Easy Vegetarian Lunch

 It can be eaten any meal, any time... You can also choose different vegetables...

I never made this before, but I had an "assignment." What's the story? The Health/Sick Fund I'm in has some free programs for the 65+ crowd. One of them is a Weight Loss Group via Zoom. We had our second meeting this morning, and she assigned us to make a balanced non-meat meal. This is mine. 

Ingredients

onion

sweet potato 

          eggplant 

squash 

          orange lentils 

carrot

Instructions

cut the vegetables bite-size

put in baking pan

add water and oil

cover

Bake at 160 C until lentils and vegetables are soft.

I added a bit of soy sauce when I ate it. I never measure exactly, but it was perfect.

Easy, Tasty Pasta Salad

 

I'm one of those who doesn't like complicated, multi-pot/bowl recipes. In addition I can eat the same basic meals routinely...

...but I'm not the only one at the table... This past Shabbat a neighbor, who probably has eaten by us more than anyone else, was invited and I felt that the time had come to tweak my usual menu. It seemed that the easiest part of the meal to change would be the carbohydrate. 

After wracking my brain for easy ideas, suddenly... Pasta Salad came to mind. There was a problem. As far I know, it's made with mayonnaise, and I don't buy/use/eat mayonnaise.

It didn't take long to come to a solution... olive oil, though I had no idea how it would taste. Thank Gd it was a great success!

Ingredients

cooked pasta
diced onion
diced tomato or any other salad vegetable-- the more the merrier
dehydrated or fresh parsley, dill, or basil
a bit of olive oil

Directions

mix, cover and refrigerate

Give it a try, and I'd love to hear how yours turned out.

PS of course this is kosher and parve...

Nice Healthy Lunch, Vegetables with Eggs

 

A half of a gorgeous orange squash had been staring at me for days from the top shelf of the refrigerator door. I felt inspiration. Did it really want to be the "nest" for an egg? 

I decided to give it a try. 

I cut up onion, squash and tomato and put it in a deep frying pan. Then on top I put two "rings" of the squash, added some oil, covered and cooked it until soft.

Finally, I put an egg in the hole, covered and cooked some more.

The rest is history.

Give it a try making it your own, different vegetables, some cheese on top.

Tell be how yours came out, your variations etc.

Enjoy

Super Soups at Alma's

Yesterday when my friend and I were walking around center/downtown Jerusalem, we needed an early lunch. The numerous Alma soup stands caught our eyes. Neither of us had ever tasted any of the Alma soups, considering that the weather beginning to chill, hot soup seemed perfect.

The hardest task was choosing a soup. As you can see, there's a great variety of parve vegetable/lentil/bean soups plus meat/fleishik kubeh* (kube/kubbe/kubbeh) soups, which also have a lot of vegetable.

Since we both follow the principle of not ordering out what we make at home, we chose kubeh soups. My friend chose the beet, and I chose pumpkin. Usually I find restaurant soups much too salty, but mine was perfect, and my friend also enjoyed hers. We sat outside at one of their tables, which was very pleasant. Jaffa Street has become very peaceful since the lightrail now travels on it instead of buses, cars and taxis.

Alma soup stands are at a number of locations along the main streets downtown. We definitely recommend it. Which is your favorite? Please let me know in the comments.

*I consider kubeh to be the most accurate spelling, since it's pronounced with a long "u" and short "e." For those not familiar with them, a kubeh can be considered an Iraqi dumpling, kreplach or wonton.

JAPANIKA, Ariel

A few days ago a neighbor gave me a call:

"I'm going stir-crazy. Do you want to get out?"

"Me, always. Where are we going?"

That's how we ended up having lunch in the Ariel branch of JAPANIKA. 

We left home without much of a plan and drove to the nearest city, Ariel, which is only about fifteen 15 minutes away by car. 

My main course, chicken, vegetables and
noodles. Delicious

At the entrance of Ariel, from the direction of Highway 60, the Ariel University is on the right and a shopping center on the left. This time we decided to enter the shopping center from Moriah Street just before the shopping center and not from the lower parking area. It was a good idea, since there were plenty of empty spaces; something never found on the bottom.

