Green Shakshuka with Riced Broccoli + Feta
04/15/19

Once upon a time there was a little Jewish girl living in the South and doing the best she could with what she had. She knew that bread was forbidden on Passover but didn’t quite understand that things like crispy chicken nuggets were still made out of bread products. She realized she was still breaking the laws of Passover the way most not-so-religious kids do —- whilst eating chicken nuggets from McDonald’s at an orchestra competition during her sophomore year of high school. She remembers it like it was yesterday — sitting there in her long, black satin orchestra gown-like uniform, munching on her McNuggets, telling everyone it was Passover so she couldn’t eat cheeseburgers (and feeling super holier-than-thou) when another kid looked at her and said, ‘You know there’s breading on that McNugget, right?” No. No she did not know that. Oh yeah? Well, these French fries are so let’s Super Size that, please.

Spoiler alert: that little closer orch. dork was me. Things have changed quite a bit since that time. Not only am I HIGHLY aware of the intricacies of the law of kashrut (especially Passover kashrut), but we don’t even eat at McDonald’s anymore (and if you think I didn’t mourn the loss of my usual order of a double cheeseburger, you are dead wrong). As my kids are getting older and their tastes getting pickier, cooking for Passover has required an insane amount of research and creativity. While I’m completely fine with a week of salads and the occasional matzah pizza, the kids are not-so-fine with this setup. We eat a decent amount of potatoes (we love a good DIY baked potato bar), but we also eat a decent amount of eggs. The oldest has FINALLY accepted the fact that shakshuka is incredible so last year, I started experimenting with other kinds of shakshuka. I created the recipe below based on my favorite order at our local dairy kosher restaurant except I added riced broccoli from Pardes Farms as a way to bulk it up and add some delicious texture. The addition of feta and cream and a whole load of herbs gives this spring-time treat a French meets Mediterranean flavor. I hope you enjoy!

Green Shakshuka with Riced Broccoli + Feta

Ingredients:

4 tbsp oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
3 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 cup Pardes Farms riced broccoli – thawed and dried*
1 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 cup chopped dill
1/4 cup white cooking wine
1 tbsp black pepper
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 – 2 cups heavy whipping cream (depending on your liking)
1/2 cup chopped feta cheese
1 tbsp chili flakes (optional)
4 – 5 eggs

Directions:

Place oil in medium size, oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Place onions into skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent (roughly 5 – 7 minutes). Add garlic to skillet and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Next, add the defrosted and thoroughly dried riced broccoli and saute for an additional 2 -3 minutes.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add spinach and stir quickly to make sure the spinach is evenly heated. Remember that spinach shrinks as it cooks so that’s why you’re adding so much! Immediately add all the herbs to the pan along with the spinach and stir for 2 – 3 minutes. Deglaze the pan by pouring the white cooking wine into it and sauteing the greens for 2 minutes. Season the herbs with salt and pepper and stir for an additional 30 seconds.

Turn oven on to broil. Add 1 cup of heavy cream to the pan and stir to evenly disperse. If you feel like you’d like your green shakshuka to be a little creamier, continue to add more heavy whipping cream 1/2 cup at a time making sure to stir along the way. Bring mixture to a boil and turn down to a simmer. Make 4 divets into your mixture using the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each one. Cover the pan and let simmer for 5 minutes.

After eggs have simmered on low for 5 minutes, remove cover and place under the broiler for 3 -5 more minutes, checking along the way to make sure your egg yolks are still a bit runny. Too long and your yolks will harden. Promptly remove the pan from the oven. Sprinkle chili flakes on top and serve hot with your favorite matzah!

*Dry your riced broccoli by pouring out thawed broccoli onto a dish towel. Squeeze the dish towel out over a sink as hard as you can.





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Lemon Garlic Broccoli Meatballs
04/03/19

Hello. Is it me you’re looking for? I hope so! It’s me! I’m back! Can jew believe it? I surely can’t. It’s really nice to be back and writing and creating again and I have my dear friend, Sarah Lasry, and the folks at Pardes Farms to thank for bringing me back from blogging obscurity. Let’s catch up from last we spoke, shall we?

So we had a 3rd kid. If you follow me on Instagram this should not be new information for you but if you don’t well, then, SURPRISE! His name is Amos Ephraim and he is such a yummy baby boy. He is very loved and will definitely end up in his school counselor’s office when he gets older and realizes that not everyone claps and celebrates him for every little thing that he does (as is his experience now as the baby of 2 oldest sisters and 2 adoring parents). Our family has spent the year navigating the ups and downs of life — being forced to move out of our home, helping our kids adjust to 1st grade, pre-school, daycare, full-time working parenting, side hustling, etc. We’ve met new friends and have attempted to work on building up and maintaining older friendships. I’ve built a nice little network of friends in my little corner of Los Angeles that I really love though one of my most favorite people moved to NYC. 

