On Purim we send freshly baked homemade rolls along with a container of tomato onion salad.  The feedback I’ve gotten so far is that people really appreciated receiving real food and the things we sent got eaten early in the day.

I’ve received a couple of recipe requests for the salad I sent, so I’m sharing it here with you.  It’s quick and flexible, and stays nicely in the fridge for a few days since it’s marinated.  It can be made up in advance or just a few hours before serving.  (It’s also one of the salads we served for the bar mitzva.)

Tomato Onion Salad

• 3 – 4 large ripe tomatoes, thinly sliced (if using large tomatoes, cut the slices in half so they aren’t too unwieldy to eat)
• 1 onion (about a 1/2 cup),  sliced thinly (I used purple onion but any onion works fine)
• 1/4 c. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. vinegar
• 1/8 t. pepper
• 1 T. dried oregano or basil (if fresh herbs are in season, use 3 T. of chopped herbs instead)
• 1/2 c. sliced black olives

The key to this salad tasting good is to be sure the onions are well marinated, unless you like some sharpness (which I don’t).  Put the sliced onions in the food container, then mix the marinade and olives, pour over the onions, and mix it thoroughly.  I find it’s best to do this about twelve  hours before you want to serve it, but there’s really no hard and fast rule.

Then add the sliced tomatoes on top of the marinating onions.  Mix it all together before serving.  If it’s easier, you can mix everything when you make it and it will still turn out great.  Just don’t add the onions last on top of everything, because they won’t absorb the marinade!

Avivah

As good as Dunkin Donuts?  These come mighty close!

I’ve been quite happy switching my cooking to local Israeli ingredients, and I can’t be accused of insisting on my American products.  But along came Chanukah and the local doughnuts, and they were a big disappointment to me and the kids.  They were big not so fluffy balls of dough, and you just about had to use a microscope to find the filling inside.

After a couple of these, I decided I had to find something that would come closer to Dunkin Donuts, my favorite splurge food.  And though I can’t say I managed to replicate the taste exactly – the chocolate chips here taste different – this comes pretty close.

We tried this new recipe at the beginning of Chanukah and sent a quadruple recipe with ds12 to share with his schoolmates the day he put on tefillin – they were a huge hit and no one had ever tasted donuts like these. The boys were used to the big balls of dough with a dab of industrial jelly inside.  Then we made another large batch on Saturday night for a Chanukah meal (which included vegetable soup, garlic knots, potato latkes, and these doughnuts), where we were again told how good they were.  When a friend who was there with her family said they were the best doughnuts she’s ever had and asked for the recipe, I told her I’d post it here.  And then last night, for the last night of Chanukah, we made another large batch to give out to all of our neighbors in our apartment building.

Fantastic Glazed Doughnuts

• 2 1/4 t. dry yeast
• 2 T. warm water
• 3/4 c. warm milk (you can use water, coconut milk, or nut milk)
• 2 1/2 T. butter (or coconut oil or palm shortening)
• 1 egg
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 1 t. salt
• 2 3/4 c. flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the small amount of warm water.  Add the milk (or substitute), butter, egg, sugar, and salt.  Blend this until it’s smooth.

Add the remaining flour and knead until the dough is smooth.  Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and leave it to rise until the dough has doubled, about 1/2 – 1 hour.  Punch the dough down, and roll out a half inch thick.

Use a cup or biscuit cutter (or even a clean empty can) to cut out the doughnuts.  If you want to make the doughnuts with the traditional hole in the middle, use a shot glass or similar sized object to cut out the holes.  (The holes will later become donut holes.)

Place these on cookie sheets and let them rise for about 30 – 60 minutes.  Fry in a pot of hot oil (I used 3 c. palm shortening for this), thirty seconds on each side.  These will fluff up beautifully as they fry.  When the donuts cool, dip the top of the surface in glaze and let cool.

Glaze:

• 1/3 c. butter (or coconut oil or palm shortening)
•  2 c. powdered sugar
• 1/2 t. vanilla
• 1/3 c. hot water

Mix all of these ingredients for a plain glaze.  If you’d like to make a chocolate glaze, melt one cup of semisweet chocolate chips and mix it in to the above glaze.  Make the glaze when the doughnuts are ready to be frosted, because as it cools off, it becomes harder to use and will lose the shininess you can see above in the picture.

