Pastures of Plenty - Parshat Eikev

This Parsha, Parhsat Eikev, contains an abundance of food references. Wine, grain, water, bread, oil, lamb, veal, manna, wheat, barley, dates, pomegranates, figs, grapes, olives, and of course, milk and honey. This bounty awaiting the Nation of Israel probably has those complainers salivating. Turns out, those who’ve been complaining for years about the lack of desert food selection majorly failed the test God now reveals He was carrying out; to see if they would keep His commandments.




“He subjected you to the hardships of hunger and then gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had ever known, in order to teach you that man does not live on bread alone, but that man may live on anything that God decrees.” So yeah, they haven’t done so well. But they still get the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow (i.e. the land of Israel) because of the promise God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.



I for one am glad to hear that the Nation will be around so much food. Despite the fact that they have been a stiff necked, stubborn people, they have grown exponentially. What started out as a family of 70 coming down to Egypt with Jacob to avoid famine in Canaan, has turned into a nation as numerous as the stars in heaven. It’s gonna take a lot of food to keep them happy, and they’ll have to be weaned off of manna. Lucky for them there’s a special deal with the produce of the land of Israel - it’s not like in Egypt where they had to constantly water everything to get it to grow. The land of hills and valleys soaks water from the rains of heaven, and God looks after the agricultural cycle. But that whole system will fall apart if they stray from their relationship with God.



The abundant produce from the land of milk and honey has been my inspiration for this week’s recipes. First, I want to wish a happy anniversary to my honey, this Thursday marks three wonderful years since Sam and I got hitched! Before Sam and I were married we enjoyed a Shabbat dinner at our friends Jeremy and Jana in DC. Jana made these amazing stuffed dates with goat cheese and pistachio nuts. Aside from looking like little jewels, the balance of sweet and savory struck in the dish produced a rich and creamy bite size amuse-bouche. When I have replicated this dish at home I usually keep it low key- slit open a large Medjool date, remove the pit and just spoon some goat cheese into the center. But I’ve spruced things up a bit for you and whipped the goat cheese up first with some crushed pistachio nuts and milk and adorned each date with a green morsel of nutmeat.




The second recipe reflects just how excited and grateful I feel about the delicious local produce that we continue to get through our CSA. On our lazy Sunday afternoon I opened my vegetable drawer to retrieve the cilantro, basil, yellow squash, green peppers and ears of corn to make a sauteed medley with cheese and herbs. I served it to Sam while he was working on a family photograph project for several hours via skype (think over 4,500 slides) and he boasted to everyone on the other line about what good treatment he gets around here.




Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese and Pistachio Nuts



10 Medjool dates

5 tbsp of goat cheese


2.5 tbsp of shelled pistachios plus 10 beautiful shelled pistachios for garnish


Pinch of salt


1 tbsp milk



Make a slice along the length of each date and carefully remove the pit of the date. Try to keep the date as intact as possible. Chop the pistachios and put them in a bowl. Add the goat cheese, milk and a pinch of salt, then whip them all together with a spatula.

Once the cheese and nut mixture has reached a spreadable consistency spoon it into the dates evenly. Top each date with a pistachio and serve on a platter.



Summer Vegetable Medley with Herbs and Goat Cheese



1 yellow onion


2 green peppers


2 small yellow squash


2 ears of corn


olive oil


salt and pepper


2 tbsp basil, chopped


2 tbsp cilantro, chopped


4 tbsp of goat cheese


1 lime



Peel and dice the onion. Chop the squash and pepper - be sure to remove all the seeds and the white ribs from the pepper. 



Heat the olive oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onion. Let it brown for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.



In the mean time, shuck the corn, being careful to remove all the strands of corn silk, and cut off the tapered end of the cob. Stand the ear on the cut end and using a sharp knife, run the blade down the cob of corn to remove the kernels. Repeat this all around the cob until you have removed all the kernels.



Add the chopped vegetable and the corn kernels to the pot with the cooking onions. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the vegetables. Sauteed for 4 more minutes or until the green peppers are nice and bright. 

Transfer the vegetables to a serving bowl and add the goat cheese and herbs.

