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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Homemade Half-Sour Pickles

This year, we planted a garden filled with all of my favorite vegetables... turns out, most of my favorites are viners  and prickly!

We have had lots of squash and cucumbers and tomatoes. With this extra produce, we decided to play with pickling and in particular, make our own pickles! We both spent a lot of time on the East Coast and LOVE our half-sours! Here is the recipe we used/made up. Try them with some farmer's market cucs and then next year, grow your own! :)

What kind of cucumbers did we use? We grew the typical small pickling cucs and our plot neighbors were growing salt and pepper cucumbers. Since we were plot sitting for them (watering and picking) we ended up with several of different kinds of cucumbers. As for pickles, Dan liked the small green cucumbers we grew best and I liked the lighter salt and pepper cucs better as pickles. We may even explore pickling lemon cucumbers next! Pick them when they are small and if you are buying them, the younger the better. Larger ones taste very different and sometimes you have to skin them.Never heard of a half-sour pickle? Oh I am SO SORRY for you!! These little guys are DELISH!  John Thorne (The Dill Crock, 1984) describes half-sours as "cucumbers still, not pickles-little cucumbers who died and gone to heaven."  It's so true! They are mild and perfect!

Here's our method:

Please note: our recipe is super free form. You can make a small batch or large. The only thing that is relatively exact is the salt...

Talia and Dan's Half-Sours

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt

• Coriander seeds

• Black peppercorns

• One bay leaf

• Garlic cloves

• Dill (stalks, flowers, and leaf)

• Cucumbers

• Water

• Optional: A fresh grape leaf

Directions:

1. Find a jar that fits the number of cucumbers you want to make. You can continue to add cucumbers in later if you want. Note: If you want to eat them half-sour —> plan to eat most in two weeks. The longer they sit, the more pickled they will become.

2. Place the pickles in the jar and cover them with cool water. Yes they will float but push them down and see how much water it needs to just cover all the cucs.

3. Then measure the water you put in. We did this by pouring the water out into a measuring cup.

4. You will need approx two tablespoons of kosher salt per liter of water. Don't be afraid to add a little more or less... just play!

5. Once you have measured out your salt, dissolve it in hot water. This makes it easier for the salt to work.

6. Now that it is dissolved, DON'T PUT IT ON THE CUCUMBERS! Whoah! Why the yelling, Talia? Because I don't want you to have mushy pickles! We like them nice and crunchy and the warm water will make them soft. Okay, now that we have calmed down, put some ice in that hot, salty water and cool it off.

7. While it is cooling off throw the rest of the ingredients on top of the cucumbers in the jar.

   • Throw some coriander seeds in the jar... It is a great flavor but should be secondary so don’t go overboard.

   • Put some black peppercorns in the jar also. Again, don't go crazy.

   • Toss a bay leaf on there. You can crack it in half first but Dan says just toss it in.

   • Two or three garlic cloves for a small jar, six or seven for a large jar (depends on how garlicky you want your pickles). You can cut them in half first if you want.

   • Dill time. Dill + cucumbers + salt = the flavor you love in pickles! So I recommend getting fresh, smelly dill from a farmers market or grow your own. If you can get the stalks and flowers in addition to the typical dill leaves (the stringy things you think of as dill), your pickles will be very happy. The stronger the dill smells, the better! Put half a head of flowers in a small jar or a head or two in a large one. Break some stalks into the jar and add the leaves.

8. The water should be cool by now so pour the salt water in and then fill the jar with cool/cold water. Remember how many cups you put in before? Yes, same number. It should just cover the cucumbers.

9. If you are using a large jar and the cucumbers won't stay submerged, place a glass or bowl in the water to help keep them down.

10. Let them sit on the counter for two-ish days. By the second day you should see some bubbles forming on surfaces in the jar and the water should start to be cloudy. This is GOOD! After two days, take one out and try it. Once the water is pretty cloudy, put them in the refrigerator. This slows the process down.

11. Enjoy!

This is a total experiment and eat project. Have no fear if they don't come out perfect... they continue to pickle as the days go on. But don't leave them out of the fridge too long or you will end up with full sours... unless you want full sours!

Let me know how yours come out!

---

2020 update:

We have been making this recipe now for 8 years and they work amazingly well. We put up 10-15 jars a year and eat them all year long!

Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves

I am sorry I have been slacking! I have had so many fun culinary adventures with my Sweet Boyfriend. We have been documenting them all and taking pictures. I have to get him to write here to tell you more about his smoking and grilling and fast cooking ways but for now, I'll share my side.A few weeks ago we went for a weekend walk through the neighborhood. It so happens that his neighborhood has TONS of cherry trees! We decided at the last minute to pick some of these super ripe cherries and use them. They were very small and the tart/pie style of cherry. We grabbed one of the bags provided for 'doggie cleanup' and started picking... We ended up with a pound and a half of cherries!We also picked up a few local, organic apricots at the farmers market in his neighborhood. Once we got home we were a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of cherries picked! I decided I wanted to make a cherry preserve or jam with the apricots. I researched online and found SavorySweetLife.com and her Cherry Jam recipe. We modified it, used less sugar, and added apricots. It turned out so well!

I really like this recipe because there is no pectin in it. It is an easy, simple, and healthy recipe. Sweet Boyfriend and I decided that it would be delish on chicken or duck. His parents and mine enjoyed their servings immensely.Here is the recipe and pictures. Mind you, there aren't really measurements here... seems hard, I know but just watch it and feel it. You will be fine!

Easy Cherry-Apricot Jam/Preserves:

Ingredients:

• Cherries (the more tart the better), stems and pits removed, and chopped
• Apricots, chopped and pitted (fresh, NOT DRIED)
• Lemon rind/juice
• Sugar

Directions:

• In a medium size pan, add chopped cherries, apricots, lemon rind, and lemon juice cooking on medium-high heat for 5 minutes. 
• Add a cup or two of sugar. Taste the brew and feel out how tart the cherries are. Do you need more sugar? Add slowly and taste frequently!
• Once the sugar is fully added, reduce heat to medium.
• Stir everything until sugar has dissolved.
• Cook for an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and cool.
• You can jar it or enjoy now!