A visit at Union Square Greenmarket, NYC

A recipe – Amalya’s Zucchinis (Cooked Zucchinis with Eggs)

When I was a teenager my home was occupied by my parents, my 2 sisters and 3 dogs. Amalya, the female boxer dog was full of personality and funny behavior. She would sleep with her tongue out of her mouth, she would chase cats in the yard like she was a hunter in the jungle.

And she had weird food preferences. She liked grapes and watermelon, she loved sitting on a chair next to the table like a human being, and more than anything – she LOVED cooked zucchini with eggs.

My mother used to cook this dish quite often even though we didn’t really like it, and the only one who ate it was Amalya. Over the time the dish got its nickname: Amalya’s Zucchinis.

It might not sound so tasty, and it might not look so tasty, but it is really good!

Ingredients (for 2 people)

1 small onion - chopped

2 zucchinis (better to use the light green ones) – cut into small cubes

2 cloves of garlic - chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 egg - whisked

Salt & pepper

Directions

1.     Heat the oil in a wide saucepan; add the onion and garlic and fry while stirring until golden.

2.     Add the zucchinis and stir for 2 minutes.

3.     Cover the saucepan, low the heat and cook until the zucchini becomes soft.

4.     If needed, add a little bit of water.

5.     Add the egg while stirring and cook for a few seconds until the egg is cooked.

6.     Serve as a side dish with rice or as an appetizer with toasted bread

A recipe – Meatballs with Spaghetti

New York timing is even worse than “Sinai time” or “Ethiopia time”. In Sinai (Egypt), everything takes l o n g e r, shwaye shwaye (slowly slowly) and there is no reason to rush. With the Ethiopians (at least my Ethiopian friends in Israel) it is simple: they are always late. It can be 10 minutes late or even an hour.
Here in New York it is a mix, nothing starts on time (the subway is great excuse, and also great example), and most people run late as a routine.
And what keeps surprising me is that it looks like they don't really care - they don't care they are late and they don't care that they made you wait.


So take a deep breath and lets start to cook.

Ingredients

Whole-wheat Spaghetti (amount for 4 people)

For the Meatballs:

1 pound ground beef

1 egg

3 tablespoons bread crumbs (or - semolina, wheat germ)

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt and pepper

For the sauce:

2 big onions – chopped

4-5 tomatoes - chopped

2-3 cloves crushed garlic

1/2 cup of water

salt & pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried oregano or basil (or – bunch of fresh leaves)

Directions

1.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

Meanwhile:

2.     Put all the ingredients of the meatballs in big bowl and mix together. Put the bowl aside (best in the refrigerator).

3.     Heat the oil in a large wide saucepan; add the onions and garlic and fry while stirring.

4.     Add the tomatoes and stir for 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper and the dried oregano or basil (if you use fresh leaves – add them just before serving).

5.     Lower the heat and cover the pot. Cook for about 10 minutes (until you get a nice sauce and not just chopped tomatoes).

6.     If you don’t have enough sauce, add the water and bring to a boil.

7.     Lower the heat.

8.     Shape small balls from the meat mixture and add them gently into the pot.

9.     Bring to a boil again, cover the pot, lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes.

10.  Serve with pasta and Parmesan cheese

A recipe – Pasta with Young Zucchini

The funny thing about pasta recipes is that it takes longer to write the recipe than to cook it!

For this recipe I have two “rules”:

1.     Food that is cut in the same shape is more esthetic. I mean, if we use penne pasta, it is better to cut the zucchini in the same way – 2 inches long, in thin strips. If we want to add some vegetables to rice, it is better to cut them to small cubes. It applies to salads, cooked food, desserts – everything. Try it!

2.     Zucchinis are so tasty raw, and they cook so fast. So to keep the zucchinis fresh and not too soft (or even mashed…), buy the small green zucchinis. I know that it is not acceptable and maybe even rude in supermarkets here, but check they are hard. Just squeeze them slightly. We do that in Israel all the time. You can’t buy fruits and vegetables just from looking at them.