The goat cheese will melt from the warmth of the vegetables, which is just what you want. Cut the lime in half and squeeze the juice over the mixture. Stir until everything is mixed in well and serve warm or cold.

Olive Garden - Parshat Vaetchanan

Moses is at his speeches again in this week's portion, Parshat Vaetchanan. It’s like he’s been invited to the graduation ceremony of the nation of Israel and he has a few clear messages- go forth strongly, remember where you came from and be grateful, be proud of your Judaism, pass on what you’ve learned to the generation after you and don’t aggravate the big guy. Some heavy hitters appear in this speech- the Ten Commandments, the Shema, the verse that gets recited in synagogues when the Torah is lifted after reading from it and the text of the wise child of the Passover Haggadah. Basically, Moses really wants the nation to do well in the land, to keep a good relationship with God, and to do so means to adhere to his commandments, and to not forget to write.

The consequences of not following God’s rules are that they’ll be kicked out of the land. Don’t let God catch you making graven images or you’ll be evicted, expelled and scattered throughout the world. It might be tempting for the nation, Moses acknowledges, because the neighboring nations to Israel all use images in their worship of gods, but commandment #2 tells us that’s not the Jewish way. If you do go astray, however, and get kicked out, no matter where you are flung, you can still seek God out and return, and God will take you back. Because even if you forgot the covenant He made with you, God will never forget.

But Moses wants to fortify the nation against such mess ups so he continues dispersing advice. Another challenge coming up is they will soon have an abundance of food at their fingertips, as opposed to when they were in the desert, and they may forget that God is still the one sustaining them. Moses puts it so eloquently, so I have to quote him; “When your God brings you to the land that He swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, He will give to you great cities that you didn’t build, houses full of good things that you didn’t fill them with, cisterns that you didn’t hew, vineyards and olive groves that you didn’t plant- and you will eat your fill. So take care that you don’t forget God who freed you from the land of Egypt, from bondage.”

Moses really brings it full circle. He is pained that he can’t join them in the land of Israel, but he reminds them that this momentous occasion that they will soon experience is the culmination of the entire Torah and a journey that began with Abraham. It won’t be easy at first. They’ll have to fight the nations that live in the land and conquer it for themselves. But then they’ll settle in, get lots of free stuff, and make it their home. And look, they’ll have olives!

I love olives, especially Israeli olives, as you may have noticed from a picture in last week’s post. I even like the ones in a can – from Beit Hashitah. My parents once stayed at the kibbutz that makes them and instead of finding mints on their pillows at night there were cans of olives and pickles. My dad tried to trick me into believing that the swimming pool was filled with pickle juice (I can be pretty gullible but I knew nobody would swim in that!). Last year I put a can of Beit Hashitah green olives to use in a pesto recipe I found that would help me use some of the collard greens that I was getting in my CSA. Here is the recipe – I plan on bringing this to the Tehilla potluck lunch-n-learn for Shabbat lunch, where I’ll also be bringing the learning – join us if you’re in the area!

I want to wish a very happy birthday to my father in law Ruben. Had he been with the Israelites in this week's portion he would have been excited about the vineyards promised to them, since he greatly enjoys a good bottle of kosher wine. L-chaim- may you live to see 120 years!

Collard Green Olive Pesto

I came across this recipe while perusing my epicurious app on my iphone on a train ride home from work. In just one crossing of the MGH bridge I knew I was gonna love it.

1 bunch of collard greens

14 pitted canned green olives

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/3 cup of water

1/2 tsp of balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 pepper

1/2 cup of olive oil

(you can add 1/2 a cup of Parmesan cheese if you want it to be dairy)

Bring 5 quarts of water to boil. meanwhile, wash the collard greens and remove the leaves from the center ribs with a knife. Discard the ribs and immerse the leaves into boiling water. Simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the greens in a colander (you can use this water to make pasta if that's part of your plans for this lovely pesto) and press out as much water as you can.

In a blender, chop up the olives, garlic and then add the cooked collard greens, the water, vinegar, salt and pepper. Lastly add in the oil in an even stream with the blender running.

