Everybody loves the Chef at Home (aka Magen David) cookbook. It has bright colors, pretty pictures, and no capitals in the titles! Okay, that’s not why they like it. They like the easy to follow recipes and everyday dishes. I’ve made quite a few recipes from there, but haven’t blogged about them (sorry!). So I decided to make something awesome from there on my day off and share it with you. Now I know we’ve posted quite a few veggie burger recipes lately (fine, two. But that’s a lot!), but I like to make healthy dishes that I can freeze and just heat up when I need a quick lunch, dinner or even snack. And I’m trying to stay away from processed foods, so Morningstar items only a last resort.

I kinda made my job harder by actually chopping all the veggies. I chopped everything into TINY pieces. You probably don’t have to make them that small. Or you can use the food processor and pulse them. I just wanted to incorporate all the flavors and to make sure the burgers really stick together. I hate it when veggie burgers fall apart, don’t you?

Lentil and Brown Rice Burgers, adapted from Chef at Home
Makes about 20 burgers

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown lentils
• 1 cup brown rice
• 5 1/2 cups water
• 2 medium onions (I used spanish), finely chopped
• 7 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
• 7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms (I used button), chopped
• 4 tablespoons brown bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 whole eggs
• 4 egg whites
• Oil or nonstick spray for the baking tray

Directions:

1. In a pot over medium heat, add the water, rice, and lentils. Cook for 30 minutes, until the water is absorbed. Transfer to a large bowl to cool.

2. Saute the onions and garlic in 4 tablespoons of the oil until slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside in medium bowl.

3. Saute the celery and carrots in 2 tablespoons of the oil until softened, about 15 minutes. Set aside with the onions.

4. Saute the mushrooms in the remaining tablespoon of the oil until the water is all absorbed, about 7 minutes. Set aside with the rest of the vegetables.

5. Combine the rice, lentils, and vegetables in the large bowl and mix well.

6. Add the bread crumbs, flour, salt, pepper, and cumin to the mixture. Stir to combine.

7. Add the eggs and egg whites and mix again.

8. Refrigerate the mixture for about 30 minutes, covered.

9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

10. Using a 1/2 cup measure, scoop out mixture and with slightly wet hands, form patties and place them onto a greased baking sheet (if freezing, place them on wax paper).

11. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes, then flip over and bake another 20 minutes, until golden brown.

12. Serve on a bun with your favorite toppings/extras and enjoy!

Lentil and Brown Rice Burgers is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

You know how we feel over here about desserts that are pareve on purpose – that is, without fake dairy in them. This rice pudding is just that! Just mix some rice and coconut milk, a little bit of sugar and spices, and you have yourself a dessert in a couple of hours!

That’s right, it takes a while to cook, but it’s all unattended cooking time; all you have to do is stir once every 40 minutes or so. I’d imagine that this works well in the slow cooker, too. I’ll have to try that out!

I flavored mine with a vanilla bean, because that’s what I had in my pantry, but next time I think I want to try a cinnamon stick. I also sprinkled it with this sugar-chocolate-coffee bean grinder that I bought at Trader Joe’s. It’s actually a perfect accompaniment, though I bought it as an impulse – I saw the hashkacha and had to have it!

Before cooking, it’s hard to believe that this mixture will turn into a delicious dessert. Also, I waited until everyone tasted and loved this before I told them it was made with brown rice!!

Coconut and Brown Rice Pudding
4 servings. About 2 1⁄2 hours, largely unattended

Ingredients:

• 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 cup long-grain brown rice
• Two 14-ounce cans coconut milk
• 1⁄2 cup brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• A cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods, a split vanilla bean, a pinch of saffron, or other flavoring, optional

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to 300°F. Put the rice in a food processor and pulse a few times to break the grains up a bit and scratch their hulls; don’t overdo it, or you’ll pulverize them.

2. Put all the ingredients in a 2-quart ovenproof pot or Dutch oven. Stir a couple of times and put the pan in the oven, uncovered. Cook for 45 minutes, then stir. Cook for 45 minutes more, and stir again. At this point the milk will have darkened a bit and should be bubbling, and the rice will have begun to swell.

3. Cook for 30 minutes more. The milk will be even darker, and the pudding will start to look more like rice than milk. It’s almost done. Return the mixture to the oven and check every 10 minutes, stirring gently each time you check.

4. It might (but probably won’t) take as long as 30 minutes more for the pudding to be ready. Just trust your instincts and remove the pudding from the oven when it is still soupy; it will thicken a lot as it cools. (If you overcook the pudding, it will become fairly hard though still quite good to eat.) Remove the whole spices if you used them. Serve the pudding warm, at room temperature, or cold, alone or with your favorite topping.

Coconut Brown Rice Pudding is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

This post is in honor of the best news ever!

