One day last week my son-in-law made a fantastic tofu curry, and it came up in conversation at least a few times in the following days how much my 18-month-old granddaughter enjoyed that curry. By the third telling, I got the impression she loved that tofu curry so much that there wasn’t much left for her parents! Continue reading
Category Archives: Recipes
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Greens-and-Grains Winter Salad
I love eating food in season, and many of the ingredients for this recipe have winter written all over them. Leftover nuts and dried fruit from the holidays. Quinoa, a staple in the cabinet. Some fall apples and a few leftover stalks of celery in the fridge. And a sweet memory of the large box of oranges sent every year to my parents by friends who used to spend their winters in Florida. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cauliflower Latkes
At our house, the ingredients for potato latkes have been collected on the kitchen counter, and our guests will begin to arrive around 4:30. It’s hard to imagine getting tired of potato latkes, but here’s a recipe for something a little different that you may be excited to try later this week if and when you’re ready for a change. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Citrus Edamame Salad
You are in for a treat this week, but not that kind of treat. This salad is fantastic on its own, in a scooped out tomato, alongside a slice of butternut squash, or on a bed of greens or grains (quinoa, whole wheat pasta, or brown rice, for example). You can spoon some into the bottom of a Ball jar to start building a to-go lunch for work or school, and it makes a wonderfully colorful addition to a large festive serving platter covered in fruit slices, dips, pickled veggies, crackers, chunks of cheese, smoked fish, and the like. And did I mention how great the leftovers taste? It’s packed with flavor, protein, phytonutrients, nourishing fats, and fiber: in other words, it’s the whole package. Enjoy! Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Weekend After Thanksgiving Soup
This recipe is perfect for getting back on track after Thanksgiving. It will take most of the day to cook, but just 10 minutes to throw together. Some years we actually start it while we’re cleaning up, and leave it to cook slowly all night long. Except for the scallions and ginger, there’s a good chance you already have all the other ingredients. The only labor-intensive part of this recipe is the time spent looking through the bones for bits of meat. But don’t feel the need to go looking for every last piece. Whatever you have will be enough. If you don’t see much turkey on the carcass, that’s fine too. Since most of the flavor comes from the bones themselves, the broth will be delicious whether or not the bones are stripped clean. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Luscious Lentil Salad To Go
Here’s a wonderful recipe for you to try! Especially after weekends of the kinds of food extravaganzas that the coming weeks are sure to bring, this salad will be a great choice for helping your digestive system to get back on track. Lentils are a very special food. Not only are they a fantastic source of protein, but they are also rich in fiber. There are only a few categories of foods that can make that claim. Not just that, but they are delicious, especially as prepared in this recipe. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: October Soup
I was looking back through old posts, and discovered this one from 2011, eleven years and almost 1000 posts ago. Though I do not remember who gave me this recipe, I do know that it came from someone I was working with at the time.*
I arrived home from work one particular evening to find my daughter frying onions, and I asked her what’s for dinner. “I don’t know,” she said, “this is as far as I’ve gotten.” Her amusing reply put me in mind of a guy named Jeff whom I had met many years prior. He became famous in our family, and remains there to this day, because of something he used to say: “First I fry the onions and garlic, and then I decide what to make for dinner.” And that is what my daughter was doing. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Spaghetti Squash Marinara
The squash has been coming in gorgeous and heavy this year! We’ve been making our way through dozens of delicata, acorn, and spaghetti squash. No Hubbards or butternut yet, but they’re coming! As far as I am concerned, there is always room for more. I especially love how they can sit on the counter for weeks and weeks without any negative consequences. So if we happen to have more than we can use at the moment, it’s no problem — just wait a little while! They will still be fine. Continue reading
YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Red Lentil Soup for Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins tonight at sundown. High Holiday foods tend toward the sweet and the circular: sweet to represent our wishes for a sweet new year, and circular to symbolize the seasons that run one into the next, round and round, year after year.
So it is traditional to eat many different kinds of fruits, especially apples, prunes, pomegranates, dates and apricots; and sweet vegetables such as beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, and leeks (sliced into rounds, of course), as well as black-eyed peas and lentils. And lots of honey, especially for dipping bread and apples. Continue reading
Grandma Rosie Hits a Home Run (the holidays are coming!)
Today I want to share a recipe that is a wellspring of memories. The women, the teamwork, the heavenly aromas, the busy kitchen, the arriving family, the great big table, the special dishes, the silver. And the food. Simple recipes with amazing flavor. Here is my Grandma Rosie’s recipe for vegetarian chopped liver, which she made the way her own grandma did, with a wooden bowl and mezzaluna. If you’ll be using a food processor instead, which is probably the case, read to the very end for those instructions.
I have exceptionally fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table with the grownups while they worked to prepare the food, listening wide-eyed as they debated the relative merits of various ingredients and their provenance, chattered about errant siblings, and bragged about their above-average children and grandchildren. I remember feeling very grown up when I was finally old enough to take a place in the lineup. When my chopping arm got too tired to continue, I would pass the bowl, usually to my mother, an aunt, or one of my grandmothers. Continue reading