Feeling rather adventurous, we stayed away from the big dairy restaurant chain --aren't they all pretty much the same?-- and we decided to try out JAPANIKA.

Neither of us had been there before.

We definitely were lucky, because they have a lunch special which includes a cold drink, first course and main course. There are different main courses according to which price you pay. My friend chose the least expensive, NS55, and her main course was sushi, which she really enjoyed. 

Salad, my first course, excellent

I "splurged" paying NS59 and had a fantastic filling chicken dish as my main course. 

Now, in all honesty, a simple tuna salad in most of the dairy chains would have cost us more and have been less satisfying.

We were both very happy with our food choices. Service was pleasant, and the entire atmosphere in the restaurant was perfect. I must admit that I had been a bit nervous about going, since a few weeks before I had gone to a different Japanese-style restaurant with a different friend and a short while after eating began suffering from an awful aftertaste. But, thank Gd, JAPANIKA's food was better, no aftertaste at all.

JAPANIKA is open Sunday-Thursday 12 noon to midnight, Fridays 12 noon until two hours before Shabbat. Then it opens an hour after Shabbat ends until midnight.

Phone *3636

Kosher Ariel Rabbinate 

Super Easy One Step "Eggplant Parmigiana"

 

OK I must admit that I'm a lazy cook. I prefer one-pot, one-step recipes. I once watched someone make "real Eggplant Parmigiana," and I was shocked. First she soaked the slices of eggplant, then she coated them in beaten egg, and then bread crumbs and then fried them. Only after that complicated ritual did she do anything like my recipe.

So if you're anything like me you're not interested in the long complicated procedure. Nobody who has eaten my "Eggplant Parmigiana" has spit it out claiming it's "fake." So, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• sliced onion
• sliced eggplant (thin)
• sliced tomato
• sliced pepper optional
• cheese that melts well either slices or grated
• garlic, oil, any spices you think will be good

Instructions:

1. layer onion, then, eggplant, tomato then cheese, then onion, eggplant, pepper, tomato and top with cheese.
2. add spices and some oil
3. bake in medium oven 160 centigrade until bubbly

Yes, that's it. You can add some squash or zucchini if you want.

שפשוואן - Chefchaouen Restaurant Review

As Israel began opening up after months of COVID corona closures I had dinner out with a special person in שפשוואן - Chefchaouen. It's a relatively new restaurant that although opened during the difficult COVID corona restrictions has managed to survive. 

Many of the health restrictions here in Israel seriously affected restaurants, because although the cooks and serving staff can easily mask themselves to keep customers and themselves safe, there's no way that customers can do the same. Therefore only Takeaway was permitted, and quite a few restaurants just stayed closed. That's how my eating partner and I ended up experimenting, trying a new and different restaurant. 

I knew nothing about שפשוואן - Chefchaouen when I called it up to make our reservations, and to be honest, I still can't pronounce its name.

The person who answered the phone was charming with a French accent. I'm sure he was amused that we made reservations, because when we arrived we were the only customers. שפשוואן - Chefchaouen began filling as we ate. It's on Hillel Street #19 where the sidewalk is very wide, and they have an outdoor eating area in a flexible structure. There were just enough walls to keep us warm and comfortable and few enough to make sure we felt safe from unwanted viruses. In today's world, clean, safe fresh air is a priority.

שפשוואן - Chefchaouen is a kosher meat restaurant that serves North-African French style food. As it was a cold night, plus we were in a celebratory mood we ordered our favorite drinks, whiskey and beer. When I questioned the beer list on the menu, which was nothing special, I discovered that they had many more including my favorite, Shapiro's IPA. 

Maybe it was the chill in the air, because I went against my general practice and ordered a carbohydrate based main course, the couscous. Of course it also comes with vegetables, chicken breast and chickpeas. They were very generous with the chicken, so I was able to fill up easily without having to eat all of the couscous. It was totally delicious. 

The menu they have online is slightly different from what we ordered from, but it doesn't really matter. Everything they served us was first class, 100% scrumptious. We've added שפשוואן - Chefchaouen to our list of favorite restaurants and look forward to eating there again.