Whenever I buy bananas, some of them start to turn brown before I can eat them. Seriously, they’re green when I bring them home, and when I wake up the next morning they’re already overripe! I usually peel them, cut them into chunks and freeze them for smoothies, but there are other things you can do with frozen bananas; You can dip them in chocolate and coconut or pistachios and eat them for dessert!

Anyone here an Arrested Development fan? If you’re not, then you’re missing out because it’s the best show ever, so go watch it! And when you come back, this recipe will remind you of Arrested Development.

What do you do with overripe bananas?

Ingredients:

• 2 or 3 bananas, sliced (or as many as you have that are going bad)
• 8 oz. chocolate, melted (I used pareve chocolate)
• Dippings of your choice, such as pistachios, coconut, etc.

Directions:

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or over a double boiler
2. Dip the banana chunks into the chocolate, and then quickly into your topping of choice.
3. Set on a plate and freeze, store in a bag and eat as you please.

“There’s always money in the banana stand!”

Chocolate-Covered Frozen Bananas is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Your side dish can’t get easier than this. If you have pesto in your freezer (either store-bought or homemade will do?), then you can prep this dish in about five minutes. Have basil growing like a weed in your garden? Then it might take a bit longer to make, but it’s still pretty simple, and always a big hit.

Now when we decided to make these roasted tomatoes, we preheated the oven and waited for it to get hot enough. We had planned an entire menu with short cooking times and a variety of dishes based on the fact that our oven would work. Little did we know that because of the extreme heat there would be a brown out! So tomatoes that should have taken about 15 minutes to soften and caramelize took over an hour. Oops. Hey, they still turned out delicious. And we tried them again in ovens that actually worked; they were still a hit!

Pesto Roasted Tomatoes, adapted from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

• 2 – 2 1/2 pounds large red tomatoes (we used Jersey tomatoes!)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup pesto
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (omit if you’re making this with a pareve meal, like we did)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2. Core the tomatoes and slice them across/not through the stem into 1/2 inch thick slices.

3. Arrange slices on a baking sheet in a single layer.

4. Drizzle with olive oil.

5. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, and pepper.

6.Bake the tomatoes for 10 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and spread each slice with pesto. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using.

8. Bake for another 7-10 minutes, until the tomatoes are soft (and if you put cheese, it is slightly browned).

9. Remove from oven and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Pesto Roasted Tomatoes is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Even though we aren’t vegetarians, we’re no strangers to veggie burgers. Our freezers are usually stocked with Chik Patties and other MorningStar Farms delights, but those have some problems; they’re filled with preservatives and they’re dairy! Our veggie burgers are pareve and consist only of natural, fresh ingredients. Try adding corn, hot pepper or any other flavor variety to make them your own and you’ll never buy a frozen veggie burger again.

Sure, this takes a little longer than microwaving a frozen patty, but not much. It probably took 30 minutes from start to finish, counting the 20 minutes baking time. Do what we did and double the recipe so you can freeze some for later!

Spicy Black Bean Burgers from all recipes
Makes 4

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Directions:

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees, and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.
7. Put in bun, top with cheese, lettuce, hummus, roasted peppers or the toppings of your choice, eat and enjoy!

Spicy Black Bean Veggie Burgers is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

We wanted to make a special dessert when our mom had a full house for Shabbat a couple of weeks ago,  so we consulted Jessica’s favorite book for some inspiration and came across this chocolate cake. Good enough to feed a crowd, because who doesn’t like chocolate, and we made it special by baking three 8-inch layers; we don’t eat 3-layer cakes every Friday!

There wasn’t even a slice left over, which is pretty impressive considering how big of a meal we served everyone. The cake was a hit!

We chose a simple chocolate butter cream, but you can play around with it, too. Coffee/mocha would be delicious with this cake!

Devil’s Food Cake from The Art and Soul of Baking

Ingredients:

• For the Cake:
• 1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz.) unsifted unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup (4 oz.) plus 1 cup (8 oz.) water
• 1 1/2 sticks (6 oz.) unsalted butter, softened (we used Earth Balance)
• 1 cup (7 oz.) granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (6 oz.) firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 cups (7 ounces) sifted cake flour
• 1/4 cup (1 1/4 oz.) ap flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the Buttercream:

• 1 lb. chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz.) sugar
• 1 pound unsalted butter, soft (or, for pareve cake, Earth Balance)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

For the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Spray three 8-inch or 2 9-inch round cake pans with oil and flour them so they won’t stick.
2. Mix the cocoa powder: Place the cocoa powder in a small bowl. Heat 1/2 cup of the water in a small saucepan until it begins to simmer. Pour it over the cocoa and whisk or stir until blended and smooth. Add the remaining 1 cup of water and stir until the mixture is smooth. Set aside until it cools to room temperature.
3. Cream the butter with the sugars in a stand mixer or by hand.
4. Beat the eggs and vanilla in another small bowl to blend and then add to the butter and sugar mixture about 1 tablespoon at a time, allowing each addition to blend completely before adding the next.
5. Sift the ap flour, cake flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl and mix together. Then, with the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture and the cocoa mixture alternatively to the butter/sugar mixture.
6. Divide the Batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for about 30 minutes, until the tops are firm to the touch and a toothpick entered in the center comes out clean. Transfer to rack to cool completely.
7. Remove the cakes from the pan.

