A great summer side dish: Cold zucchini salad and Surviving the Chagim!

I realize that I have not given you any really good, cold, summer side dishes, so here is my new favorite:  Cold Zucchini Salad! 

I had the pleasure of tasting and then learning how to prepare this dish at the hands of its ‘father’, the up and coming young chef: Shlomo Weinglass.  Shlomo is the chef at Morgens Café in Jerusalem.  We were fortunate enough to taste all of Shlomo’s yummy food when we recently spent a wonderful Shabbat at his parent’s home in Nokdim. Every dish was scrumptious and, well finger-licking, but as is many things in life, not always beneficial to a diet.  This cold salad, however, is both delicious and points-friendly!

Shlomo has kindly given me permission to include his recipe in my blog.

By the way, we also had a great meal at Morgens Café – a great milchicks restaurant in my favorite part of Jerusalem - Emek Refaim.  Wonderful!

Back to the salad: This a great summer salad and with Rosh Ha’Shana just around the corner (gulp!), this is an appealing salad to serve for Chag!  This cold salad is fast and easy to prepare – what more could you ask for?

Shlomo’s Cold Zucchini Salad

Ingredients:

·        Zucchini, sliced on the diagonal (for more information and explanations on how to cut vegetables, including the French names for each of these cutting techniques, see below *)

·        Onion

·        Fresh mushrooms

·        Balsamic vinegar/soy sauce

·        Lemon juice

·        2-3 cloves of garlic (or more)

·        Kosher salt

·        Parsley

·        Pepper

·        Olive oil (for taste only)

·        Grilling pan with grooves

·        PAM

What to do:

·        I use the greenest, longest and most firm zucchinis I can find.  Four large zucchinis made enough salad for about six two-tablespoon portions.

·        Slice the zucchini on a diagonal.  Slices should be thin, but not paper thin.  Do not peel the zucchini – first of all because there is never a need to do this and secondly, the peel helps keep the vegetable “together” during cooking.

·        During the cooking process, you cannot leave this dish unattended, it needs to be watched at all times!  I recommend you prepare this dish either before you cook other dishes or once you have finished cooking all your other dishes.  You can definitely prepare this dish a day in advance, it will only improve the taste!

·        Cut all the zucchini before you begin to cook.

·        Put your grilling pan with the grooves on the stove and turn the burner on high.  I use my middle, largest burner, so I get a good even heat throughout the pan.  Spritz with PAM.  I recommend you use the olive oil flavored PAM for this dish.

·        Once the pan is HOT, add a single layer of zucchini.  The zucchini should not overlap – each piece should be exposed to the groves of the pan. You should hear the sizzle!

·        Once the vegetable starts to turn a bit translucent/golden around the edges, turn over one piece to see if that side is browned by the groove marks.  If it is, turn over the entire batch. 

As the pan gets hotter, cooking time with quicken.  But be careful – you do not want to overcook these slices!  You can turn the slices over a third time if you need to.

If the pan gets too dry the slices will burn, so spritz the pan every so often.

A slice is considered done when it is golden brown, browned by the grooves and a bit translucent. Never soggy or overdone.

·        Once all the slices are done, remove them to a large metal bowl. 

·        Next begin to prepare all the rest of the ingredients to add to the bowl.

·        Thinly slice onions and mushrooms and add to the bowl. One medium to large onion and a half to three-quarters of a container of fresh mushrooms should be sufficient for this dish.  You can increase or decrease these amounts depending on how much you love/loathe onions and mushrooms.  Actually if you loathe mushrooms, this is not a dish for you, sorry dear!

·        Peel two to three cloves of garlic and either chop finely or put through a garlic press. I love garlic, so I add about five or six fat cloves.  I also like to see the garlic pieces in my salad.  Add the garlic to the bowl.

·        Finely chop parsley and add to the bowl.

·        Add about a cap and a half (about a tablespoon and a half) of lemon juice.  Yes, I used bottled lemon juice, but it was a great brand!

·        Add about a tablespoon and a half of balsamic vinegar.  I also added about half a tablespoon of soy sauce.

·        Add in freshly ground pepper.  I omitted the salt, since I added soy sauce to the dish. 