To contact them for reservations, questions and takeout call 074-769-1307. 

Dinner at Hatch Brewery, Great Beer and Wings

That's me (photo by Shelly Becker)

I finally discovered that a friend of mine also loves beer, so now I can finally go to the beer bars I've been eyeing with longing. She suggested to a number of our mutual friends that dinner at Hatch Brewery would be a nice experience. From a half a dozen who had originally shown interest, the number dwindled down to two, just the two of us. Their loss, we had a totally enjoyable evening out at Hatch.

The minute I walked in, I raised the average age by a couple of decades, but it didn't seem to bother anyone. The waitress just smiled, hopefully at my sense of humor, and the other customers were too busy eating and drinking. They weren't interested in someone old enough to be their grandmother.

As you can see in the photo above, we ended up at what could be called a "table for two" and carefully perched ourselves on the stools. They were very sturdy and more comfortable than expected. We had a nice view of dried peas and lentils. Really. Hatch is in Machane Yehuda, close to Rechov Agrippas, 28 Rechov Haegoz, just around the corner from Michmoret.

Each plate has 12 wings

Our friendly, helpful waitress gave us menus. Since we were there for the beer, plus food, we needed a bit of assistance, being first-timers. There were some interesting dishes besides a nice choice of "wings" and "fries." Hatch has a couple of vegetarian options, including a salad. There were also some tempting sandwiches, but when we noticed the "special," 12 wings and four generous tasters of their beer tasting flights for only NS65-... no contest. That's what we each ordered.



Presentation of the four beers was aesthetic and clever. The wings and beer filled me up, making a perfect meal. Wings were freshly cooked, tasty and meaty. I had eaten a giant Tuna Salad in a dairy restaurant for lunch, so my "greens quota" was filled for the day. And don't forget that there are hops in beer. That's also a vegetable...

About the beers, the IPA was excellent, light and fruity. The Sour was lemony. There was supposed to be chocolate in the stout, but I could only taste a trace of it in the last drops. Without a doubt, I liked all of Hatch Brewery beers, and I ended up tasting about five. I really enjoyed the Hatch beers much more than any of the beers I had tasted at this past summer's Jerusalem Beer Festival.

My dining partner and I had only praise for everything, the beer, food, ambiance... Since we got back we've been telling all of our friends, recommending they join us next time we go to Hatch. Yes, Gd willing, there will be a next time. BTW Hatch is certified Kosher, Rabanut Yerushalayim Mehadrin. All meat is Kehillot. Phone 02-656-3691. Hatch facebook. #hatchbrewery

Here are more photos. All photos taken by me, unless otherwise indicated.

BIGA, Ariel, Great Food and Service

Last week I blogged about my trip to check out the new mall across from the Ariel University.   It's only a few minutes from Shiloh and right near the bus stop/trampiada to a from Shiloh. I was with a couple of friends, and we had lunch out together in BIGA, a kosher dairy restaurant/bakery chain.

The mall has a couple of levels, and there are stairs and an elevator to get from one to another. BIGA is on top with a nice terrace, though my friends and I ate inside.

The menu was interesting, even though it's a chain. I had a delicious lentil salad and tried the bread, so I could review it...

My friends tried other dishes, and we were all very happy with our selections. Another good thing was that the staff was very accommodating when we requested that they lower the volume of the music.
I was the youngest in the group, and most of us are at the stage where hearing conversation can be difficult when there's too much background noise. We made a point to sit in a quiet corner.

The BIGA Bakery is very popular. My friends also stocked up on their bread. I saw that they also have a selection of gluten free breads.  I couldn't find the opening hours, but the telephone number is 03-7721779‬, and it's on 2 Moriah Street, Ariel, across from the Ariel University.

We all agreed that BIGA is the best restaurant in Ariel. I just hope it keeps up its standards.

Perfect "Breakfast for Two" in Bagel Cafe

Very early yesterday morning, one of my learning partners and I discovered that it would only be the two of us, instead of 3-6 (it varies from week to week) in Matan for our 7:45 breakfast plus chevruta Al Haperek Tanach Bible session. Whenever that happens, we end up just talking, so we decided to really "play hookey" and have breakfast "out."

