Tag: israeli food

Falafeltaschen Board


I can’t honestly believe that Purim is just a couple of days away! Which means Pesach is just a month away. And then Shavuos is just a couple of weeks after that. And do you know what happens then? By that time I should be holding my own. actual. cookbook. in. my. hands. Ahhhhh!!!!!


Cookbook, cookbook, cookbook. It is the air that I breathe these days! It is my breakfast, lunch and supper. The thing I think of when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night (and all the hours in between). It’s what has me crying from stress and happiness at the same time. It. is. real. and it. is. happening.

I have a newfound appreciation for cookbook authors the world over. I think they all deserve a gold medal for the tedious process of developing, testing, retesting and retesting recipe after recipe until they all start to look the same. I think they deserve the biggest honor for the amount of hours poured over every word and the amount of thought that goes into every page.

I have the greatest respect for food stylists and photographers and photo editors who make the perfect crease in a napkin, get the lighting and shadows just so, and finish the photos with the perfect finesse. And as I wind down to the finish line and wrap up my recipes, my photos, my very heart and soul that I put into this book….I’m forced to stop. Take a deep breath. Because life around me is still living, and the kids need costumes, and shalach manos and….PURIM. I celebrate you with honor and this fabulous FALAFELTASCHEN BOARD that doesn’t need much introduction. I’ll let the photos do the talking.

Happy Purim!

Related Recipes:

corndog hamantaschen
sushi hamantaschen
baklava hamantaschen
date and almond hamantaschen
healthy thumbprint hamantaschen

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Jerusalem Hummus In Jars

I’ve got to hand this one to a favorite person and a favorite cookbook: Naomi Nachman, and “Zahav“, respectively. Naomi is a foodie friend who’s not quite at my stage in life. She just married off her first child and her youngest is about the age of my oldest. Naomi might be older but she’s got more energy than my five kids put together! She’s always the life of the party and her foodie calendar puts me to shame. She just wrapped her first cookbook, Perfect for Pesach, which I was lucky enough to get some sneak peeks behind the scenes (and test some of the amazing recipes!). She runs a Pesach catering business, a “Chopped” themed party service, writes for various publications and even has her own radio show, Table for Two on the Nachum Segal Network. I love Naomi’s positive energy and I’m proud to call her a friend.

Recently, Naomi managed to squeeze in a trip to Israel amid her crazy hectic schedule, and she brought me back some Hawaj from the shuk. I’d never tried hawaj before, but I knew that there were two types of the Yemenite spice blend – one for soup and one for coffee. The spice was so potent (everything from the shuk always is!) that my whole kitchen smelled of it, even through the Ziploc bag! I wanted to make the most of the spice so I thought about how I could use it to really let it shine. And it hit me – hummus basar!

I had never made meat hummus before, or any REAL hummus from scratch and I was excited to try! I went to the holy grail of Israeli cookbooks, “Zahav” to find the perfect recipe and of course Michael Solomonov’s did not disappoint. What I love so much about Zahav is that every recipe is approachable, and unlike some of the other cookbooks on Middle Eastern cuisine, Zahav is the least bit pretentious. The hummus I made from the book was by the far the best one I had ever tasted and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to go back to store-bought. It is just a whole ‘nother ballgame.

What I learned from Solomonov is that hummus is so much more about the quality of the tahini than it is about the chickpeas. I always thought of hummus as a chickpea spread, but no. It’s a silky-smooth-sesame chickpea spread that will knock your socks off. You start by preparing silky smooth tahini that involves a brilliant garlic hack that I won’t share (buy the cookbook to find out what it is!). Then you take that tahini perfection and add loads of it to butter-soft chickpeas. Oh. My. God. is it good.

Zahav’s hummus recipe is a two step process, but I’ve simplified it here into one. I would definitely encourage you to try the original recipe at least once, but this makes a pretty good substitute. And please do me a favor and don’t put the amazingly pungent and flavorful hawaj-spiced beef over store-bought hummus because that’s like serving homemade shortcakes with canned whipped cream. Just no. And if  you’re feeling up to the task, try Zahav’s pita recipe and bake ’em up in mini to go along with these Jerusalem hummus jars. There’s really nothing quite like homemade pita to go along with homemade hummus.  I’ve made the recipe a few times already and it is super simple and incredibly delicious!