We chose to leave these as glazed doughnuts, but I really wanted to make Bavarian cream doughnuts, which are my favorites!  (Oops – ds just told me they’re called Bostom cream – okay, whatever, chocolate glaze on top and vanilla pudding in the middle.)  I didn’t have a tool to insert the pudding into the center, though, and didn’t want to make a special trip out to buy one.  But next year, I’m planning to use this exact recipe and fill it with homemade vanilla pudding.

Avivah

I adapted this recipe from Lea’s sesame chia apple salad.  This is a lovely salad packed with nutrients that looks great on the table, and tastes great, too!

Fennel Apple Salad

• 6  medium carrots, shredded
• 3 medium apples, shredded (I used Granny Smiths but red apples would add a nice color contrast)
• 1 head fennel, diced
• 3 cucumbers, diced (I use the seedless cukes, and leave them unpeeled)
• 1 small red onion, minced – optional  (this adds some nice color if you use green apples, but my kids prefer it without)
• 1 T. chia seeds
• 2 T. extra virgin olive oil
• 2 – 3 T. lemon or orange juice (I squeezed some from the fruits we picked at our neighbor’s)

Mix all of the vegetables in a bowl, and stir in the chia seeds.  Mix together the oil and citrus juice for a light dressing, then pour on top of the vegetables.

Enjoy!

Avivah

(This post is part of My Meatless Mondays, Fat Tuesday, Traditional Tuesday, Tuesdays at the Table, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tasty Tuesdays, Tea Party Tuesday, Totally Tasty Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, and Gluten Free Wednesday.)

This pot pie has been a huge hit at our house – it’s delicious, frugal, and when everyone sits down at the table, there are always audible expressions of appreciation!

Whenever I make this, I feel like a really amazing mom since it takes more time than I usually want to spend on one meal.  I compensate by doubling the recipe, and putting a second pot pie in the freezer for another day.  If you use ready made crusts, you can cut down on some of the prep, but I make my own so it’s one extra step.  But the results are worth it!

Amazing Chicken Pot Pie

• 1 c. diced potatoes
• 1 c. diced onions
• 1 c. diced celery or fennel
• 1 c. diced carrots
• 1/3 c. coconut oil
• 1/2 c. flour
• 2 c. broth
• 1 c. coconut milk
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 4 c. cooked chicken, chopped
• 2 pie crusts for topping (recipe below)

Saute vegetables in the coconut oil until tender.  Stir in the flour, and cook for a  minute or so.  Then add in the coconut milk and broth, cooking over a medium heat until the sauce is bubbly.

When the sauce is bubbly, add in the salt and pepper, then the cooked chicken. Pour it into two deep dish pie pans or a casserole dish, and top it with a crust.  Cut a couple of slits in the crust to let the steam escape, and bake it at 400 degrees for 40 – 50  minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

If you’ve noticed that this year I haven’t been posting as many recipes as I did in the past, the reason is two-fold: I’ve been so busy I haven’t had much time to post recipes, and secondly, dd16 is a great cook and recipe creator, so I haven’t had her creations to share with you.  (Though dd14 has come up with a bunch of winners that I keep wishing I had time to post – she prefers the food-type recipes, and dd16 prefers baked goods and desserts.)  With dd16 back for a short while, thanks to her additional help I have more time available, and she’s busy making up fun things in the kitchen.

Here was tonight’s creation:

Tiki’s Gluten free Tortillas

• 1/2 c. millet flour
• 1/2 c. cornmeal
• 1 c. potato starch
• 2 t. xanthan gum
• 1  1/2 t. baking powder
• 1 t. salt
• 3/4 c. oat milk (or milk, coconut milk, water, etc.)
• 4 t. coconut oil

Combine dry ingredients. Heat oat milk till warm, but not bubbling. Add the warm milk and coconut oil to the dry ingredients and knead till smooth. Split dough into 8 balls and roll each one out (you may want to flour your surface with a little millet flour). Cook  tortillas in an ungreased frying pan over medium heat for 30 seconds on one side, then turn over and fry for another 30 second on the other side.

Yield: 8 tortillas

These were really tasty, not at all like what you’d expect of gluten-free tortillas!  The only problem was that she only made 22, and some of the kids would have liked more.  😛

Avivah