Serve the pesto warm or cold as a dip for bread, a shmear on sandwiches, a burger or stir fry topping, slather it on fish before baking, or of course toss with cooked pasta. Leftover pesto will keep for at least a week in the fridge. A great trick for freezing it is one I learned in Real Simple Magazine - freeze the pesto in single servings by putting it in a ziploc bag and scoring it with a chopstick – pressing it over the bag and forming a grid so you can break off a square of pesto after it freezes.

Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing - Parshat Devarim

We're onto the last book people! Devarim, or Deuteronomy, reviews a lot of what is found in the previous four books of the Torah. Moses looks back on his time with the nation and gives advice for their future in the land of Israel (when he will no longer be their leader). In this week's portion, Parshat Devarim, Moses recounts the path that they have taken to get to this point- poised on the other side of the Jordan, preparing to cross into the land. He recounts the nations they fought to get to this point, the new judicial system that helped him deal with the vast nation and his adjustment to Reuven and Gad's tribal request to remain on the other side of the Jordan for the sake of their livestock. It has been quite a journey for the nation and their leader.

I just spent two weeks leading a wonderful group of people on a CJP Young Adult Mission to Israel, exploring from Metulah in the North to The Dead Sea in the South. We stood in the room where the State was declared in Tel Aviv, kayaked near Israel's Northern border, volunteered in our sister city of Haifa, sweated it up Masadah to watch four people in our group have a bar/bat mitzvah, and we stung our eyes and stained our bathing suits with mud in the Dead Sea. We ended the trip with some spirituality, relaxation and reflection in Jerusalem - Shabbat, Yad Vashem and the Western Wall Tunnels. After the Mission Sam and I stayed in Israel for five more days, hanging with family in Kirya Tivon (near Haifa) - whose hospitality is top notch - then with friends in and around Jerusalem - whose kids are the cutest!









On our way back to the US we spent a fast paced 48 hours in Paris, where my favorite impressionist paintings hang in museums and whose entire cafe culture is tailor made for my favorite sport- people watching. Spain may have won the world cup while we were there but I spent more than four hours people watching from cafes around the city where ALL of the chairs are set facing out to the street (not towards one another)- watching chic Parisians, fellow tourists, students, Jews in kippot and sweet old couples make their way through the streets.

Aside from being with amazing people and seeing great sites on this trip, I ate very well. I want to dedicate this post to everyone on the 2010 YLD Mission who I enjoyed all this great food with (and tons of good times), and to my best travel buddy Sam - it was amazing to be with you in Israel and Pari!

There are two things mentioned in this week's portion that bring me back to a great night on our trip. One is that the Dead Sea is mentioned as part of the borders that the nation had conquered "From the Kineret to the Dead Sea" (chapter 3, verse 17). The second is the livestock of the tribes of Reuven and Gad, for which they request to remain on the other side of the Jordan but agree to help conquer the land of Israel. On the night I'm thinking of, we were staying at the Dead Sea and were taken to an amazing dinner in the desert. They were grilling all sorts of meat, and the chicken was some of the best ever. I'm not sure if chicken is technically considered livestock, but I am smitten with Israeli chicken- which is by and large deboned dark meat and drum sticks (Sam loves dark meat and I have been known to remove bones from chicken thighs and legs to make him kebobs). We ate to our hearts content that night and countless others and will miss all the grilled foods. So here are two recipes for you this week and a few pictures from our trip.

Sweet and Tangy Chicken Wings

I make these often in my broiler. The recipe if from Real Simple Magazine and I love the tangy ness of the apricot jelly with the balsamic vinegar.

Asian Short Ribs

Adapted from Jeff Nathan's Family Suppers: Bringing the Ones You Love to the Table

For the short Ribs
3/4 cup of soy sauce
3/4 cup of water
1/2 cup of rice wine vinegar
2 tsbp of sesame oil
6 garlic cloves, crushed with a good quality garlic crusher
Pinch of ground black pepper
6 scallions, thinly sliced
6 lbs of short ribs

Mix all of the above, minus the ribs, in a measuring cup or small bowl. Place the short ribs in a glass or Pyrex baking dish and cover with the marinade. Let it sit overnight. Flip the ribs and let marinate another 4-7 hours. 

