YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tofu & Peas on Quinoa

I created this recipe for one of our family celebrations this past December. Of course I used frozen peas. The vegans ate it as their main course, and everyone else was happy to see another dish to try. Enough said.

1/2 large Vidalia onion, diced small
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. chili pepper
1/2 tsp. cardamom
1/2 tsp. garam masala
2 tsp. tamari
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cake tofu, diced approx. 1/2-inch
1 cup frozen (or fresh) sweet peas

1. Prepare 1 cup quinoa per directions on the package to yield approximately 2 cups of cooked quinoa. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes and make sure all the water has been absorbed. Fluff with a fork.

2. Heat olive oil on med-high heat, and add diced onion, stirring occasionally until the edges are barely beginning to brown. Stir in the diced ginger and garlic. Add diced tofu, continuing to mix occasionally, until the edges are becoming golden. 

3. Add salt and pepper, serrano pepper, and cardamom, and stir for 30 seconds until well mixed. Immediately add the sweet peas, turn down the heat to low, and add tamari plus 2 Tbsp. boiling water. Stir to mix well, and cook for a minute or two just until the peas turn bright green.

4. Thickly cover the bottom of a shallow serving bowl with the cooked quinoa. Cover the quinoa with the tofu-pea mixture. Squeeze lemon over dish, and serve with a thin slice of lemon on top. Serves 3-4.


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Tofu Time

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


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: Tofu Crackers

A couple weeks ago I was doing some cooking at my daughter and son in law’s house while they were learning to change diapers and care for our newborn granddaughter (!!) I pulled a container of tofu from the refrigerator and made something really yummy and totally new with it. Basically, I cut the tofu into approximately 20 squares and roasted them until most of the water had evaporated and they looked more like crackers than tofu. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: White Bean + Celery Salad with Bonus Recipe for Potato-Celery Soup

You know that feeling when you have no idea what to make, and you look in the refrigerator hoping to be inspired by what you see? This past week I found a huge bunch of celery* from my kids’ weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) box, which they receive year-round in Jerusalem. Celery is in season right now, so I decided that this salad would be a good choice. Notice all the colors and textures that make this dish so pretty and so crunchy.  Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Savory Tofu Barbecue

I know I promised that I would be posting recipes for fudge and fancy cocktails, but then I came across this recipe and it seems perfect for a pandemic. I think you’ll be glad to have it. It’s very forgiving, and if you make a batch and store it in the refrigerator, you (or your kids) can pop a few blocks in your mouth without a second thought, and keep moving. No planning, no organizing. Just pure protein, delicious and nutritious. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Grilled Tofu & Cucumber Salad

Grilling season—yeah! Here’s something so delicious you’ll probably want to make it even if you aren’t vegan! Of course, if you do want to make something special because your favorite vegan happens to be coming for dinner, then this really yummy recipe is a great choice! And you should plan to make enough for everybody, just in case. The warm and cold; soft and crunchy; sweet, sour and heat all add up to a very pleasing set of contrasts.  Continue reading



Winner by a Mile

Last year, an article entitled “Can We Say What Diet is Best for Health?” was published in the scientific literature, and James Hamblin wrote a story about it for the Atlantic. He called it “Science Compared Every Diet, and the Winner is Real Food.” You know, I would have edited out the word “Real” and then called it, simply, “Food.” The original article was written by David Katz and Stephanie Meller, of Yale School of Public Health. Continue reading


YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: End-of-Vacation Salad

This recipe reminds me of a tiny little funky restaurant that I once stopped in on my way home from southern Florida, headed home to the Great Lakes.

It was so refreshing and delicious to feel the different textures and flavors of this inspired salad in my mouth after having taken the trouble to uncurl myself from the back of an SUV where I’d sat, folded and crumpled, in a tiny little corner under an ever-shifting pile of boxes, suitcases and children, all of us trying hard not to think about the fact that we had come to the end of a long and happy vacation.

We had been driving all day. Maybe we were in Tennessee, or it might have been West Virginia. A college town clearly on break. It was almost sundown and the streets were mostly empty. Continue reading