Blue Zones Butternut Squash Leek Soup

So far in our year of bringing dinner to 412 on Wednesday nights, Micah says he likes this soup the best. Since it's the easiest, yay! It's from the BlueZones Cookbook - featured on Instagram.
It serves about 6. It's a beautiful color, fun to garnish.

The recipe is vegan. In brackets, some modifications.

1 lb. peeled, chopped butternut squash [can include carrots and sweet potatoes]
1/4 c. sliced leek [or onion]
2 T. vegetable oil [or butter]
1 quart soy milk, unsweetened OR 1 can coconut milk + 2 c. vegetable broth [or a 12 oz can of evaporated milk + the water from steaming, + vegie broth to taste]
2 t. cumin
2 t. turmeric
2 t. salt (to taste)
Ground pepper to taste

Steam squash in about 2" of water until soft, about 15 minutes.

In a small fry pan, stir-fry leeks in oil until soft but not browned, about 3-4 minutes.

Remove the steamer. Add the leeks and soy milk to the steamed butternut squash, add the spices, and simmer for another 15 minutes. [The original recipe says to dump the steaming water, but it seems to me is has some nutrients in it, so just add to it.]

Blend in pot with immersion blender.

Lactation Bars

Gifts for Asia and Donya, 2021.

These make enough for a half-sheet pan. If you're using a 1/4 sheet, either bake it in two shifts, or bake a half recipe.

A 1/4 sheet pan is enough to fill a jar.

Most lactation bars feature Brewers yeast, flax seed, oats, and other nutritious ingredients like wheat germ. I modified this by baking the dough in the Breville in a 1/4 sheet pan, which works well.

It's easy to slice into even portions. They're a nice gift to a new mama!

It makes about 5 dozen bars or cookies. 

Recipe By:kfwarden

2 T flax seed meal
¼ cup water
1 c butter, softened
1 c white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1½ t pure vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour (can be half whole wheat)
¼ cup brewers' yeast
1 T wheat germ
1 t baking soda
½ t salt
½ t cream of tartar
2 ½ cups old-fashioned oats
1 c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix flaxseed with water in small bowl and let soak for 5 minutes.

Beat butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla extract; beat to incorporate. Stir flax seed mixture into the butter mixture.

Mix flour, brewer's yeast, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and cream of tartar in a separate bowl; add to butter mixture and stir until just combined. Fold oats and chocolate chips into the dough.

Press half the dough into the greased 1/4 sheet pan, using wet hands to spread the dough evenly. (Or bake the whole batch in a large jelly roll tin.)

Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Cool and slice. Repeat.

Presentation is important if you're baking these as a gift. I was pleased to find glass jars which are perfect and something, of course, that can be reused.

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2. RVED © 2019 Allrecipes.com

Fundraiser Vegie Chili

We hosted a Sunday aft 1:00 J Street fundraiser featuring Rep. Dwight Evans. We are all experiencing political fundraiser fatigue - the menu is usually a beautiful spread of finger food and sweets. I thought at 1:00 on a chilly autumn Sunday, it would be nice for everyone to walk into a house smelling of chili and cornbread, and it was tremendously well-received. Food brings people together.
Thanks for the pot, Nomi and Micah!

This is modified from The Endless Meal. It's vegan and feeds about 16-20. David calls it a vegetable stew, not really chili. :-)  :-(

• 4 T oil
• 2 large onion, diced
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 2–6 T chili powder (more will be spicier, of course)
• 4 T cumin 
• 2 t oregano
• 1 poblano pepper, seeded and finely diced
• 1 lb. peeled, cubed butternut squash
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 6 celery stalks, diced
• 4  28-ounce cans whole tomatoes and their juice 
• 4 15-ounce cans beans, drained and rinsed (kidney and white beans give a nice color contrast)
• 4 c frozen corn (you could use fresh but frozen is easy and works great)*
• 1 pkg Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles (10 oz)
• Salt, to taste (about 2 teaspoons)
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• Optional toppings: sour cream, cheddar cheese, cilantro, diced avocados or green onion. (Obviously not vegan!)

Heat oil in a large pot (at least 8 quart) over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute more. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, and poblano and stir for about 30 seconds.

Add the squash, carrots, and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they just start to soften. Add tomatoes and their juice and bring to a simmer. Once the chili begins to simmer, reduce the heat to medium-low. You want the chili to be at a low simmer with the lid off.

Continue to cook the chili, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Add beans, corn and the Beyond Meat Crumbles, and let the chili return to a simmer. Cook for 5 more minutes or until the corn and beans have heated through.
Generously salt to taste.

Serve on its own or topped with one (or all!) of the delicious toppings. It goes well with warm cornbread. It doesn't really need any rice or grain.

* If you make corn-on-the-cob, shell and freeze any leftover corn for this recipe.