Separate the ribs into batches of like-sizes; group the big ones with the big ones, medium with medium and small with small. Turn on the broiler. Start with the batch that has the smaller size ribs and cook for 4 minutes on each side. Next, cook the medium batch for 6 minutes on each side and then the large batch gets 7 minutes per side. Keep these in an oven at 150 degrees until you serve them.

The Grass is Always Greener - Parshiot Matot/Masai

This week’s double portion, Parshiot Matot/Masai will close up the book of Bamidbar, aka Numbers. That means only one book left to blog about, which is starting to sound bitter sweet to me. But I do still have the first 5 potions of Breishit (Genesis) to catch up on after the high holidays before I hopefully embark on turning this blog into a cookbook.

Poor Moses never gets a break. It seems that ever since he took the people out of Egypt they have been badgering him with complaints, concerns and challenges. They’re never really happy with their desert life accommodations, complaining incessantly about the lack of food variety (despite the heavenly manna) and the shortages of water. They’re afraid of the new land they’ll be entering and having to fight it’s inhabitants, and several times are led astray by rebellious leaders like the errant spies and the rebels who got swallowed by the land.

Aside from aggravating Moses they also are pretty good at pissing God off. At times Moses deals with these issues better than others. Last week when the daughters of Tzelofchad come with a proposed innovation, Moses goes with it. In a previous book, when others help in leading the nation by serving as judges he is not at all jealous that they too can prophesize with God. But other weeks he gets so frustrated and continually breaks down, falling on his face and needing God to pick him up by the boot straps and give him tools to deal with the situation.

This week Moses is challenged when two tribes ask him if they can stay on this side of the Jordan and not come into the land of Israel. This totally bums Moses out- what has he been working so hard for if not to delivering them safely to the promised land and now they don’t even want it? Moses himself isn’t allowed in and would kill for the chance to enter the land and here these people are willing to give up that opportunity so glibly?

Reuven and Gad are the tribes that request to stay on the fertile side of the Jordan they are now traversing. They explain that the land would be perfect for the large amounts of cattle they have acquired and now do business with. It’s bashert, meant to be, they think! Moses is really angry, and with steam coming out if his ears questions them – “So you expect your fellow tribes to enter the land and do all the fighting and dirty work for you?” "No, no," they explain, "we’ll come and fight every time we’re needed, but we want this area annexed for us." Moses fears they’ll be a bad influence on the rest of the nation and that others too will want to stay on the opposite side of the Jordan and never go into the land of Israel. It will have an effect like the negative report of the spies, and in Moses’ eyes these guys of the new generation are just as bad as their predecessors. But after more of Reuven and Gad’s assurances he relents and says that if they do fight until the end in the land of Israel they can have their request, but if not they will get the regular portion assigned to them.

I think there are several things to learn in the area of leadership from Moses and the Israelites. Number one is that the Jewish people are just stubborn complainers at the core and we shouldn’t expect anything different from them. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it’s also what has gotten us this far. And with that understanding, leaders of the people should spare themselves the continual chain of frustration at the people’s behavior and just meet them head on to deal with the issues and be ready for some compromising.

So let’s eat meat and remember all those cattle of the tribes of Reuven and Gad that precipitated this week’s story. I want to keep it light since it’s hard times cooking in a hot kitchen mid July. I’ve got another great salad to share with you. I love the combination of sweet soft peaches and tender savory thin slices of warm meat mixed in with the greens. I first made this salad in my second Cambridge apartment, an apartment which I think of as dinky, Sam refers to it as a dump. I’m glad to be out of there and that galley kitchen, but I do have some fond food memories from it. One of them is mixing this salad in a large metal bowl, feeling like a lunch time salad chef and oh so professional. The cooked meat is a treat that I don't include too often in salads, and it's balance with the soft fruit of the peach and the tangy balsamic dressing really tastes like summer.

