Review: Mayim’s Rainbow Cabbage Salad with Tahini-Lemon Dressing

As you read in this blog - Review: Mayim's Vegan Table - Kosher Hubby and I each selected a recipe we wanted to make out of Mayim's new cookbook to review. This is the one Kosher Hubby chose. He wanted something without pasta, bread, potatoes, etc. We just don't have those items in our diet, or at least very often. He chose this because he enjoys cabbage salad and thought it would be a great addition to our dinner. If you want to see my choice, it is here - Review: Mayim's Shepherd's Pie.Again here, she says it serves 4 people but it lasted for more than a week in our fridge. Know your tahini... we selected a common, Kosher brand and I found the flavor overpowering and ... not great. I've had tahini before and enjoy it. I did not enjoy this particular product. Kosher Hubby (KH) added his own flare and flavoring to the dressing.[ingredients]Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Using a rimmed baking sheet, toast the seeds for 8 to 10 minutes, watching closely. You can also use a toaster oven until the seeds start to darken, or sauté them without oil in a small pan until they brown and become fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
2. Boil 8 cups of water while you chop the cabbage. Slice the cabbage in half through the stem. Slice each half in half again and chop roughly.
3. Place the chopped cabbage into a strainer over your sink and pour the boiling water over it. Rinse quickly with cold water. Dry the cabbage roughly with a (dark-colored) hand towel or in a salad spinner.
4. In a large bowl, mix together the celery, pepper, cabbage, shaved carrots, and parsley.
5. Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender (tahini, garlic, lemon, and cayenne). Add enough water to make a dressing consistency.
6. Add the dressing to the cabbage salad just before serving.

It was tasty and KH really enjoyed it. The strong tahini flavor really made it hard for me. We had some that wasn't quite dressed and I enjoyed it. Again I will say this here... I know that ethically, Mayim (and her co-author Dr. Jay Gordon) don't believe in eating animals and you can eat healthily without any type of animal products. We don't agree. In the Kosher, She Eats kitchen, meat is a very vital and central piece of the puzzle. We are really big animal protein people. I respect their views, I just don't agree with them. I found this dish to be another great parve side dish option for a dairy or meat meal.** Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free but I was not compensated for this or any posts related to Mayim's Vegan Table. Additionally, Mayim is a personal friend but that did not come into account while reviewing this cookbook. **

Review: Mayim's Shepherd's Pie

As you read in this blog - Review: Mayim's Vegan Table - Kosher Hubby and I each selected a recipe we wanted to make out of Mayim's new cookbook to review. This is the one I chose. I got really excited because for a long time, I thought Shepherd's Pie would probably be a delicious dish but it was never Kosher (since most include ground beef and dairy). Mayim's recipe offered me the opportunity to try something I couldn't before.She says it serves four. It lasted more than a week in our house (granted there were only two of us). We halved the potatoes because we don't eat much white starchy foods in the Kosher, She Eats kitchen. It still covered the whole dish and we found ourselves eating the goodies under the potatoes. I also did not use the vegan margarine... I just couldn't bring myself to buy it when I knew I wouldn't use it again or often. VERY surprisingly, the mashed potatoes still were tasty without it.Other adjustments? Like I said, we halved the recipe for the mashed potatoes section. We couldn't find canned lentils so we bought some store brand, dried red lentils. They didn't need to soak, just be throughly rinsed and boiled. We were just unsure what the conversion would be between dry lentils and the can... we did about a cup, it could have taken some more. Also, I recommend prepping all the ingredients PRIOR to getting started. It will just help, things move pretty quickly.[ingredients]Preparation:

1. Prepare the potatoes:
   1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Oil a 9-inch baking pan with the cooking spray.
   2. Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender; about 29 minutes. Drain, return them to the pot, and mash.
   3. Place the nondairy milk and margarine in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the margarine has melted. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of the pepper, and then add to the mashed potatoes and stir well until incorporated.
2. In a large pan over high heat, heat the oil and sauté the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic until soft, about 8 minutes.
3. Add the Italian seasoning and cook for 30 seconds.
4. Add the lentils, peas, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and remaining teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes.(I recommend combining the Worcestershire sauce and mustard in a bowl and mixing. It got a little lumpy and I was afraid of pockets of mustard.)
5. Pour into the prepared pan and spread the mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.