·        Add about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Again, I omitted the olive oil and added a spritz or two of PAM olive oil.

·        Mix well, but gently.  Transfer to a plastic container with a lid and put in the fridge. 

·        Shake this dish in the plastic container before serving.  This dish tastes great right away and will taste even better the next day!

Portion size:

Two tablespoons is one serving.

How to store:

Always store in a closed plastic container in the fridge. 

Be’Tay a’Von!

* How to cut vegetables: Follow these links to learn how to cut vegetables:

 http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Formal-Vegetable-Cuts

http://www.lhj.com/recipes/easy/cut-vegetables/

Surviving the Chagim!

Well, they are finally here, almost here: the CHAGIM.  Big as life and lasting F-O-R-E-V-E-R!  I do not have to tell you that this year, Rosh Ha’Shana is THREE DAYS LONG!

 

As far as I am concerned it is four days long: lasting from Erev Chag on Wednesday all the way through to Motzei Shabbat.  Then we have Yom Kippur on a Shabbat – which is psychologically insane for me – it’s something about fasting on Shabbat that does me in.  Then Succot – oh, I don’t even want to think about that.  So let’s just start with one chag at a time.

How can we survive Rosh Ha’Shana?  Eating tuna sandwiches and carrot sticks for four days comes to mind.  But let’s get real. We have six meals to survive.  You can plan to eat just a “little” of each of the goodies during each of those meals.  If that works for you – more power to you.  I prefer to work on the “one on-one off” method – that is I will eat one traditional meal and enjoy it (almost to the fullest) and then at the next meal I will eat better, more points-friendly choices and in the correct proportions. 

I have to say that in the past, during Rosh Ha’Shana in our house, honey was considered a beverage.  I kid you not.  So this year, alongside the traditional favorites: gefilte fish, honey with apple, challah with honey, honey with honey, heavy meats and kugels; I will also make skinless chicken and light salads. One good old fashioned-heavy meal then one lighter meal.  And somehow we will get through this chag – just in time for the next one!

Shana Tova and Chag Sameach!

Chicken and Vegetable stir fry and Cooking Twice: Am I really going to cook separate meals for me and the kids?

You know, just last week someone asked me if I tested my recipes before I published them.  This came as a shock to me, as I assumed that everyone KNEW that all my recipes are not just tested in my kitchen, but are in regular use in my kitchen!

 

So I am stating this for the record: every recipe I publish on my blog is a real recipe I use on a regular basis!

I've chosen this week to publish my Chicken and Vegetable stir fry because it is a great everyday meal, but can be made for Shabbat and for company!

Yochi's Chicken and Vegetable stir fry

Yochi’s Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Ingredients:

·        Chicken quarters:  You need between an eighth to a quarter of the chicken per portion per person.

I and my whole family love chicken thighs and legs, so when I mention “chicken quarters” I mean the thigh-leg part of the chicken.  Usually I consider one chicken quarter as a one-portion meal size, however, as this is once again another recipe with a higher ratio of vegetables to chicken, I consider an eighth of a chicken to be a one-portion size. 

Try the dish yourself to determine if you need an eighth or a quarter of a chicken for your one-portion size and then multiply by the number of persons you will serve at the meal.

·        Large wok

·        Vegetable options: 1-2 squash, 1-2 zucchini, 3-4 carrots, half a head of broccoli, half a head of cauliflower, 2-3 onions, garlic, 2-3 red peppers, mushrooms*, 3-4 green onions, 1-2 stalks of celery

* A note about using mushrooms:  I've discussed mushrooms in previous articles.  Make sure to add them near the end of the cooking process as they tend to soak up all the liquid like a sponge. You can as many mushrooms as you like.

·        water

·        PAM

·        Basic spices:

o   garlic powder

o   freshly ground pepper

o   paprika

o   chopped fresh parsley

·        Ingredients for sauce:

o   1-2 tablespoons of each of sweet chili sauce and Dijon mustard (I love the Dijon with the whole mustard seeds)

o   1-2 tablespoons of soy sauce optional (if you want a saltier dish)

o   water

How to work:

·        Prepare all the ingredients before you begin to cook, as this dish cooks rather quickly in a wok.

