Let My People Eat

Happy Passover! As I write this, I am currently eating what becomes my go-to meal during this holiday: matzoh, about a half pound of heart smart spread, and a shaker of salt. I think I may still be full from last night's Seder. The Passover meal is one of my very favorite to make, but this year, we spent it at Dad and Linda's apartment, with Melissa, Lydia and two of Linda's friends. Dad leads a great Seder service. Not too long, not too short (of course the hungry kids may disagree). We recall the past and try to make it relevant to the present.
And then we eat.
A lot.
First, the gefilte fish, for those of us who can actually eat the stuff. Enough horseradish, and even a ball of fish can taste good. Plus, horseradish is one of those new health items, or so they tell me on the radio. Anti-oxidents, and all that good stuff. Wait, let's talk about gefilte fish for a second. People mock this lowly fish ball. However, I bet if you went to a fancy restaurant in Paris, and one of the courses was Quenelles du Poisson, you'd ooh and aah over it. Just because it is a: served cold with a slice of cooked carrot on top (requisite garnish) and b: made of carp, pike and whitefish (bottom feeders, river swimmers) and finally c: is kinda grey, it gets a bum rap. Oh well, more for me.

Next course, matzoh ball soup. Oh sweet yummy elixer of life! A good bowl of chicken broth with carrots, celery, onion, a little chicken (I put some fresh dill in) and if made properly, a light as air dumpling made of matzoh meal, egg, oil and water. I use seltzer. It is absolutely my favorite part of the meal. I could stop at this point of the meal, but there is so much more.

My family always eats brisket for the main course. There are as many recipes for brisket as there are bubbies out there making it. Some use onion soup mix in the gravy, some ketchup, some tomato paste..red or brown gravy, it's Jewish Soul Food..

I think tomorrow night's post will talk about dessert...right now, I need to step away from the matzoh box..

Squash This

Once again, I would like to apologize for the long interval between posts. I plead work. And a social life...yep, I have one again. But back to food..It seems like every day after work I have to stop at the market to pick up something for the next day. The other day, as I was wandering through the produce department, I saw a woman with a spaghetti squash in her cart. It immediately made me crave a meat free dinner. Unfortunately, I only had enough money to get my work provisions, so I went back the next day and picked up two spaghetti squash. I usually make a more Italian type sauce, but I decided to go a little crazy and make something different.

So, I cut the squash in half, lengthwise (no easy feat), and scraped out the seeds. Then, I put them face down on a cookie sheet that I had sprayed with some olive oil spray. I roasted them in a 350 oven for about an hour, until they were very soft. Once they cooled enough to handle, I took a fork and scraped all of the flesh from inside the skin. For those of you who have never used spaghetti squash, well, it's called that because as you scrape the fork down the inside, the flesh comes out looking like pasta. I put that aside in a bowl.

The next step was to heat a saute pan, add some olive oil and fresh chopped garlic. I shook that around a bit until the garlic was softened, then added a can of Rotel tomatoes. These are diced tomatoes that are mixed with chili peppers and spices. I added the squash, a little vegetable broth, and some salt and pepper. Just tossed until everything was hot. Into a bowl it went, and then I garnished it with grated Smoked Gouda cheese. I had gone on a search for Manchego cheese, but unfortunately, when I found it, it was 26 bucks a pound, so I picked up the smoked cheese instead. I have to say, it made the dish!

I suppose you could add meat to this concoction if you wanted, but honestly, it was a tasty and filling vegetarian dinner. The squash is low carb, high in vitamin A and potassium, AND, only has 42 calories a cup! You can even roast the seeds and use them as a garnish, or a snack later.

Enjoy your dinner. Spring is coming, and my tastebuds will be waking up to the new flavors of the season. The posts will come fast and furious then...

The Veggie Burger

Back when I had State Street Cafe, I wanted to put a vegetarian burger on the menu, but back then, all of the commercially sold products were bound with gums and other goop. They were also rather thin and dull. I wanted to make something in house that would be vegan, nutritional, completely natural, filling, and....taste good. Those are a whole lot of expectations to heap on a little burger dontcha think?
So, I experimented with different bases, veggies, seasonings, etc. This is what I came up with. Low calorie, fat free and chocked full of protein. They are kind of a tribute to carbs, but hey, you can't have it all.

5 cups cooked lentils, pureed
3 cups of mixed raw vegetables, pulsed in the food processor until almost finely chopped (this can be a combo of carrot, celery, onion, peppers, broccoli, zucchini, etc.)
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 TB nutritional yeast
1 TB mixed fresh herbs (parsley, dill, thyme)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
2 TB soy sauce
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Let stand about 10 minutes. Form into burger patties. Spray a pan with nonstick spray and place burgers on. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. Cool thoroughly. To serve, you can heat on a well oiled grill, brown in a pan, or just heat in the oven.

Ok, let's talk about Nutritional Yeast. Have you ever heard of it? Basically, it is a form of deactivated yeast. That means it won't make your burgers rise.You can get it in health food stores. It looks like yellow, flaky fish food. It's chocked full of B Complex vitamins, and is a complete source of protein.
Nutritional yeast has sort of a nutty, cheesy flavor to it. I added it to this recipe to bang up the protein content, but I like the flavor it imparts.

You can play around with what you put in the burgers. Add corn. Try cooked quinoa instead of rice, or black bean puree instead of lentils. They are not the most colorful of things (mostly brown) but the veggies do help with that. They are good over a salad, or on a wheat bun.

I think I'll go  make some now....