If this post hasn’t already compelled you to buy the cookbook, here’s an excerpt of a review I wrote after I got it:

“Michael brings the beauty of Israeli culture and cuisine to the forefront without the bells and whistles. He lets the food stand on it’s own, humble and beautiful, with clear, easy to fllow recipes that dont require millions of ingredients. And he’s not cheffy about it either….This guy isn’t cooking Israeli food because it’s trendy, he’s just doing what he loves and it comes through on every page. Even though he himself is not kosher….he acknowledges that the rules of kosher define the boundaries of Israeli cuisine and keeps all the recipe in the book (and in his restaurant) free of shellfish, pork and mixing milk and meat. In a culture that thinks that you have to be “treif” to be cool (especially so if you are Jewish), this man has my total respect). ”

Of course this Hummus Basar was made in jars in the spirit of Purim, but feel free to make this recipe and serve Israeli style, in a big bowl with lots of fresh pita for dipping! You can also make the hawaj beef and serve it over rice, it makes for a delicious side dish!

Related Recipes:

chestnut hummus with herbed pita chips
roasted garlic hummus with everything pita chips
chicken shawarma
farro grain bowl with Jerusalem pargiot
sweet tahini dip

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Farro Grain Bowl

Life with five kids has thrown me for a loop. They always say #3 is hard, maybe #4 too. But #5? I’m ex.hau.sted. Baby girl is still 3 months old, so I know we’re still in that needy (ie. nursing every 3 hours) stage, but man, it’s tough! I still won’t give up blogging though, because after five years of creating and sharing, it’s become so much a part of me. You guys, are part of the family.

Thank G-d for some stored posts that never made it to blog like this farro grain bowl. I don’t know why it’s been sitting in my archived photos for so long because dang is it beautiful. And oh so tasty! I’m all about grain bowls right now. Ok I’m all about any food really (breastfeeding!!), but there’s something about being able to throw in a little of this and a little of that to create something so satisfying.

I’m a huge fan of grain bowls because there are endless options, and it’s basically just an excuse to throw a bunch of leftovers into a big dish and call it fancy! I’ve started to make them for lunch a lot, using whatever leftovers I have in the fridge. I can usually find some quinoa (I like to cook it up in the beginning of the week so I can add it to salads, yogurt and mains) or leftover rice and I pretty much always have some cooked chicken on hand. There’s also plenty of veggies to choose from, plus some hard boiled eggs, cheese, and roasted beets. So basically I’ve got my grain bowls made, I have to just make ’em!

So, how do you build a grain bowl? Well, you can try and stick to a specific cuisine (like this Middle Eastern inspired bowl) or you can keep things simple. Just follow this basic outline:

How to Build a Grain Bowl:

Grains (rice, farro, quinoa, couscous, barley, wheat berries, millet)
Raw or Cooked Veggies (carrots, mushrooms, cucumbers, beets, peppers, zucchini)
Raw or Sauteed Greens (spinach, arugula, kale, radicchio, cabbage)
Protein (tofu, edamame, chickpeas, surimi, chicken, poached egg, cheese)
Dressing (pesto, miso, tahini, salsa, peanut sauce, soy sauce)
Garnish (seaweed, avocado, nuts, pickled veggies, scallions, fresh herbs)

I probably would have added some sauteed beet greens to this bowl, if I had had them, but the flavors were amazing and went together really well. The chewy farro, sweet beets, smoky chicken, crispy chickpeas and crunchy pomegranate seeds really complemented each other – both in texture and flavor. Of course the tahini didn’t hurt either, and the pomegranate molasses just put it over the top.

Thinking about making your own grain bowl? Here are some other fun combinations!

// cauliflower rice + fajita spiced peppers + black beans + avocado + salsa dressing + fresh lime
// quinoa + roasted squash + sauteed kale + feta + pumpkin seeds + almond butter dressing
// couscous + roasted eggplant + tomato + red cabbage + hard boiled egg + harissa dressing
// sushi rice + carrots + cucumber + sushi grade tuna + edamame + fried egg + sriracha + soy sauce

Have you ever made a grain bowl, or seen one you like? Share the combo with me in the comments below! I love to get inspired with new combinations!