·        Prepare the chicken: Remove the skin and the fat from each chicken quarter.  Chop the quarter up into three or four pieces, depending on the size of the chicken quarter. If the leg is large, chop it in half; if it is on the small side keep it whole.  The thigh can be cut along the bone socket to get two separate pieces and then the larger of these two pieces can be chopped in half again.

·        Select any or all of the vegetable options I listed above.

·        Slice all the vegetables into chunky pieces a little smaller and narrower than the smallest chicken piece.

·        Spray the wok with PAM and turn up the heat under the wok.

·        Add the chicken pieces to the wok. Make sure you do not crowd the wok with too many pieces of chicken, or they will not cook evenly.

If you have too many chicken pieces cook in batches and then return all the chicken to the wok before you add the vegetables.

·        Stir and turn the chicken frequently, using a wooden spoon, to avoid burning the pieces.  You can add another shpritz or two of PAM during the cooking process.

·        Once the chicken is golden brown, start to add the vegetables to the wok in the order they cook; harder vegetables that take longer to cook should be added first and then the softer vegetables.

·         Add handfuls/ladle spoonfuls of vegetables at a time. Mix well and then add another handful/ladle spoonful.   

·        As the vegetables cook they turn a deeper shade of their natural color, this is the time to begin to add your spices.  Stir continuously. 

·        Please note that the natural fat from the chicken (even though you removed the chicken skin and attached fat, there is still fat in the meat) will also add some juices to the wok.  

·        In a separate bowl mix just one to two tablespoons of the following: sweet chili sauce and Dijon mustard.  You can add soy sauce for a saltier flavor.

·        Blend well and then add in water, a few teaspoons at a time, until you get a smooth consistency.

·        Pour over the vegetable and chicken mixture and cook through, stirring frequently.

·        Once the chicken is completely cooked (the meat will be white not pink) through the dish is ready to serve.

Be'teyavon!

Cooking Twice: Am I really going to cook separate meals for me and the kids?

I gotta tell you that I swore that I would never, ever, never, no way, cook a meal for Sid and myself and another separate meal for my kids.  I actually kept this promise throughout the years the kids were living at home, simply because we never dieted!

I have to be honest, had Sid and I gone on a WW diet while the kids were living at home, I am not sure if I would have cooked separate meals.  But today I can tell you that I DO cook separate meals when the kids visit for Shabbat or Chag. 

Let me tell you, the change in my cooking style did not go unnoticed by the kids and when one of the gang heard that I was cooking sans oil, chicken skin, margarine, sugar and the list just seems to go on; he became “slightly” hysterical contemplating the horrors of a world without my Shabbat meals of meat, potatoes, kugels, pastas and all the other heavy-on-points dishes.

 

The idea that L’el Seder would not have the piled-high-to-the-sky courses including gefilte fish, soup, meat, chicken and side dishes nearly did him in.  His hysteria went from bad to worse when he thought that on Shavuot he (and perhaps the rest of the family) would be bereft of our annual cholesterol fest.  For the innocent this means two full meals of five-cheese lasagna, two additional pasta dishes replete with cheeses and sauces, two cheesy soups, challah, Focaccia and an obscene cheese cake, oh and did I mention ice cream for dessert because cheese cake alone cannot be considered a “dessert”?

 

So on Pesach I cooked my traditional food menu and IN ADDITION, I cooked points-friendly options for Sid and I.  Everyone was happy and no one felt their lifestyle and may I say, their very existence was under threat.  Shavuot was already a different point in our journey, so while I cooked food that we could eat and the traditional heart-stopping menu.  I partook of many of the usual Shavuot foods, in smaller quantities, but I did eat.

The lesson here is simple: you can cook two different meal versions for Chag and Shabbat, when you need and want to.  You can also partake of the regular food if your per-portion eating habits have changed and you feel comfortable doing so.  And as always there is a third option (ah, don’t you just love “Door Number Three”?) You can also say: Today I want to eat this food and I want to enjoy it.   Tomorrow I will watch what I eat and go back to my regular eating habits. This is acceptable so long as “tomorrow” does not become a habit – if it works for you – go for it!

