Roasted Tomato Sauce

In the time I saved making this sauce (compared to traditional recipes), I was able to tell you about it! Traditional recipes involve chopping the ingredients, adding them to a pan at specific intervals, and lots of standing over the pan/pot and stirring. Sauce can also be made in a pressure cooker much faster, but you always run the risk of burning it or under cooking it, since you can't peak.

The dry heat of the oven gives the ingredients a deep flavor without the need to stand over a frying pan.

Ingredients:

Basic:

• tomatoes, preferably ripe
• onions (I used sweet and purple onions)
• olive oil

Optional:

• bell peppers (I used red and green)
• garlic (whole cloves)
• mushrooms
• chili peppers
• fresh or dried herbs
• salt and pepper
• vinegar or dry white wine
• sugar or honey

1. Cut up all the vegetables into relatively similar sized chunks - about quarters for the tomatoes.
2. Remove any tomato seeds which come out easily and quickly, but without wasting a lot of time.
3. Toss with olive oil in a large pan, or pans.
4. Roast on high or broil until the edges are browning, probably at least half an hour. Stir/toss/flip or rotate at least once.
5. Add spices to taste and let cool.
6. Use a hand blender or pulse in a food processor to desired consistency.

This batch is mostly for shakshuka which I plan to serve for supper on Wednesday this week during Passover. I will serve it with homemade fermented chili sauce on the side. And maybe some fresh lemonade.

You might also enjoy: Creamy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup with Cauliflower

Raw Fermented Sriracha - Thai Chili Sauce

Did you know that eating capsaicin-containing foods like chili sauce releases endorphins? That means it makes you happy! More specifically, chilli peppers have been implicated as possibly relieving pain, suppressing appetite (thus aiding weight loss), and aiding the prevention of prostate cancer.

I wrote before about making a quick cooked Sriracha-style sauce. It is tasty, but lacks the probiotic benefits and complex flavor of a naturally fermented chili sauce. Though this fermented condiment can ripen for over two weeks, the actual man-hours is less than or equal to that of the "quick" cooked sauce that can be prepared in a day or two.

Bottled sriracha (pickles in background)

I'm a little obsessed with this sauce. I open it up just to smell it and bask in it's beauty. My sriracha is intensely red. It has a deep warm flavor without the eye-watering sharpness of its raw ingredients. The taste is complex, arriving in waves of fruity heat with a sense of savory indulgence.

First I'll tell you how I make it, then I'll tell you how I use it.

Shakshouka

I never understood what the big deal was with shakshouka - a tradition middle eastern dish of eggs poached in a spicy tomato sauce. It seems like a staple on every breakfast buffet, from the watery sauce to the over-cooked eggs.

Then my friend Tzippy took me to Shvil Izzim restaurant. We shared (among other things) the best shakshuka I've ever had. Sweet bell peppers in a flavorful sauce with fresh tomatoes and not too much spice. And the eggs! Not the baked-to-death eggs I'd experienced in my previous shakshouka history. Delicate, gently poached, with rich, runny yolks!  And, of course, fresh bread to soak up all that rich tomato-y goodness. (See my post on Shvil Izzim and my photo restaurant review on Facebook.)

When I saw heaping piles of brightly colored, inexpensive peppers on sale, I immediately had an itch to recreate this traditional dish.  Shakshuka is the perfect nonrecipe meal. You make it how you like it. I didn't use a recipe and I didn't have an Israeli (or Algerian or Tunisian) grandma to teach me how to make it. But whatever I did, it was yummy AND EASY!

Vegan "Eggplant Parmesan" Baked, Not Fried

Thanks to the kind man at a local photo shop, my Sony DSC-S750 is temporarily back in commission. But now I have camera envy from all my recent camera shopping! I'm so glad I can show the delicious, simple, and perfectly rewarm-able dish.

You will need:
2 eggplants
a lot of salt (preferably the flaky kosher variety)
tomato sauce (that's another post)
nutritional yeast
bread crumbs (or your favorite healthier/gluten-free alternative)
cherry tomatoes (optional)

Creamy Roasted Tomato and Corn Soup with Cauliflower (non-dairy)

Autumn is officially here, but our vegetable stands are still selling some reminders of summer.  This soup is perfect to use up your summer produce and enjoy on an almost cool, and possibly rainy day.

