I am quite behind on blogging! I have been looking for a full time job. I have two interviews set up for next week. In addition, I have taken on a second freelance job. Also, and this is crucial, every time that I'm near my computer that my son is awake, I have to look at penguins. I have a lot of new links for my new penguin fan readers. But in this post I am going to try to catch up on blogging my cooking.
Last weekend our family had dinner together, just the three of us, and then we had a bunch of friends to the house for lunch. I baked challah and it was incredibly good and I was not too exhausted to do it and also cook. I am getting into making the pull-apart yud beis loaves. This week I think I'm going to skip baking because it's so hot and I have to get a haircut tomorrow morning so I'll be presentable at my job interviews.
The exciting thing in last week's cooking was making a stuffed zucchini recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I borrowed the cookbook because I know that my readers are all having the same problems I am making vegetarian (and even omnivorous) cholent. I want to test a lot of the recipes and ideas so I can report back. I tested out this recipe for zukes stuffed with chipotle rice. The recipe was excellent--I mean the rice stuffing was nicely spiced and tasty-- and the cooker worked pretty well. You don't add liquid and the zucchinis sweat water into the pot. My cooker is a bit slow and I also stacked two layers of zukes. I think I need some practice.
This week I am going to do it again! I will be using another stuffed squash recipe. My husband bought Lebanese squash (called koosa) at the farmer's market. I want to make a Middle Eastern stuffed zucchini. The most traditional Lebanese recipe is with lamb and rice. You can find it on the Dove's food website, and also a nice zucchini with cheese dish. But we don't eat meat or cheese, so I'm going to have to improvise and let you know. (I never write about Middle East politics here--I can leave that to the Dove and other voices in my blogroll. They all disagree with each other on major things and are all smart, let them be like the chorus of commentators in the margins of the Talmud. Except more upsetting.)
I also made a very nice cold spinach soup.
Very Nice Cold Spinach Soup
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 small Yukon Gold potatoes, chopped
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed obsessively and chopped
2 cups soy milk (or to taste)
salt and pepperSauté onion in oil in your soup pot until onion is golden and very sweet, about 20 minutes. Add potatoes and turn in the oil to flavor them. Add about 5 cups water and simmer another 30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Turn off the heat and put the spinach on top. Stir it in so that it melts into the soup. Take your trusty immersion blender and purée the soup. Add soy milk to make it the right consistency and chill. Season with salt and pepper after it is cold. (It doesn't have to be soy milk, use whatever milky thing you like: rice milk, oat milk, almond milk, cow milk, goat milk, sheep milk, yak milk...whatever floats your boat.)
I also made Kasha Varnishkas, which everyone, but especially my toddler, loves.
Okay, more cooking tomorrow!
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