 

One last thing I learned from one of my third grade teachers (her name escapes me now), if you are going to cheat on your diet/enjoy yourself/allow yourself  then do it with high quality, deliciously, worthwhile food.  Don’t grab a points-heavy low quality food item (store-bought not-really-so-good pizza or cake or whatever) – go for the best – make it as creamy, delicious and sinful as you can find – ENJOY IT for crying out loud!!!

The versatile Rice Paper Wraps and the foods the kids can live WITHOUT!

First I would like to thank everyone for their great feedback on my previous posts!  I love receiving your comments, feedback and suggestions for improvements! 

One of your suggestions for improvement was changing my recipe location; I was asked to present my recipe FIRST and provide my hints, tips and suggestions afterwards.  So that's what I have done.  I hope you enjoy the improvement!

Shavuot is over and it's time to get "back into the shvung" of better eating!  Let's start with a recipe that is incredibly versatile; great for light summer meals, Se'udah Sh'leshet, get-togethers and a welcome side dish.  It's also a great favorite of our group in Weight Watchers Hadera; I served these wraps for Sid and my Mishkal Kavod (goal weight) parties.

I am talking about Rice Paper Wraps.  These little darlings can be made fleishkes, milchicks or pareve and can served hot, cold or at room temperature.

Yochi's Rice Paper Wraps

Ingredients:

·        Rice papers wraps. 

These wraps come in two sizes: large (dinner plate size) and small (dessert plate size) wrap rounds.  In my opinion the smaller size is great for parties, while the larger size is perfect for meals. Whatever the size, the preparation is the same.

·        Sliced vegetables: cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, onions, baby corn on the cob and so many others.  The vegetables can be cooked or served raw. 

I would stay away from very hard vegetables, such as carrots, unless they are sliced very thinly as they can easily puncture or tear the rice papers.

·        Fleishkes, milchicks and pareve filling ideas:

o   Fleishke filling: cooked, thinly sliced (any part) chicken or turkey (this is a great way to use leftover poultry) or pastrama (I talked about this in a previous article).

o   Milchick filling: light, low-fat cheese.  This can be thinly sliced yellow cheese or thicker soft slices of feta cheese.

o    Pareve filling: tuna, salmon or tofu.

·        Water

·        Pan or dish large and deep enough to easily hold a rice paper flat in water.

How to work:

1.   While the most important element of this recipe is the preparation of the wraps, you must first prepare all the stuffing ingredients.  The best way to work is in assembly line fashion: prepare each of your ingredients in a separate plate and then line up the plates in order.  You are now ready to make these puppies in a flash!

2.   First clean, cut and thinly slice your vegetables lengthwise.  Make sure your vegetables are smaller than the wrap and can fit into the Food Area marked below.

3.   If you cook your vegetables, make sure they are absolutely stone cold before your place them in the rice papers or they will just tear through them.

4.   Next prepare your filling.  If you are using fresh chicken or turkey, remember to bake or cook it first and then make sure it is stone cold before you thinly slice it.

5.   Place each ingredient in its own plate and set the plates down in the order you will use the ingredients.  I always start with lettuce or spinach, then my other vegetables and end with the filling.

6.   Once your filling items are set up, we can begin to prepare the rice papers.

7.   Prepare a pan with water.  The water does not have to be more than a few centimeters deep.  Hint: The warmer the water – the quicker the rice papers will be ready to wrap and roll.  With this in mind, I suggest that the first time you make this dish you should fill the pan with cold water.  This way you can work a little slower at first. 

8.   Spread a clean, dry, not fleecy, kitchen towel next to the pan of water. You will place each rice paper on the towel, as they become pliant, to dry off some of the excess water.

9.     Place one rice paper sheet in the water and gently push down in the water to make sure all the "sides" are submerged, as sometimes a "side" will pop up over the water and not get soft.  The rice papers are white and nearly translucent when they are dry; they become see-through once they are softened and ready to be filled and wrapped.