Ingredients

Whole-wheat Penne or Tagliatelle pasta (amount for 2 people)

6 medium green zucchinis – thin slices

3 cloves of garlic

Freshly squeezed juice from - 1/2 lemon

A small bunch fresh basil leave

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Freshly grated Parmesan

Directions

1.     Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

Meanwhile:

2.     Chop the garlic and sauté in olive oil for few seconds.

3.     Add the zucchinis and stir gently for 2 minutes. Add the lemon, salt and pepper and cook for 2 more minutes.

4.     Add the pasta to the zucchinis and then add the basil leave.

5.     Stir all together just to mix all the taste.

6.     Serve with grated Parmesan.

A recipe – Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes and Tuna

I found myself with dozens of boxes of pasta.

For me, going to the supermarket is a big deal. There are preparations to make: making a list, checking it again and updating the list, taking the cart, coat, bags, sneakers, and here we go.

It is a journey. 15 minutes to get there, about 90 minutes there (I never understand how it gets so long) and 15 more minutes hiking the crazy hill back home.

Though I have a list, I walk down every aisle, observing every shelf or refrigerator. I only skip the cans, soft drinks, and the pre-made food. 

And in the end, the cart is full mostly with things that never mentioned in the list, like pasta. I always have a feeling that I will run off pasta, and just in case, I get a few more. 

So, I find myself with dozens of boxes of pasta; and that means we are going to cook a lot of pasta in the following weeks…

Ingredients

Whole wheat pasta * (amount for 2 people)
1 onion - medium size

4-5 tomatoes – sliced into cubes

3 cloves of garlic

1 can of tuna in water

Freshly squeezed juice from - 1/2 lemon

Chili - a little bit (not a must)

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

* For this recipe I prefer spaghetti, but you can use any other type of pasta

Directions

1.     Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil until golden.

2.     Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in boiling the water for 8-10 minutes or until done; drain and wash immediately with cold water (to stop the cooking process).

3.     Add the tomatoes to the onion and garlic and stir for 1-2 minutes. Cover and cook for about 5 more minutes (keep stirring every few minutes) until you get a nice sauce. 

4.     In a small bowl, mash the tuna with the lemon juice, and add to the tomatoes. Add salt, pepper and chili.

5.     Stir all together for 2 minutes.

6.     Add the pasta and mix all together, just until the pasta is hot enough (2-3 minutes, don’t over cook!), and serve.

A recipe – Red Beets Soup

I remember one time when I was a kid, two orthodox Jews knocked on our home door and asked for a donation for their Yeshiva. It was quite common those days in Israel. When my mother opened the door and these guys started talking with her. She immediately said, without even thinking twice, “I am sorry but my mother is not at home” and closed the door. My mother was at her 40s, and though I still think she looks wonderful, even then in the late 80's she didn’t look like a girl…

Oddly enough, I found myself using the same tactic. Once in a while, someone knocks on my door and starts lecture me about the gas bills, the electricity bills, X bills or Y refund… 

I always have the same answer: “Sorry, I am subletting”. Even if it is not relevant, they usually don’t know what to do with that and just leave.

 

 

Ingredients

2 potatoes - peeled and cubed

3 – 4 medium red beets

1 onion - peeled and cubed

2 cloves garlic - sliced

5 cups of water

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt & pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1.     Put the beets in a pot and cover with water. Boil and cook for about 15 minutes just until you can peel the beet. (The easier way to peel the beets is simply hold them under running water and gently peel them with your fingers. The shell will remove smoothly)

2.     Heat the oil in a large pot; sauté the onion and the garlic until the onion is soft and translucent, then add the potatoes and fry while stirring. 

3.     Cut the beets to cubes and add to the pot. Stir all together for 2 minutes.

4.     Add the water (5 cups) and the cumin, salt and pepper, stir and bring to boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 40 minutes.

5.     Turn the heat off.

6.     If you have a hand blender – blend all together inside the pot until they reach a desired consistency. Turn the heat again and bring to boil.