 

In reflecting on my life since I last posted over a year ago, I can’t say that I’ve necessarily reached any concrete goals but I also don’t think I set any goals other than trying to maintain a structured and loving household now that there are 3 kids. I knew it would be hard. I did not know it would be this hard, but we are doing it and I can’t believe how far along my hubs and I have come since meeting that day in Jerusalem (read that story here). Blogging isn’t the only thing that’s been left to the wayside since birthing a 3rd human (I remember this thing, ‘exercise’? I’ve heard of it but . . .) but my beloved friends who have been in the parenting game longer than me keep reminding me that I’m in the thick of it right now. I need to remember to be kind to myself and remind myself that these little kiddos won’t be so little for long so try, TRY, to enjoy it. And I do. I honestly really do. 

Lemon Garlic Broccoli Meatballs

1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 egg
1/2 cup matzah meal
2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1/2 cup Pardes riced broccoli – defrosted and thoroughly dried
3 tbsp oil
 
Lemon Garlic Sauce
3 tbsp margarine
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Chopped parsley (optional)
 
Directions
 
Place all ingredients for meatballs into a large bowl. Mix with hands (you get a more even mixture if you do this by hand). Shape into golf ball-sized balls and set aside.
 
Add the 3 tbsp of oil to a large frying pan and place over medium-low heat. Cook the meatballs for 8 – 10 minutes on all sides, until browned and cooked through. Remove to a clean plate and set aside.  
 
In the same skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of margarine. Add lemon juice and minced garlic to melted margarine and let simmer for 3 – 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if you feel you need more acid (a.k.a. lemon juice). Put meatballs back into the skillet and let the sauce and meatballs cook together for an additional 2 – 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Garnish with parsley for added flare. Serve hot!
 
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An Organic Watch for Your Organic Life – a JORD GIVEAWAY
03/19/18

It’s been coming for a while. It’s not great seeing as how my entire side-hustle relies on it, but I have slowly and surely been finding myself removing my need and want to be so attached to my phone. If you follow me on Instagram, you might notice that I got through spurts of inactivity. A lot of the time my inactivity is a result of being busy with work and home. Sometimes I look at my phone and I feel actual heebie-jeebies. Like I know I’m supposed to be posting on Instagram at least 2 to 3 times a day if I want my follower numbers to increase, yada yada yada. But here’s the thing, I spend a lot of my job trying to educate parents and teachers about how to create boundaries around cell phone and social media use so I feel like a real big hypocrite if I’m on it all the time. The worst is at night. I’m now 35 weeks pregnant and sleeping has become a bit of a chore but I do want to sleep and I don’t want that little blue light inhibiting what melatonin development is actually happening. And yet, I’ve become reliant on it — especially for the time. A simple press of that home button and I get the time but I also open the gateway drug for social media usage. That simple look at the time is like an invitation to just open it and start scrolling and so when the JORD watch company contacted me about their gorgeous, luxury handmade wood watches, I was intrigued. Thanks to my former addiction to my cell phone, I hadn’t worn an actual watch in years. But I love to accessorize and I need something to stop me from hitting that home button of doom on my cell so I accepted their offer for one of their gorgeous watches and I’m so glad I did!

The watch is absolutely stunning and unique. After learning more about JORD watches, I discovered this watch company values sustainability and efficiency. Their watches are built to sustain usage. It’s not just something beautiful to look at but it’s also a watch that can sustain a full-time working mother of 2.5 kids. That’s saying something! Also, for folks with a nickel allergy (like my mama), you can relax! JORD watches are made with 100% natural wood and we refrain from the use of toxic chemicals to either treat or protect the wood and  feature stainless steel (304) clasps.

 

So I’m hoping I’ve whet your appetite for one of these chic watches because you have the opportunity to win by click here a $100 credit towards a watch of your choosing. JORD watches offers free shipping worldwide so my friends who live overseas can participate as well! Hooray! Inclusion! I absolutely love the variety of watches offered, which you can check them out here. I ordered the Frankie Series, which you can see here, and I highly recommend. Since every day is ‘Treat yo’self’ Day and Mother’s Day AND Father’s Day are both fast approaching, you’ve got a variety of ways to use that very generous $100 credit.

One lucky winner will receive the $100 gift card to spend on any time piece of your choice but you only have until April 1st to enter so get going and good luck!

 

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by JORD Watches. All opinions are my own.


Luxury Wooden Watch

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