And here is Zach and Becca's go-to Chili from Cook's Illustrated. Doubled, it still fits in a 6 quart pot.

Serves 4 to 6

We prefer to use a combination of pinto, black, and dark red kidney beans in this chili. The texture of the pureed diced tomatoes with their juice is very important here—do not substitute crushed tomatoes or tomato puree.

Ingredients

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 (15-ounce) cans beans, (see note) rinsed

2-3 t minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (this is a small fraction of the contents of even a small can)

2 t sugar 

Salt and ground black pepper

2 T vegetable oil

1 onion , minced

3 T chili powder (this is correct!) 

2 t ground cumin

3 garlic cloves , minced

1.5 cups frozen corn , thawed

2 T minced fresh cilantro 

Optional: 1/2 bag Beyond Meat ground beef style, or Crumbles

Instructions

1. PUREE TOMATOES: Pulse tomatoes and their juice in food processor until slightly chunky, about 5 pulses.
2. HEAT TOMATOES WITH BEANS: Bring tomatoes, beans, chipotle chile, sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil, covered, in large saucepan. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook until needed in step 5.
3. SAUTÉ AROMATICS: Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion, chili powder, cumin, and ¼ teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
4. COMBINE AND SIMMER: Stir in tomato-bean mixture, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to simmer and cook until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes.
5. FINISH CHILI: Stir in corn and cilantro and the optional meat-substitute, and return to brief simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
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Almond Flour (Parve) Brownies

Not vegan, but really good. And super easy. Pesadik! From the King Arthur flour website. These are Abba's favorites and I like them straight from the freezer for an after-dinner shot of fudgey deliciousness.

Heat oven (I use the Breville) to 350. Spray an 8" or 9" square pan. 

For Passover, I used silicone muffin tins, and baked them in the convection oven for 25 minutes. Each tin needs to be on a flat metal cookie sheet or pan to give it support. I made 17 - next time I would make them smaller and do all 24 (2 tins.) You pop them out, which is a big plus.

DO NOT DOUBLE THE RECIPE IN A LARGER PAN! I tried this in 2023 and it made a big mess - the brownies were not baked through, and impossible to get out of the pan.

5 T melted butter or parve margarine. (1/2 cup if you use vegetable oil, also fine)
1¾ c sugar
½ t salt
1 t vanilla extract
¾ c cocoa powder (Fairtrade!). Dutch-process or natural; sifted if particularly lumpy
3 large eggs
1½ c. almond flour
1 t. baking powder (It's optional and omitted for Pesach)

Melt margarine in large bowl. Add sugar to absorb heat (so it doesn't cook the eggs) and then add everything together with a spoon, whisk, or spatula. It's more like a paste than a batter.

Bake 33-36 minutes. Test with a toothpick.

Easily doubled, but DON'T BAKE IN ONE BIGGER PAN. These are hard to cut neatly. On Passover 2020, I made a double batch and froze a lot. When they were slightly defrosted it was easy to cut them into very small, neat squares. They are so rich, I recommend this strategy!

Sweet Potato Spinach Feta Latkes

These combine two superfoods, spinach and sweet potatoes. And if you're making them for Hanukkah, the Greek cheese celebrates that long after the fact, we are eating their food and they are gone!

No exact measures.

2 peeled, grated sweet potatoes
1/2 small onion, minced
8 oz of chopped spinach, microwaved with the moisture squeezed out
2 eggs
a few oz. grated Feta
1-2 T flour
salt, pepper

oil, butter for frying

Mix the ingredients well. Heat the oil and butter to medium high. When the butter is browning, add the batter by spoonfuls.  Fry until browned, and flip. Be patient - these need to brown. The cheese will melt and emit some liquid.

Makes about a dozen.

Gluten-Free Fairtrade Chocolate Covered Strawberries/Figs

These are fun and beautiful. A specialty of Laurie Hertz.

1 lb strawberries, washed and patted dry
(or another small fruit, like fresh figs or prunes)
1 chocolate bar (Equal Exchange Fairtrade preferred)
3 oz parve chocolate chips

Break chocolate bar and place in double boiler over boiling water along with the chips. For some reasons, the bar alone is a little too thin. The chips seem to have a thicker consistency. 

With an induction cooktop, but the chocolate directly in a small frying pan and set to 3. It will take 5-10 minutes to melt. 

Put a sheet of parchment paper on a flat tin. Dip each strawberry, holding it by the green stem. Shake off excess chocolate.

Set on the wax paper. If you  have extra chocolate, you can dip matzah, prunes, or add slivered almonds + raisins or craisins and make "haystacks". Or just dip matzah!

This was enough to dip 1 lb of strawberries + 1 lb of fresh figs.

It takes about 20 minutes for the chocolate to harden. You can speed it up by refrigerating.

Eyal dipping strawberries - last week of 4!