This reheats really nicely and is very tasty cold too. I ate it nearly every day for a week after we made it and enjoyed it each time! However, she uses this as a main dish. It just wouldn't fly in our house. We are really big animal protein people. I know that ethically, Mayim (and her co-author Dr. Jay Gordon) don't believe in eating animals and you can eat healthily without any type of animal products. We don't agree. In the Kosher, She Eats kitchen, meat is a very vital and central piece of the puzzle. I respect their views, I just don't agree with them. I found this dish to be a great parve option for a dairy or meat meal.** Disclosure: I received this cookbook for free but I was not compensated for this or any posts related to Mayim's Vegan Table. Additionally, Mayim is a personal friend but that did not come into account while reviewing this cookbook. **

Cauliflower Tabouli

For our first culinary adventure of our married life, we decided to make Cauliflower Tabouli during Passover. It was delish, tasted like the real thing and much healthier for us! This is our own, made up recipe based on ideas we saw around the web. Here's how to do it:Ingredients:

• Full head of cauliflower
• One bunch of parsley
• Half of a cucumber
• One tomato
• Zest from half of one lemon
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper
• Zatar to taste (optional but recommended)

Preparation:

1. Break apart the cauliflower, removing the greens and breaking the florets into small chunks. Then wash the florets.
2. In small batches, put the cauliflower into the food processor and pulse them until they look roughly like couscous. (AKA: are broken down into small pieces.) Don't over pulse them... you don't want mush, just tiny pieces.
3. Over a medium heat, in a non-stick pan, heat some olive oil and toss a batch of cauliflower on the heat. You can salt it here if you would like.
4. Cook for just a few minutes, tasting every so often until the cauliflower is partially cooked.Again, you don't want mush, you still want a bit of a crunch but not raw.
5. Once all the cauliflower is cooked, set aside. You can serve this dish warm or cold but I preferred it cold. So let the cauliflower rest and cool while you prepare the rest of the dish.
6. Dice the cucumber into small chunks and set aside.
7. Slice the tomato in half. Since we don't want this dish to be too "wet," I recommend scooping the seeds and juice out of the center then dicing the tomato. Set aside.
8. Take a bunch of parsley and wash thoroughly. Roll it up, and chop it.
   • Talia, what do you mean "roll it up and chop it?"
   1. • Well, remove the leaves from the stems. Once you have the leafy matter separate, literally roll it up into a little tube like object.
      • Once it is rolled up, start chopping from end to end. Be careful of your fingers!
      • Do a final chop of any big leaves that missed the knife before but this should take care of most of it.
9. Now, combine the cauliflower, cucumber, tomato, and parsley into a medium size bowl.
10. Mix them together and taste. Feel free to add more of any ingredient.
11. Season with lemon zest, olive oil, salt, pepper, and zatar.
12. Keep tasting until you get the proportions perfect. It is a personal taste situation.
13. Top with some lemon zest, olive oil, zatar and serve.

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We are back!

I want to apologize again for the lack of posts in the past few months. My husband and I were married on the 10th of March and now we are back from our honeymoon.We had some amazing culinary adventures in the South Pacific and we are ready to start posting new, fun Kosher ideas for you all. Again this year, we are planting our gardens so we are excited to have tons of fresh, fun produce to use in our recipes. Look forward to more pickling and easy but unique recipes. We have agreed to have one night a week (Sundays, generally) where we will explore new recipes.So stay tuned! And check back often!Here's a picture of the amazing fruit we bought at the local market in Vanuatu:From left to right: local mango (best thing we have ever tasted), custard apple, guava, star fruit, bananas (totally taste different than ours), and papaya.