Category: Blog

Homemade Focaccia for #BreakingBread

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I’ve wanted to try my hand at homemade focaccia for as long as I’ve been interested in food. I love bread of every shape, flavor, and color, but focaccia is at the top of that list. Yet I’d put off making it, like too many things, for years. And, having finally done it, I’m here to tell you: It’s easy!! I mean that. And this, coming from someone who is only partially recovered from an irrational fear of yeast. Fortunately for me the #BreakingBread Society, started by some of my favorite bloggers – Shulie of Food Wanderings, Lora of Cake Duchess, and Marnely of Cooking with Books – was just the catalyst I needed.

Focaccia

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Pesto Pasta for #SundaySupper

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I am very excited to be participating in a new group this week – the #SundaySupper movement! After seeing that some of my favorite bloggers were involved, I was of course intrigued. “Our Mission,” according to founder Isabel “Foodie”, “is to Bring back Sunday Supper Around the Family Table in every home. The Family Table can be anywhere as long as the main ingredient is Love.” Cheers to that!

Pesto Pasta

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Kofte and a Meatball Blog Hop

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Just as I became obsessed with Greek food (like chicken souvlaki and Greek salad) after our trip to Rhodes, I’ve returned from Istanbul with a hunger for all things Turkish. The incredible flavors, intoxicating scents, and evocative spices have left their mark on my palate, and I find myself trying to recreate little bites of our trip at home. As I mentioned in my post about where to eat in Istanbul, the first place we ate when we arrived was a wonderful, no frills kofte  restaurant that had me craving these Turkish meatballs for the rest of the trip.

Turkish Kebab Recipe

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Shakshuka and the Israel To Go Book

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If living in Israel has done anything, it has been to instill in me a lifelong love of shakshuka (also spelled shakshouka). This North African egg dish is an integral part of the fabric that is Israeli cuisine, and it’s commonly eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, served in a sizzling cast iron pan, on a sandwich, or in a pita. Essentially eggs poached in tomato sauce, this is one of those dishes where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. And the recipe that I bring you today is from another book that I’m thrilled to have contributed to, Israel To Go: Look & Cook Book Vol. 1 (LunchBox Press, 2012; see it on Amazon here).

Shakshouka (Shakshuka)

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Black Bean and Corn Salsa and a Bean Blog Hop

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With the weather heating up (and it is scorching here already!) I’ve got light, bright, fresh, raw salads, salsas, and sauces on the brain. I whipped up this delicious Black Bean and Corn Salsa to top the fish tacos that I just posted about, but I was also eating the leftovers with tortilla chips as a dip. It would be great with grilled chicken or fish as well. In addition to the black beans and corn, I also included pineapple for a hint of sweetness, tomato, cilantro, and lime juice. I could seriously eat this one way or another every day of summer. What are your favorite bean recipes? Link them up in the blog hop below!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa

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Guest Post: Fish Tacos

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I am very happy to be guest posting at My Jerusalem Kitchen today. If you haven’t visited Lauren’s blog, then head over there right now and check it out! She has all kinds of delicious, often Mediterannean-inspired recipes that I know you’ll love. Lauren lived in Jerusalem for two years before moving back to San Francisco to attend law school. We met virtually through our blogs and began corresponding by email before we realized that we had met in real life before! Apparently we sat next to each other at a restaurant in Jerusalem last year where Lauren was celebrating her birthday. We even shared a birthday shot, care of the bartender. Small world indeed!

Fish Tacos

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Quinoa Salad with Chickpeas and Paprika Vinaigrette

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I was thrilled to be assigned A Fit and Spicy Life. Mellissa is a 30-something marketing manager who lives in Minneapolis who loves fitness, food, and wine – sounds like a great combo to me! Mellissa posts healthy, mouth-watering recipes (yes, I said those two words in the same sentence) as well wine and fitness posts. While usually I spend a lot of time hemming and hawing over which recipe to make, this month it was no contest. As soon as I saw Mellissa’s Quinoa, Garbanzo and Spinach Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette I knew it was the one. Love at first sight, if you will.

Quinoa Salad with Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette

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Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict and a Mother’s Day Blog Hop

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Mother’s Day is a little over a week away, but I wanted to have a Mother’s Day blog hop today in order to give plenty of time for menu planning and inspiration. Back home Mother’s Day is usually one of my favorite days of the year. Usually my mom, sister, and I use it as an excuse for a girls’ day out. We go to the zoo or botanic gardens, get mani-pedis or enjoy a leisurely brunch, stroll through a museum or go shopping (and yes, we’ve done all of those things on Mother’s Days past).

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict

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Strawberry-Rhubarb Cocktail

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Springtime is in full bloom and that means strawberry and rhubarb in endless wonderful, beautiful combinations. I’ve got a pie coming your way soon, but today I could use a cocktail. Rhubarb is hard to come by in Israel, so when I saw some at the market I snatched it right up and began contemplating the various ways I could put this tart stalk to good use. It’s a low-alcohol, easy-drinking, warm weather cocktail that goes down easy. It’s sweet and tart, but not in a way that will give you a headache (I don’t like overly sweet drinks), and has lots of brightness from the strawberry and lime juices. Don’t worry if you don’t have rhubarb bitters, although they add a nice herbal element and provide an extra layer of rhubarb. Seltzer finishes the drink and gives it that nice effervescence that I reach for in the warmer months.

Strawberry-Rhubarb Cocktail

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Potato Salad and a Virtual Picnic for World on a Plate

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The theme for this month’s World on a Plate is picnic food, and I couldn’t be more excited. I’m representing the US in this global group, and picnic foods are some of the most quintessentially American. I’ve already posted about many of them, so I’ve created a little virtual All-American picnic for you, capped off with a recipe for my favorite mayo-free potato salad. It’s a bit more like a French potato salad in that it is essentially coated in a mustard vinaigrette instead of mayo, but I’ve always found the idea of normal potato salad sitting out in the heat to be unsavory.

Potato Salad Ingredients
Potato Salad Ingredients

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