Mustachados - Walnut Macaroons

These lasted about 5 minutes - 2021

Mustachados are Sephardic cookies from Gloria Greene's original cookbook, The Jewish Holiday Kitchen. It was a gift from Judy Herzig-Marx and I used it a lot, and still go back to look for ideas. It's less complicated/pretentious than Joan Nathan and some of the other more recent Jewish cookbooks.

These are similar to Italian "Ugly but Good" cookies, which are hazelnut. These are not vegan, since they have an egg, but they are gluten free. I don't generally bake cookies but these are good, chewy, not-too-sweet cookies that pass the Passover test: I would enjoy them if it WEREN'T Passover.

Unlike a lot of Pesadik recipes, this doesn't require beating egg whites, so you don't need a hand mixer or egg whip.


1 large egg (does not need to be separated!)
1.5 cups (about 6 oz) ground walnuts.
      Food processor is fine, or you can buy them at Passover already ground.
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cinnamon

pinch of salt

Optional: chocolate for dipping

Shula - 3rd grade, 2024

Grease one large or two small cookie sheets very well. It makes about 20-24.

Heat oven to 325.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Add the other ingredients to form a thick paste.

These spread. Wet your hands and shape into scant teaspoon sized balls, about 3/4", flattening into domes.

Bake for 20 minutes or so until the edges have browned.

Pry under them with a spatula to cool. You can stick two together when they are just removed, they way they are served in Istanbul.

Using the induction setting of 1, leave the chocolate in a frying pan for 5-10 minutes and it will melt. Dip away. (In Philly, at 1 it says MELTING.)

Green Doula Soup

I like the sound of this, Green Doula Soup, named for the day I handed off some of this soup to Micah to finish it before Passover, and your doula was coming for dinner.

This soup is from a plant-based diet advocate, the Happy Healthy Long Life Librarian, whom Nancy turned me onto. The original of the recipe is called Healing Cream of Greens Soup, a recipe by Chloe Coscorelli. I modified it some.

2 T olive oil, divided
1 onion, diced
1 apple , peeled and diced
4 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 t. grated ginger
5 cups (1 pound) broccoli florets
3 cups (5 ounces) baby spinach or kale

4 cups vegetable broth

Freshly ground black pepper, salt to taste

• [option: add a grain like cooked quinoa or rice]
  
  1. In a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over medium-high heat and, add the onion, apple, ginger, and garlic . Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.
  
  
  2. Add the broccoli, spinach, and broth . Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the broccoli is tender and the spinach has wilted.
  
  3. Remove the pot from the heat and purée directly in the pot using an immersion blender; return the soup to the pot. Stir in the remaining tablespoon of oil.
  
  4. Serve in bowls topped with some pepper. 
  This soup is also tasty chilled.

Dried Mushroom, Parsnip, Chickpea Soup

In the #zerowastePassover challenge, I needed a soup for Friday night that used a small can of chickpeas and dried mushrooms, two ingredients still in the pantry.

Abba actually liked this BETTER than mushroom barley soup, the reason I have the dried mushrooms to begin with. Hah!

1/2 c. dried mushrooms
1 to 2 T olive oil
onion, diced
1 parsnip, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 c or so dried potato flakes or mashed potatoes (these were leftovers, but they worked perfectly for thickening the soup.)
1 small can chickpeas
4 c. stock/broth (Telma)

Soak dried mushrooms in water.
Saute all the diced vegetables until soft.
Chop the soaked mushrooms, and add them with the water you soak them in, along with the chickpeas.
Bring to a boil. Cook for 15 minutes or so.

I barely seasoned it. The mushrooms have a nice, rich flavor.

Jane Brody's Best Bran Muffins

Jane Brody's cookbook was my favorite for many years. I make these once or twice a year. It's a double batch. Lately I have been baking half in muffin tins and the other half* in a not quite quarter-sheet that fits in the Breville. Way easier - instead of muffins, squares.

3 C shredded *bran cereal (e.g. All-Bran, 100% Bran, etc.)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 C raisins
1 C boiling water
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 C buttermilk
1/4 cup molasses
2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour
4 t sugar
2 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, combine the cereal, oil, and raisins, and pour the boiling water over them. Set the mixture aside to cool slightly.

2. In a small bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, and molasses. Add this to the partly cooled cereal mixture. 

3. In another small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the cereal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten the dry ingredients. Cover the batter with plastic wrap, wax paper, or a damp towel, and let it stand for at least 15 minutes, preferably for 1 hour. 

4. Preheat the oven to 400. Grease *24 muffin portions, and divide the batter among them filling each cup about three-fourths full. 

Bake the muffins for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the muffins from the oven, and, when they are slightly cooled, turn them in the tins and tip them to cool.

Jane Brody's *All Bran crust for blueberry pie uses the same ingredient.