10.                Touch the rice paper: when they first hit the water they will be hard and brittle, but within a few seconds (or less) they will become pliant.  Once the entire rice paper is pliant, but still a little firm, slowly pick it up with your fingers, holding the two top "ends" of the rice paper and letting excess water drip into the pan.

Don't let the rice paper stay too long in the water or it will become too soft and simply tear apart.  Once the rice paper is completely pliant it is ready to stuff and roll.  Don't worry about ruining a few rice papers before you can successfully roll a wrap. It takes a bit of practice.

11.                Next place the wrap carefully on the towel.  Make sure that the rice paper is lying flat and is as round as possible.  Using a free edge of the towel, gently dab the rice paper to absorb any excess water.  Work very gently and gingerly, these rice papers are very delicate.

Don't let the wrap stay on the towel too long or it will stick and get ruined.  This is the reason that I have everything prepared in advance and work as quickly as possible!

Once I take one rice paper out of the water, I usually put another dry rice paper into the water for the next wrap.  If this is the first time you are doing this, I advise you to work with only one rice paper at a time.  Once the first rice paper is filled and rolled, start to prepare the next one.  As you prepare the rice papers, you will get the "hang of it" and be able to work more quickly.

12.                Put the first vegetable in the middle and closer to one side of rice paper.  Then pile the other vegetables and filling on top of that.  The order and placement does not have to be perfect or pretty, unless that is "your thing".

The amount of food you fill is up to you.  As you work with and eat these rice paper wraps you will get a sense of how much is the "perfect amount" for you.  Also different types of fillings will require different amounts of food per rice paper. 

13.                Next fold over the bottom and top areas of the rice paper towards the middle, partially covering the stuffing.

 

14.                Now begin to roll the rice paper from the food side to the empty side.  Hold the filling as you slowly wrap and roll your way to the other end.

15.                There is no need to wet or in any other way seal the end of the wrap.  The rice paper will stick together as soon as you roll it up.

These rice paper packages contain tens of rice papers; so any dry, unused rice papers can be stored in their original package, inside a plastic bag for use at a later date.

At Sid's Weight Watcher Mishkal Kavod party.

 

Foods the kids can live without!

Before Shavuot we talked about achieving five simple goals in 30 days.  Those goals were all food-based.  Today I want you to continue to get rid of any "offending" foods that may have been left behind or maybe foods the "kids like, but you shouldn't eat".  

One of my kids once complained to me that when they were young, they got used to vegetables because we never had any nosh in the house.  What a "sad", but true story!  However, it is not a hundred percent true – we did have nosh in the house around Purim time; that is from the moment we bought our Mishloach Manot booty and until about 20 minutes after we received some 30 plates piled high with candy on Purim.  (I have, by the way, stopped creating plates full of candy-Mishloach Manot.   Today my Mishloach Manot consist of home-baked cake or a gaggle of home-baked cookies and place them in a reusable serving or storage dish with some fruit and wine, but that's another story.)

Anyone that wants to cry over my kids' deprived lives has to remember that candy and nosh is and was freely available in every school yard, kiosk, supermarket and in the homes of ALL their friends. 

The lesson here is simple: kids can live without candy and nosh in your home and so can you!  But I want to take it just one additional step further.  Remember that the foods that are bad for you are just as bad for them.  Sweetened soft drinks can be removed all together or at least seen only on Shabbat.  The same is true for baked goods of all kinds.  Keep them out of the house or only bring in just enough for special occasions. 

Just be careful, we had an only-on-special occasions rule for baked goods, which turned into an only-on-Friday-morning rule, which became a Friday-and-Shabbat rule and then the one or two dainties serving portion became a bag full, which ultimately begat an even larger bag of baked goodies. Be careful of these once-in-a-while treats, they can get out of hand as well! 

Our newest acquired habit is to ensure that any points-heavy food (whether homemade or home baked or store-bought or guest-brought) is transported to Sid's work the very next morning for distribution!  It cannot be allowed to remain in the fridge, freezer or pantry for a minute longer than necessary.  Remember what your mother taught you is still true today: It Is Always Better To Give Than Receive!

Write me - I'd love to hear how things are working out for you!

Next week we will discuss Working with a Partner!