I did a quick "google search" to find what would be open on nearby Emek Refaim, Jerusalem. Bagel Cafe, 54 Emek Refaim, fit our requirements. By 7:30am we were already seated and hungrily poring over the menu.

We decided on sharing a Breakfast for Two. The waiter took our order and accurately served us exactly what we had asked for, even though he didn't write it down. Salads and omelets were prepared separately, according to our individual requests.

All the food was delicious and exactly the quantity we needed. Our only complaint was that the coffee tasted rather ordinary. I had asked for "American or filter" and thought it tasted more like my Elite Turkish when perked. As you may know, most mornings I have real American coffee, Kirkland brought by a good friend, made in a French Press. So when I order American, I have a certain taste in mind.

We polished off pretty much everything served to us and agreed that we'd return there for breakfast whenever we have a good excuse.

That very filling breakfast really did the trick and kept me satisfied for hours afterwards. Usually I need an early lunch at 11:30 before going into my 12 noon class with Yael Leibowitz at Matan. But besides eating a few cashews in the middle of the class, I needed no food until I got home a few hours later.

The Bagel Cafe seems to be very popular, and people were lined up for takeout, besides those of us sitting at tables. It probably is the best breakfast on Emek Refaim. Give it a try. Bagelcafe.co.il/mobile, 1-700-500-751.

Baked Vegetable Omelet

On Friday I had a Baked Vegetable Omelet. Since I had the oven going it seemed like a good idea to bake lunch, instead of using the stove top.

It's one of those things I couldn't even imagine doing before having my kitchen redone/renovated. I had spent the previous year without a functioning oven. Now, thank Gd, I have two turbo ovens, one for meat and the other parve, in which I can bake more than one thing at a time. Having two ovens makes a kosher kitchen very easy to cook in. We hardly eat anything dairy, so the second oven has remained parve, meaning neither meat nor dairy. I make lots of side dishes, fish, cakes and challot in it.

While vegetables for Shabbat were baking in the oven I took a smaller oven pan, covered it with baking paper, and then cut onion, squash, pumpkin, cabbage, tomato and two eggs. I topped it with a bit of vegetable oil, and then into the oven it went. Once I could see that the eggs looked cooked, I checked the vegetables with a fork, to see if they were soft. I don't pretime my cooking, since there are too many variables.

My lunch, Baked Vegetable Omelet, was delicious, and the pan didn't even get dirty.

Kosher for Passover Bargain Salad & Sandwich in Jerusalem

Today my friend and I went to Jerusalem. We saw a fascinating exhibit of Pre-State Haggadot in the National Library, Givat Ram, Hebrew University, then we needed to eat lunch. Finding certified/supervised Kosher for Passover No Kitniyot, legumes which most Ashkenaz Jews don't eat on Passover, food isn't all that easy. I figured we'd find something in Center 1, but it's a good thing my friend suggested the Central Bus Station.

One of the sandwich and salad places had both kitniyot and non-kitniyot salads and sandwiches. They were clearly labeled and on separate counters.

Non-Kitniyot were NS30 for either a sandwich or a salad, while the kitniyot were NS25, at least the sandwiches were. We took salads, which were a nice size. I had Tuna, while my friend took the Greek Salad. There was no dressing. We should have asked for olive oil. We received a fork and napkins. There are tables and chairs in the nearby food court, so we had a nice leisurely lunch together. The tables seemed clean and cared for.

Afterwards we walked through Center 1 on our way to the bus home. It's a good thing we didn't take my advice. It was like a ghost town. Most of the stores were closed, especially the restaurants and fast food places.

Kosher for Passover Lunch in Jerusalem

The other day when we were in the Old City of Jerusalem, part of the plan was to have lunch out. We needed a kosher for Passover no kitniyot certified restaurant. At first we thought that we'd have to walk back out and either go to one of the restaurants in Mamilla Mall or Nachalat Shiva. I dreaded the usual lines and jacked up special Kosher for Passover prices. But then we noticed a small, modest looking restaurant with all of the required kosher certificates in full view.