For the buttercream (Earth Balance-cream?):

1. Melt the chocolate with the water in a double boiler and set aside to cool.
2. Place the egg whites and sugar in a bowl of the mixer and hand-mix to blend. Bring 2 inches of water to boil in a medium saucepan.
3. place the bowl over the simmering water and heat, whisking constantly so that the whites do not scramble, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees.
4. Once the correct temperature is reached, immediately remove the mixture from the heat and whip the mixer on high speed until it has cooled to room temperature, is light and billowing, and resembles marshmallow fluff.
5. With the mixer on medium-high speed, add the soft butter a couple of tablespoons at a time, allowing each addition to blend in fully before adding the next. Halfway through the butter, stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue until all the butter has been added and the mixture resembles a variety of mayonnaise. Add the vanilla and chocolate and blend well.

Assemble the cake:

1. Place one layer of the cake on the serving dish and smooth the buttercream on top. Place the next cake layer over it and top with another layer of cream. Place the last layer and smooth the buttercream all around the outside of the cake.

Devil’s Food Cake with Chocolate Buttercream is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Mm, artichokes! This week, Meatless Monday goes vegan with this easy and flavorful dinner. Lemon and shallots bring out the flavor of these frozen hearts, so you can enjoy the flavor all year ’round.

Lemon and Artichoke Pasta
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb. pasta of your choice
• olive oil
• 1 package frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and drained
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 shallot, minced
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• salt, to taste
• pinch of red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat, drizzle in olive oil to coat the pan and add the smashed garlic. Cook until fragrant and discard garlic, making sure to keep the oil.
2. Add the chopped shallots into the pan and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the artichokes, lemon zest and juice and raise the heat to medium-high.
3. Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water, and toss pasta with the sauce.
4. Add 1/2 cup of pasta water. Taste for seasoning, and add more pasta water if necessary.
5. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Meatless Mondays: Lemon and Artichoke Pasta is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

Sweet kaak is nothing like regular kaak, except that it’s also kinda like a bread stick. Actually, it’s really more like a cookie made with orange zest. I usually don’t love orange zest, but for some reason I absolutely love sweet kaak. It’s a traditional Syrian treat, one that if I have in my cookie jar (okay, fine, I don’t have a cookie jar, but I do have airtight containers that I can leave on the counter and store cookies in) I will finish in about a day. Basically, they are sugar cookies that are twisted. Yum!These photos are from my first attempt at baking sweet kaak, and I have to say they aren’t the prettiest batch I’ve made. Not as skinny or long as I would have liked, that is. The problem? I used oil instead of Earth Balance – now I know. I hate making cookies with oil-based dough because rolling them out is always a problem. So in the improved recipe that I’m sharing with you, I used Earth Balance. I’m sure these would be amazing with butter, but they are such a pareve dessert/snack that I wouldn’t even think of trying them that way.

The recipe in Deal Delights was not precise enough to make for a first time, though I might try it after I master this version. That version has more eggs, less zest and vanilla, and a little less flour.

Though these cookies traditionally have orange zest, they are also really good without it. Sometimes I make half the dough with zest and half without…try it both ways and tell me what you prefer.

Sweet Kaak, adapted from Aromas of Aleppo:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 sticks Earth Balance shortening
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• zest of one orange, finely grated
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 cups flour
• 4 large eggs
• Extra sugar, for rolling (about 1/2 cup)

Directions:

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, mix together all the ingredients (except extra sugar). Scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is well-incorporated. If dough is not wet enough, add up to two more eggs.

2. Refrigerate dough for one hour.

3. Roll dough into strands 4 inches long and about 1/2 inch thick,.

4.  Twist two together into a “figure S” or “twisted rod” and pinch the ends.

5. Roll each cookie in sugar and place on greased cookie sheet.

6. Bake in 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. They won’t really brown much, don’t worry about it.

Sweet Kaak is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

I love biscotti! They are the perfect after dinner treat, and are a great treat in the morning to dip in coffee. These cookies are filled with dried fruits and nuts, which makes me think they’re healthy, too! I usually take my time and make teeny skinny biscotti, but these are great cut a bit thicker, since you get a mouthful of the dried fruit. Plus, it makes making the biscotti that much easier. I have to say that usually when making biscotti I look for recipes with absolutely no oil. This recipe had only three tablespoons, so I decided to try it, and boy am I happy I did. I keep these in the freezer and whip them out when unexpected guests arrive, or when I don’t have time to bake a fancy pie or cake for my host/hostess. I find that biscotti often impress others, though they’re actually pretty easy to make. I just wish I had a double wall oven…

The original recipe did not call for any whole wheat pastry flour, but as I’m trying to include more whole grains in my diet, including the all-important dessert course, I’ve been trying to substitute whole wheat flour whenever possible. In this recipe, you really can’t taste the difference when you use half whole wheat pastry. Next time I might try it with only whole wheat.