Grilled Peaches and Steak Salad

2 peaches

2 pepper steaks (I get mine for free from Golden West because I write for their blog)

½ seedless cucumber sliced

½ cup of cherry tomatoes

Red leaf lettuce

1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar divided

¼ cup plus 2 tbsp of water

1 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp of sugar

2 cloves of garlic

Salt

Pepper

Marinate the steak in ¼ balsamic vinegar and ¼ of water for ½ an hour.

Slice the peaches in half and remove the pits. Keeping the skin on, place them cut side up on a broiler pan and broil for 3 minutes or until browned on top. Let them cool and then slice them into bit size pieces.

Broil the meat for 5 minutes on each side, remove from the broiler and let it rest on a cutting board. Once it has cooled a bit, slice it against the grain in thin slices.

Wash and spin dry the lettuce leaves. Toss them into a salad bowl and add in the peaches, steak, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes.

Mix up the dressing by adding the vinegar, 2 tbsp of water, olive oil, sugar, salt and pepper to a cup. Crush the garlic in and mix the dressing up. Toss over the salad and serve.

We Can Do It - Parshat Pinchas

In this week’s portion, Parshat Pinchas, the nation gets counted again, the holidays get reviewed, and Joshua gets publicly appointed as the successor of Moses. Amidst all this hoopla it’s easy for one of my favorite stories to get lost. The nation (numbering 601,730, and pacing slightly behind the count of the previous generation's 603,550) is assigned portions in the land of Israel that correspond to the size of the tribes and to the clans within them. But there is a family that is at risk of getting left out of this system because they have only daughters and the allocations are made to the men of the household.

These women, the daughters of Zelofchad, in the tribe of Menashe, come to Moses and explain their predicament. Machlah, Noah, Choglah, Milcah and Tirtzah tell him and the other leaders that their father died in the desert, not, they are quick to point out, because he had anything to do with the rebel Korach. They don’t want their father's name to be completely lost because he had no sons, and they request to have a portion of land within the clan. Well, this is something Moses isn’t really prepared for, but he doesn’t shut them down, instead he goes to consult God. God deems their plea to be logical and just and orders that their father’s share be transferred to them.

Moses let’s the nation know about an update to the rules: “If a man dies without any sons his property will be transferred to his daughters, if he has no daughters it goes to his brothers, if no brothers, to his father’s brothers, if none of them are around it goes to his nearest living relative in his own clan.” And at the end of the book they take on an additional responsibility that God commands in these situations- any daughter who inherits her father’s land must marry within the clan so that the clan and tribe can retain the land apportioned to them. The five daughters of Tzelofchad uphold this decree and marry the sons of their uncles.

The reason I like this story is because it’s one of the examples in the Bible of women’s leadership. I think of these five sisters as very strong ladies who are not only able to stick up for themselves but who really want to have a role in and influence on the nation of Israel. They are able to present their case in a clear and compelling way and because of them an innovation in the law is created and will help those who come after them. They pave the way for innovation in Jewish tradition while remaining committed to tradition and family. And so, I’ve got a recipe to share with you that is a new twist on an old recipe, or Jewish fusion cooking if you will.

How much more old school can you get than bagel, lox and cream cheese? It’s served at some big deal big Jewish events, which can lead to carb overload. At home, Sam and I like to make omelets with lox, cream cheese and scallions instead. Now this dish might not translate so well to a Shabbat meal since omelets are best served immediately after cooking, but I think you can make it on Sunday morning and it could still count.

A few months back Sam and I mastered the art of making amazing omelets in the French style. During the winter some friends were in town, Elitzur and Michal, and we were chatting about the movie Julie and Julia. They said that if we liked the movie we needed to watch some footage of Julia’s cooking shows to see how well Meryl Streep had nailed her character. So in searching on utube we found a clip of Julia making French omelets, which involves a very hot pan, butter, some dexterous wrist action, and much less time for the eggs to be in the pan than in any omelet I’d ever made. I want you to watch the video and I want to share her technique with you, without additions. These omelets are so fluffy – they are such a departure from the thick leaden ones we usually make at home or eat at a buffet.

French Omelet with Lox, Cream Cheese and Chives

Serves 2 people. Adapted from Julia Child’s “The French Chef…..

