Tag Archives: spices

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pumpkin Pudding

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Here’s a special and unusual recipe for what has always been my favorite time of year. It makes a spectacular addition to a brunch, but it’s also the perfect shortcut to a uniquely delicious and cozy dinner. When my children were young, they loved this pudding and asked for it often once the leaves began falling from the trees. It’s not that I couldn’t make it at other times of year, it’s just that they associated it with autumn. I think they also loved how it warmed them from the inside. I wish I could tell you where the recipe comes from, but I honestly cannot recall. All I know is that I began making it a very long time ago.

The children would get home from school, run outside, and spend a few hours creating and then jumping in leaf piles. When I started to see that, I knew it was time to make pumpkin pudding. I have always made it in the same large, blue bowl with broad, shallow sides. No particular reason, I just like the way it looks and cooks in that bowl. I wish you the same kind of simple pleasure. 

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 one-pound can of pumpkin pureé
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 tiny pinch of powdered cloves
1 cup (organic) whole milk

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a casserole dish or large beautiful pottery bowl by greasing with butter or butter substitute. 

Break the eggs into a large bowl, and beat well with a fork. Add the pumpkin first, followed by the milk, molasses, and spices. Stir well.

Bake 1 hour until the pudding is firm in the middle and a cake tester comes out clean.

You can serve it hot, warm, or cold, and with or without whipped cream. Honestly, it doesn’t much matter, because there won’t be any left.

 

 

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Root Vegetable Fall Soup

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I arrived home one day to find my daughter frying onions. “What’s for dinner?,” I asked. “I don’t know,” she replied. “This is as far as I’ve gotten.”

And that reminded me of something my dad used to say. “First I fry the garlic and onions. Then I decide what to make for dinner.”

I got this recipe from a woman that I used to work with. The color is divine; and the flavor is a celebration of autumn, both sweet and earthy at the same time. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tsimmes

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Preparing for the holidays with my mom was a major highlight of my childhood. Although my father was the main cook in our family, my mother took over the kitchen on the holidays, and dad’s primary responsibility was to make the brisket.

Like many other special dishes that we ate on dedicated holidays throughout the calendar, my mother made tsimmes twice a year, in the fall for Rosh Hashanah (it is traditional to eat sweet foods on Rosh Hashanah), and in the spring, for Passover. She never used recipes, preferring instead to combine ingredients as her grandmother and mother-in-law did. Truthfully, though, tsimmes is one of those dishes that probably doesn’t really need much of a recipe anyway. Continue reading →

Cooking With Heat, with a Recipe for Red Dal

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I have learned, mostly over years of reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows with my dad (of blessed memory), that one way to make spices really bloom is to heat them briefly in some olive oil. Last month, I made shakshuka for my entire book group, and I did not skimp one bit on the spices called for in the recipe. A double recipe of this shakshuka meant 4 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Serrano chili powder I discovered the last time I was in Napa. I mixed together all the spices and, when it was time, I slid them into the frying pan along with five cloves worth of chopped garlic. Continue reading →

Cooking with Spice and Heat

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I have learned, mostly over years of reading cookbooks and watching cooking shows with my dad (of blessed memory), that one way to make spices really bloom is to heat them briefly in some olive oil. This past Monday, I made shakshuka for my entire book group, and I did not skimp one bit on the spices. A double recipe of this shakshuka translated to 4 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 2 teaspoons of cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon of the Serrano chili powder I was lucky to discover the last time I was in Napa. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Cauliflower Popcorn

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This spices in this recipe appeal to me big time, and hopefully you’ll feel the same. I spent some time with my kids in Jerusalem this past winter, and they cook with lots of heat and spice. In fact, I’m sure they would increase the cumin to 1 or even 2 teaspoons, use hot paprika instead of sweet, and add more hot sauce at the end. Everything they made was fabulous, so if you’re a fan of heat (like me), I’m going to suggest you try it that way, too. This recipe reminded me of some of the things we cooked while I was there, and making their favorites always makes me feel a little closer to them. This recipe is fantastic as a snack, a side, or sprinkled on top of soup, salad, or grains. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Pumpkin Pie Oats

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and another pumpkin recipe…

A friend of ours who works for a major food processor once told us that 90 percent of the canned pumpkin sold in the U.S. is purchased between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I am probably responsible for the other 10 percent. Which is one of the reasons that I love this recipe. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Curried Lentil, Tomato, and Coconut Soup

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Everything Yotam Ottolenghi touches turns to gold. If you don’t already have one of his cookbooks [Ottolenghi (2008), Plenty (2010), Jerusalem (2012)] in your home, prepare yourself. YO takes flavor to the next level. Look at this list of ingredients – I’ve used them all, but never to such glorious effect. And it’s not just flavor. He takes texture to the next level, and color. Surely his kitchen has more than three dimensions. Continue reading →

A New Cookbook called Love Thy Legumes!

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Dear readers,

I just finished reading a new cookbook called LOVE THY LEGUMES, and it was great! It’s an educational cookbook by public health nutritionist, Sonali Suratkar. Lucky for us, Sonali is passionate about cooking and nutrition education. Continue reading →