Because they’re inherently pareve, they’re a really smart dessert to keep around! Plus, it’s a pretty simple recipe so that can’t hurt, either…This recipe is easily adaptable. You can use different fruits and nuts than the recipe calls for – I know I did! The original recipe called for some almond extract, which I really don’t like the flavor of so I always omit. If you like the stuff, feel free to add half a teaspoon of it. It also says to add some lemon and orange zest, but I felt that with the two different dried fruits I was adding (the original only called for one) I didn’t really need the additional citrus tang. If you try it another way, let me know how it goes!

Cherry Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti, adapted from Bon Appetit (May 2011)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1 cup shelled pistachios (unsalted, if possible)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.

2. Combine flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Blend on low for 30 seconds, until everything comes together.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.

4. Then, add the oil and vanilla and mix well.

5. Add the egg mixture to the flour and beat until combined.

6. With a spatula, fold in the dried fruit and nuts.

7. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and shape each half into a 16-inch long log.

8. Place logs on baking sheet about 5 inches apart and flatten them until they are 2 inches wide.

9. Bake, rotating the sheet halfway through, for 30 minutes.

10. Transfer to a drying rack and let cool for 15 minutes.

11. Reduce heat to 250 degrees.

12. Using a serrated knife, cut each strip diagonally into 1/3 inch thick slices. Arrange them on a baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes, until crisp, rotating halfway through.

13. Let cool on drying rack and enjoy!

Cherry Apricot and Pistachio Biscotti is a post from: The Kosher Foodies

The problem with making desserts for Shabbat is that we can’t take pictures of the final project…I mean, you can see the cake and how it looked right out of the oven, but you can’t see it sliced and on a plate, which is too bad because this cake was pretty. Okay, the pan is a little bit messy, but at least my counter is clean! Oh, and the other problem is that you have to make the desserts pareve. Which means no cream cheese frosting! Those who dare to eat pareve whipped topping dolloped some on top of their cake. I ate it plain and it was amazing just the way it was.

I bake a lot of banana breads, cakes, cookies, and muffins. Why? Because my bananas always turn brown, no matter what! Even when I hang them on my banana tree (I mean, my dough hook that hangs from the cabinet). I often freeze the almost-bad bananas for smoothies, too. Well, when I realized how many banana desserts I made, I decided to test a bunch of different cake recipes just to see if banana can make an awesome cake for dessert, not a breakfast quick bread. And it worked! Ina saves the day yet again.

This was definitely more cake-y than other banana cake recipes I’ve tried, though not perfect. I added some chocolate chips, just to make it more like dessert. And that definitely helped. The frosting would have probably made it 100% dessert. Oh, not that my family didn’t devour the entire thing. They did. Did I mention that it’s awesome, even when pareve? Of course, this is an Ina recipe, though you won’t find it on the Food Network site. There are plenty of bloggers out there who tried it and loved it, though. So you can see their final pictures and comments if you want some more inspiration or the original recipe.

The original recipe called for sour cream, and while I know that I can easily buy Tofutti brand vegan sour cream, I did not want to add hydrogenated oils to my banana cake. So instead I figured that it was in there for moisture and fat content and decided to just add more fat in the form of Earth Balance shortening. It worked out well. The texture was still great and the cake was still moist. And no one mentioned that there was anything strange about the cake. And no one commented that there way way too much fat in it. Maybe next time I will try it with apple sauce.

Did I tell you that I snuck in whole wheat pastry flour and no one even knew? Well I did. So ha!

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake, adapted from Ina Garten:

Ingredients:

• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed (that means it should come out of the cup without having to bang it like crazy)
• 1 stick Earth Balance shortening
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• Grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 inch round cake pan (with 2-inch high sides)

2. In the bowl of your stand mixer, Mix the bananas and sugars until well combined.

3. Add the shortening and cream with the sugar and banana mixtures.

4. With the mixer on low, add the oil, eggs, vanilla, and orange zest. Mix until smooth.

5. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula.

7. Transfer the batter to the prepared cake an and bake for 45-50 minutes (mine actually took 55 minutes – stupid oven temperature!) or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cook completely.

Old-Fashioned Banana Cake is a post from: The Kosher Foodies