Working in this order will lead to more appropriate cooking times.  You can prep while other things cook.  If you have a large oven, you may want to think of other things you want to cook at the same time to conserve energy.  This would be good served with toasted garlic bread or homemade pita chips.

1. Roast garlic.  You only need 2 or 3 cloves, but I like to roast the whole head and use during the week.
2. Seed and roast tomatoes.  I cut regular vine tomatoes in quarters.  You can also halve Roma or cherry tomatoes.
3. Wash corn and cut off cob. (Yes, you could use frozen.  I wouldn't bother with canned.) 
4. Wash cauliflower, cut to small bite-size pieces, and roast.
5. Begin cooking corn in the pot you will use for the soup.  Sauté in a little oil.

Barley Casserole with Mallows, Tomato, & Basil

Last week I made Stinging Nettle Soup with nettles I picked near my building.  This week I collected large, round mallow leaves on the way home from dropping my daughter off at kindergarten. 


If you don't have mallows available, one thing you can take from this post is that barley can be used in casseroles like you might use noodles.  This could have been a casserole with thin layers of barley, spinach, basil, tomato sauce and cheese.  Either way, barley is a very healthy alternative to pasta, and even white rice.

Pizza Night: Guest Post from my Mom & Dad

My mom, "Bubbe", is an artist and graphic designer; and she has a very special way of staying connected to my kids.  Several times a week she uses her computer to sketch something interesting going on in her life.  On the "Drawing of the Day" there is a note about the drawing, and often a question that causes the kids to write back or answer on the phone.  Below are yesterday's drawings.  At the bottom you will find my dad's recipe for the pizza dough, followed by my own toppings suggestions.  Happy Anniversary Lala & Zeide!

Dear Adele, Mordechai, and Talia,

Tonight we celebrated Lala and Zeide's wedding anniversary.  Grandpa and I invited them over for dinner.  Grandpa made pizza; four pizza pies to be exact.  This is the story about how grandpa made the pizzas.

First Grandpa got out the electric mixer.  He put flour, water, oil, sugar, yeast, and an egg into the mixer the blend them all together to make the dough.

 Then Grandpa decided that both he and the dough needed a rest.  Grandpa divided the dough into four pieces.  He rolled them into balls, placed them on a pan and let them rest in the refrigerator for several hours.  Grandpa rested in a chair in the living room.

Mortar and Pestle Pesto

I set out to make a traditional pesto, but I didn't have pine nuts, and my new mortar and pestle I was so excited about didn't work all that well.  Maybe I'm using it incorrectly.  Here is a video that shows some delicious pesto applications besides pasta.  I can't edit videos, but I recommend skipping to minute 4:00 of this video and just watching what I do with the pesto.



As the seasons are changing I'm noticing some new items and old favorites in the shuk.  I was thrilled to see strawberries back in season.  We also have pomelos, quinces, and we're starting to see turnips, which I just tried today.  You  can also see pictured the enormous squash they call "pumpkin," and some giant cabbage.

Quinoa Tabouli

The price of tomatoes here seems to be slowly coming down to earth, so it seemed like a good time to share one of my favorite new recipes.  As I mentioned in Spicey Lentils, quinoa is one of those foods I think I should eat more often, but forget about.  This is one recipe (yes, I mostly look at the actual recipe) that hasn't let me down yet.  Delicious every time, great cold, easy to make the night before.  I usually use my food processor to pulse/chop most of the ingredients, and I often make 1.5 or 2 times the recipe.  My mom, in Florida, passed this recipe onto me from Amy Peterson, in Wisconsin, and now it is back in the Middle East!

Ingredients: 

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of water

2 medium tomatoes chopped

6 green onions chopped

1 medium cucumber chopped

1 small green bell pepper chopped

1 cup chopped parsley

1. Rinse quinoa and cook according to instructions (until water is absorbed).
2. While quinoa is cooking, chop up all the ingredients above. 

3. When quinoa has cooled sufficiently (to not "cook" the veggies), mix all the above ingredients together.

Dressing:
whisk together:

1/3 cup lemon juice*

1/3 cup olive oil

1 clove garlic (finely chopped)

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

*Go easy on the lemon juice if you have a nice fresh, sour lemon.  I like it with lime juice, cumin, and fresh mint.
I prefer a very clean hand when it comes to mixing.  I find it's the best way to break up clumps of parsley and quinoa, and gentle on the tomatoes.

For another gluten-free tabbouleh option, replace the quinoa with a head of cauliflower, shredded in the food processor.