Related Recipes:

chicken shawarma
grilled chicken shawarma salad
za’atar roasted chickpeas

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Falafel Cauliflower Poppers (Baked!)

You guysssss!!! This post makes me so excited, I have no words! OK, I always have words, many of them. But where shall I begin?

If you’re a dedicated follower of my blog, you know how much I love

  1. trendy recipes
  2. hybrid recipes
  3. ISRAELI recipes
  4. healthy makeover recipes

Am I right? Does that just about sum up my food blogger style or what?!

Well this here genius idea just about incorporates all of those passions! Cauliflower trend – check! Falafel/breaded cauliflower hybrid – check! Israeli recipes – Oh my god yes, check!! And healthy makeover recipes – definitely check, check!!

Ever since my crazy cauliflower nacho hack went ridiculously viral, I’ve been wanting to come up with an equally amazing cauliflower idea, and when Knorr sent me over some of their falafel mix, I knew I had it in the bag. And then I tasted them, and I was all “why hasn’t the whole world made these like every single day of their lives?!?!” Yup. You’re welcome.

Breaded cauliflower has always been a favorite snack of mine, but since they’re usually fried, I don’t have them too often. I also avoid using fresh cauliflower, since it’s such a pain to check for bugs (kosher law forbids the consumption of insects), so I came up with a recipe that solves all those problems! You’re welcome.

So, not only are these cauliflower poppers supremely delicious, they’re made with thawed frozen cauliflower (no checking necessary) and they’re baked, not fried! You wouldn’t believe it from the insanely crunching coating, but oh yes, they are practically guilt free. Did I say you’re welcome yet?

Speaking of which, I want to thank Knorr for making these semi-homemade poppers so easy to put together using their prepared falafel mix. I’ve not usually a fan of prepared mixes but falafel is an extremely time consuming effort – between soaking the beans, processing the mixture and frying the balls… I’m all for convenience in this case!

Convenience is the name of the game these days. With school out for most of the kids, I’ve got summer prep on my mind and lots to do. Plus the NYC heat is totally draining me and getting dinner on the table every night is not as easy as it used to be. I’m thankful for kid-friendly foods that might use some store bought ingredients to help me out – like bottled BBQ sauces for quick and easy pulled chicken/beef, frozen ravioli that I can just heat up with some marinara, and even pancake batter that makes breakfast a cinch. I may be a do-it-yourself, made-from-scratch gal at heart, but I’m a very practical mom IRL (in real life!). Summer conveniences, here we come!

Speaking of summer, make sure you put these on your NINE DAYS menu, will you? You can thank me later.

You’re welcome!

This post was sponsored by Knorr Falafel. All opinions are my own. 

Related Recipes:

falafel latkes with harissa tahini
spinach falafel burger
smoked paprika popcorn cauliflower
cauliflower nachos

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Sabich Latkes

As a food blogger, one of the questions I often get asked is what my favorite dish is. If they want to know my most popular dish, that ones easy. But my favorite? It’s like asking me who my favorite child is. Can a mom really have a favorite child?! But now, NOW I can answer that question. Sabich latkes, hands down, is my favorite dish of all time. Does that tell you something?

Sabich is a classic Israeli sandwich consisting of pita stuffed with fried eggplant, hardboiled egg, Israeli salad, tahini and amba (a pickled mango condiment). Since amba is not readily available to everyone, I decided to pickle some onions instead, and I added my new favorite Mina harissa for some spice. The combo is so ridiculously incredible that you’re going to want to eat the leftovers for breakfast, and then lunch, and maybe dinner too.

The best part of sabich, is that you can switch things up if you wish – add some hummus, Israeli pickles, schug, or go gourmand with a poached egg for a truly sophisticated bite.

Related Recipes:

falafel latkes with harissa tahini
roasted eggplant with Israeli salad
sous vide stuffed eggplant with pistachio dukkah and tamarind tahini

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