comfort food. Basically chicken & rice made in one dish- so easy, John can do it well.

Chicken Plov

Serves 4-6. Meat Basari

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Basmati rice, rinsed very well until liquid runs completely clear
• 8 chicken thighs
• 2 full garlic bulbs (not cloves, while heads)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 carrots, peeled, shredded or chopped very fine
• 2 brown onions, peeled, sliced
• 1/2 tsp (smoked) paprika
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 TBSP cumin seeds
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 cups water, very hot
• Salt, pepper

In a la Cruset type Dutch oven or heavy large pot (with cover) coat bottom with olive oil and heat on stove over medium high heat. Salt & pepper the chicken thighs to season and brown in the oil about 4 minutes each side. You can do 4 thighs at a time. Reserve chicken to a plate. Do not clean pot! Add in the onions and the carrots. Sauté until soft, adding a bit more oil if necessary. Place the chicken back in the pot along with the accumulated juices. Add in the spices and stir well. Pour in 1 cup of water and let simmer for about 15 minutes, COVERED!! Cut the tops off the garlic bulbs and peel just the outer skin. Uncover the pot and sprinkle in the rice on top of the chicken. Smoosh it all down so chicken thighs and veg on bottom and rice is on top forming another layer. In a kettle, boil the 3 cups water and gently pour it over the rice so it is not disturbed too much. With a tongs or large spoon place the garlic bulbs into the rice chicken as deeply as you can fit them, on either side of the pot. Place the bay leaves into the rice at alternate sides. Poke holes with the end of your spoon in the rice to let steam and flavors rise. Cover the pot and let it simmer on very low heat about 1/2 hour. Open the pot and invert onto a platter. Remove bay leaves . Remove garlic bulb. Squeeze garlic on top of the Plov . Reserve some to squeeze on bread.

For the last bit of home comfort, John made waaaaay too much rice the other night- 3 cups raw rice!!! Yikes! What to do with it all? I told him to divide the leftover portion in half. For one part I made rice pudding… very easy.

2 cups cooked Basmati rice

1/4 cup dark raisins

1/3 cup little yellow raisins

1 Apple, peeled and chopped

3 eggs

1/2 cup cream

1 cup milk

1/3 cup agave syrup or maple syrup

1/4 tsp cardamom

1 Tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Pinch salt

Nutmeg

Heat over to 170*C/350*F. In a medium bowl, best eggs with milk, cream, vanilla, syrup. Add salt, cardamom and cinnamon. Grease a pyrex at baking dish (I use coconut oil). Place fluffed rice in bowl. Mix in raisins and chopped apple. Pour custard mixture over the rice. Cover and bake about 40 minutes or until the pudding is set. Not too jiggly. Uncover. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes. until top browns. Remove. Let cool a bit. Grate nutmeg over top.