4 eggs

2 splashes of water

a pinch of salt

a pinch of pepper

2 tablespoons of cream cheese cut into small cubes

Handful of Scallions or chives chopped

4 slices of lox cut into bite size pieced and divided.

2 tbsp butter

First get the egg mixture all ready before you heat your pan – once that pan is hot it’s a quick process with no time to spare. Take two measuring cups to prepare each serving in so that you’ll have each batch them ready to go. Crack two eggs into the first measuring cup (first checking each for blood spots in a clear glass cup) and add a dash of salt and pepper as well as a splash of water and stir briefly with a fork, but not too much. Do the same in the second cup. Also have at the ready two plates to flip the omelets onto as soon as they’re done.

Place an 8 inch non stick frying pan over high heat and add a tablespoon of butter. Let the butter melt and bubble for just under a minute. Spread it around your pan with a silicone baking brush and make sure you go over the periphery of the pan. Add the first egg mixture and swirl it around the pan to evenly coat the bottom. Drop in half the cream cheese and the lox and let them sit on top of the eggs. Wait a few second for the eggs to bubble themselves and then grab the pan by the handle and jerk it back and forth several times to get the omelet to fold over on itself (it’s good to watch the clip for this technique) and flip onto a plate. Sprinkle with half of the chopped scallions or chives and serve right way.

A Blessing on Your Head - Parshat Balack

The Nation of Israel is kicking butt right and left as they make their way to the promised land, putting the fear of God into some of the neighboring nations. Well, more like fear of the Israelites. In this week's Portion, Parshat Balak, the King of the Midianites, Balak, is frightened that the Israelites will overtake them, so as a preventative measure he sends for an oracle to curse the Israelites and keep them away from the Midianites. The oracle called upon to do the job is a man named Balam, but he faces some issues in carrying out the job. God tells him that under no circumstances is he to curse the Israelites because they are a blessed people. Obligingly, Balam refuses to go to Balak to curse the Israelites.

But Balak is a stubborn king (and what king isn’t?) and sends for Balam again. He just doesn’t seem to understand that no matter how much money he offers, Balam won’t be cursing the people. Balam does eventually end up going to the king at the instruction of God with the condition that he not say anything other than what God tells him to say. On the journey God wants to make the point abundantly clear and we have a case of fairytale-like anthropomorphism. The donkey that Balam rides on the journey starts to freak out. Balam has never before had trouble with this particular animal and tries to keep it in line by hitting it with a stick. Three times the donkey strays from the path and stops walking; veering into a field, ramming Balam’s leg into a wall, and finally laying down and refusing to go anywhere. Each time Balam reacts by hitting the poor animal, but what Balam can’t see is that the donkey has been scared by an angel of God who has appeared on the path brandishing a sword.

God opens the mouth of the donkey and it speaks to Balam “Why have you hit me three times?” Balam, apparently not too surprised that his donkey is now conversant in something other than braying, answers that it’s because he’s made him look like a fool. “Look” the donkey levels with him, “in all my service to you have I ever disobeyed you?” Hmm... thinks Balam, the ass has a good point. God then opens Balam’s eyes and he sees the menacing angel that has been in the path all along and understands. Balam knows that once he gets to Balak he is the mouth-piece of God and must do as He instructs.

When Balam finally reaches Balak he explains his situation, the whole can’t-say-anything-God-doesn’t-want-him-to situation, and instructs Balak to build seven alters to offer sacrifices to God. They are on an overlook where they can see the nation of Israel. Balam pronounces a lengthy blessing on Israel and Balak is incensed. “I brought you here to curse these people, what are you doing?” Balam again explains that he can only convey the words that God is putting in his mouth, but Balak isn’t catching on. Balak tries to take him to another vantage point, hopefully more suitable for nation cursing, but the same thing goes down. He builds alters and offers sacrifices but Balam can only offer blessings. Balak foolishly tries this several more times, thinking he can outsmart God. But of course, all Balam is able to do is bless the people.