If you have a blender – pour the soup into the blender container and blend for 2 minutes until desired consistency. Pour the soup back into the pot and bring to boil.

A recipe – Quinoa with Green Peas

People think that healthy food is complicated to make, but this recipe will show you the opposite!

It is simple, it is fast; even the directions are short, and it is healthy and tasty.

Yes, it is quinoa, and many of you don’t like it, but I am telling you – give it a try, you are going to love it!

 

Ingredients

1 Large onion

4-5 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup of quinoa – washed (treated like a rice)

2 cups of water

1 cup of peas (frozen or fresh)

15 sprigs mint, chopped (leaves only) – not a must but it makes the dish much tastier

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Directions

1.     Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil until golden.

2.     Add the quinoa and stir for 1-2 minutes. Add 2 cups of water and bring to boil.

3.     Cover and lower the heat. Cook for 10 minutes.

4.     Add the peas, mint and spices and simmer 10 minutes.

5.  Serve hot

 

 Homage to Irving Penn, and thanks to Adam Fuss

A recipe – Orange soup

I live in denial! As long there is no snow, I can’t internalize that the winter is already here.

Every morning before I even open my eyes I check the weather, and if it is 34 F degrees and up, it is ok. 
I don’t know how 34 F (0 C degrees) became my comparison point – is it cold or is it ok?

Suddenly I realized - it’s not okay, even 40 degrees is too (F***) cold!

Ingredients

2 potatoes - peeled and cubed

3 - 4 carrots - chopped

1 sweet potato - peeled and cubed

½ acorn squash (or same size piece of pumpkin) - peeled, seeded, and cubed

½ cup of small red lentils – washed

2 cloves garlic - sliced

5 cups of water

1 tablespoon cumin

Salt & pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1.     Heat the oil in a large pot; add the garlic and the carrots and fry while stirring.

2.     Add while stirring the potatoes, sweet potato, squash and in the end the lentils. Stir all together for one minute.

3.     Add the water and the cumin, salt and pepper, stir and bring to boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 30 minutes.

4.     Turn the heat off.

5.     If you have a hand blender – blend all together in side the pot until desired consistency. Turn the heat again and bring to boil.

If you have a blender – pour the soup into the blender container and blend for 2 minutes until desired consistency. Pour the soup back into the pot and bring to boil.

6.     Garnish with parsley or seed mixture to serve.

A recipe – Fish with chickpeas, potatoes and carrots

My father doesn’t like the smell of fish, and he also had a childhood phobia of fish bones.

My mother never argued.

The result is that I ate fish for the first time when I was in my 20’s!

I don’t want to say that we didn’t eat well during my childhood. On the contrary, my mother is a brilliant cook and people say she makes the best Gefilte fish (fish balls made from a mixture of ground deboned fish).

I stopped eating gefilte fish when I was a kid after my grandmother asked me to buy a fresh fish for the holiday dinner. In those days you would choose the fresh fish from the aquarium and few minutes later it would be chopped and wrapped in paper.

 

Ingredients

1 Lb Cod fish (or Grouper) cut into thick slices

3 – 4 medium size potatoes – sliced like a French fries

3 carrots – sliced like a French fries

½ cup of chickpea (before soaking) – soak over night and cook for 30 minutes before using

4 cloves crushed garlic

Bunch of parsley (or coriander – stronger aroma)

2 ½ cups of hot water

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

5 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

1.     Heat the oil in a large wide saucepan; add the garlic and fry while stirring.

2.     Add the potatoes and carrots and stir for 3-5 minutes. Add the cooked chickpeas and stir for one more minute.

3.     At the same time – mix in a bowl: hot water, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper. Pour into the saucepan.

4.     Bring to boil, cover and lower the heat. Cook for 20 minutes.

5.     Take half of the vegetables out of the saucepan and put them into a bowl. Add the parsley evenly into the saucepan.

6.     Carefully add the fish, cover with the vegetables from the bowl, and cook cover for 20 minutes.

7.     While cooking, once in every few minutes, pour some of the sauce over the fish

8.     Serve with rice or couscous.