Memorial Day Weekend Baking

Banana muffins from scratch is probably the easiest baking I have ever done just because they don't involve using the mixer (if the batter is over-stirred it won't have the right consistency). For these muffins, first you mix 4 mashed bananas, one slightly beaten egg, 1/3 cup melted butter, and 1/2 cup sugar. Then in another bowl you mix together a tsp baking soda, a tsp baking powder, a tsp salt, and 1 and 1/2 cups flour (I used King Arthur white whole-wheat flour). Finallu mix together the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to overstir. I added some chocolate chips to a few of them. Adding walnuts to the batter would also be delicious. See the before and after photos. The great thing about these muffins is that they freeze really nicely.

Ratatouille!

With our powers combined, Ari and I make some delicious meals. For Shabbat this week, Ari and I made Ratatouille. We cut up two eggplants, three zucchinis, one squash, a red pepper, a yellow pepper, peeled Roma tomatoes and basil. We mixed all the veggies together in a dish and then baked with a cover for an hour at 350. We also prepared a salmon fillet, and then served the Ratatouille over egg noodles.

Chicken, Broccoli & Brown Rice

Over the weekend I found I still had chicken breasts I had frozen in the Soy Vay Terayaki marinade so I defrosted those and ADG grilled them on the Foreman while I made brown rice and broccoli (fresh broccoli: first blanched in boiling water for 3 minutes then shocked in ice cold water for 5 and then sauteed with garlic). The chicken breast doesn't look as appetizing as it was but it was a delicious and healthy meal we both enjoyed.

A Very Jewish Hangover Cure

Although this hardly qualifies as cooking, please take a look at Hannah's delicious looking bagel. The MOTs enjoyed bagels, lox and cream cheese for Saturday morning brunch...we just can't get enough.

שקשוקה=טעים מאוד

Dinner party on Saturday night with all the girls visiting from the ARL, along with Ari, Adam, and our friends Krystal and Tom. By special request (Alli), Ari and I cooked up shakshuka for everyone to enjoy. We hadn't made this in ages and I always forget how good it is. LKK made a delicious salad with baby heirloom tomatoes, cucumber, pepper jack cheese and balsamic vinaigrette.
!טעים מאוד

spinach artichoke dip

Thanks to my mother, this dip has pretty much become a Shira Zemel special: I brought it with me to New Years at Danny's, served it at two parties in my apartment and enjoyed its deliciousness with the girls this weekend. Unfortunately I don't have any shots of the dip being served but here is a photo of the final product in the Cuisinart (thanks YAJ). The dip was originally just an artichoke dip recipe given to me by my mom but then when I made it last year with Ari, it was his idea to add some spinach, which gives it nice color and added deliciousness. So we've got:canned artichoke, a bag of fresh spinach (steamed), Parmesan cheese, lowfat plain yogurt, lowfat mayo, all mashed together in the food processor and then baked through the oven for a half hour. Absolutely delicious and a huge hit with anyone who tries it. Shout-out to the dip's two biggest fans: ASC & HPGK

Bfast 4 dinna

Dinner tonight was pretty self-explanatory: I made us a veggie omelette with tomato, red pepper, green pepper (Dalia, I know, I'm sorry), and onion. Then I made home fries (1 cubed russet potato, 1 minced garlic clove, and diced onion--thanks Knowles) and we toasted a bagel to split. Breakfast for dinner is always the best.