It was the Holy Cafe, on Tiferet Israel Street in the Jewish Quarter. They had tables under shade umbrellas outside, but we requested to sit indoors. And within a minute a table for four was set up for us. By the time we finished our lunch, lots of other diners were also seated around tables indoors.

The menu was simple, but we all found something to eat.

My husband and I had the Tuna Salad. It wasn't bad, but I should have asked for olive oil. They also served us those "potato starch rolls," which could almost pass for regular white bread. The menu had promised that they would come with butter, but there wasn't any. I decided not to ask for the butter, since we're all trying to keep our weight down. Don't worry. The next day I made up for it and had much too much butter with matzah when picnicking with friends. 

The plastic cutlery looked "real," until you touched it.

Our companions had the quiche, broccoli, and the "Geek," sic Salad, which was the typo for Greek. You'd think that somebody would have the common sense to proofread the menu before printing it.

Since we don't know what their regular prices are, we don't have any idea if the Passover ones were higher. Portion size was nothing special, which meant that we didn't stuff ourselves. We're all big eaters, so not a drop of food was leftover. We didn't order dessert, even to share.

I don't know what other restaurant options there were nearby. We didn't notice any. Yes, I'll recommend it if you want a nice simple meal. Even when the main indoor area filled up, it wasn't noisy. We could hear each other easily, which is important for me. And I'm glad we didn't have to fight the crowds. If you know more about this little spot, please let me know in the comments, thanks.

Easy Chicken "Fricassee"

What's Fricassee? It's generally chicken cooked in a sauce, frequently a white sauce, but Chef Google showed me links to definitions that say any sauce makes it a Fricassee.

I had a package of chicken wings and a package of chicken breast I needed to cook/use up before Passover.  So first I made a very simple sauce. I don't use/buy ready-made sauces.

Sauce Ingredients 

Photo by Y. Medad

• diced onion
• fresh garlic
• a few ripe tomatoes. OK in Israel they aren't expensive, so you can buy a can of diced tomatoes.
• 1/2 cup of wine I needed to get rid of
• a few peppercorns
• a couple of Tablespoons of Tamari sauce
• a couple of Tablespoons vegetable oil of your choice

Instructions

• saute the vegetables in the oil
• cover pan
• When the sauce is boiling strongly, add the wings and cut pieces of chicken breast.
• Cover again, and cook until chicken has become white and well cooked.

I've made it with meatballs, instead of the chicken breast. You can also add more vegetables to the sauce. We enjoyed it very much. If you try it, please tell me how it came out and how you changed it.

Easy and Healthy No Sugar Beef

If you check recipes in books and online for cooking beef, you'll see that so many require sugar, whether from jam, sweetened sauces, wines, juice or just plain sugar. You can cook a piece of inexpensive beef without any sweetener at all.

I buy an inexpensive cut of beef from the freezer section of the supermarket. I'm fussier about the price than the name of the cut. First, after thawing, I soak it in water to rid it of whatever salts and blood I can get out of it. Actually I use the pot for this, since health/hygiene experts say it's important to keep raw meat/fish/poultry off of eating and food prep surfaces.

Ingredients:
Beef, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, peppercorns, tomatoes or canned tomatoes preferably diced/chopped without added sugar or salt

Instructions:

• Cut up a large onion and some fresh garlic; store in a bowl on the side.  
• Cut about a pound of tomatoes or get a can/jar of diced or crushed tomatoes without added sugar; store in a bowl on the side.  
• Add a bit of oil in the cooking pot, (which should have a good cover)
• Turn on the heat and then add the beef. 
• Keep turning the beef so the outside looks cooked. 
• Add onions and garlic; continue turning for a few minutes.
• Then add the tomatoes and peppercorns, cover and lower the heat a bit.
• Let it cook for a couple of hours, checking periodically to make sure there's enough liquid. You may need to add some water.

That's it! Very no fuss and extremely healthy. No added sugar or salt is necessary. You can serve it with rice, pasta, vegetables, salad or whatever you like.