There are two stubborn characters in the portion providing some fodder for my recipes this week. Donkeys have always been portrayed as stubborn beasts, and the one in this story is only half as stubborn as King Balak. To evoke both of them at the Shabbat table I’ll be making a salad with some alfalfa sprouts, one of the choice grazing material for donkeys. I’ll also be adding into the salad some hearts of palm to evoke the multiple blessings that the nation receives from Balam. In one of the blessings Balam likens the nation to palm groves; “How fair are your tents O Jacob, your dwellings O Israel. Like palm groves that stretch out, like gardens besides a river.”

I’ve been getting great heads of deep red lettuce and rich green romaine in our CSA, which I’m working on using up each week. With all the farmer's markets around now I’m sure you’ll find some great sprouts for the salad. The hearts of palm are easy to buy canned in a supermarket, and while they aren’t a colorful addition to a salad, they’ve got a great taste and a nice circular shape. In the summer salads can really become the focal point of a meal. Here are my top tips to making a centerpiece worthy salad – keep it colorful, try to strike a balance between sweet and savory and add in some protein like sliced egg, chickpeas, nuts or chicken. Serving something cold can keep your oven off, which keeps my apartment much cooler!

Hearts of Palm and Sprouts Salad

A head of red or romaine lettuce

A handful of dried cranberries

Canned Chickpeas

Canned hearts of Palm

Fresh alfalfa sprouts

Cherry tomatoes

Optional protein such as Chicken breasts, pepper steak, egg or tofu

1 lemon

2 teaspoons of olive oil
Dash of water
1 teaspoon or coarse salt garlic

First prepare my favorite dressing. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze both halves with a handled squeezer into a cup. Crush the garlic clove with a good quality crusher into the cup. Add oil, water and salt.

Then wash the lettuce, spin it dry in a salad spinner and add it to a large salad bowl. Throw in the cranberries and alfalfa sprouts. Rinse the chickpeas and add them too. Slice the hearts of palms into ¼ inch thick slices.

If you’re using the protein follow these instructions. For eggs add them to a pot and cover with boiling water. I use a timer that goes in the water and changes color to show the degree to which the egg is being cooked. Cook them to medium, about 7 minutes of boiling, let them cool and then peel and slice them. For chicken, marinate in some olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and then put under your broiled for 5 minutes on each side, let cool and slice into bite size pieces. Do the same for the pepper steak or tofu but marinate it in soy sauce, scallions, garlic and pepper for a few hours. Add the protein to the top of the salad and then dress right before serving.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Parshat Chukat

Parched. Thirsty. In Need of Water! These are protest banner slogans that the Nation of Israel may have made in this week's Portion, Parshat Chukat, to let Moses know about their H2O laments. This is only one of the issues that makes this is a tough portion for Moses. Aside from having the nation complaining once again with their laments of life in the desert and their longing for their Egyptian lifestyles, he looses his sister and brother. Miriam's passing is recounted towards the beginning of the portion and Aron's at the end. And then there's the story of the rock that crushes Moses's life-long dream.


Enter the complaining nation. "Why did you make us leave Egypt to bring us to this wretched place, a place with no grain or figs or vines or pomegranates? There isn't even water to drink!" Moses seeks God's help with the matter and is told to get the nation together and speak to a rock in front of everyone, commanding it to start flowing water (and it will - God's taking care of that part). Then the nation will not only have water to drink, they'll be impressed by Moses their leader and will understand that God does indeed take care of them.

But, Moses does a botch job. He hits the rock instead of talking to it nicely. Now, rewind 40 years in their desert journey and you have another incident where the nation is complaining for water. Moses asks God for help and God tells him to hit a rock in front of everyone and water will flow out for them to drink (for a refresher see Exodus chapter 17, verse 6). So Moses hits a rock with good results. Perhaps this confuses his performance in our portion. Despite the fact that he doesn't do what God commanded this time (to talk to the rock), water never the less comes out of the rock. But God then tells Moses that the deal is off and he can't lead the nation into the land of Israel. It's a really heartbreaking scene. After everything that Moses has endured as their leader, it's terrible that he won't get to that carrot at the end of the stick. He won't be allowed to enter the promised land with his people, God only lets him glance at it from afar. While this may seem totally unfair, God explains His reasoning to be "Because you didn't trust me enough to affirm my holiness in front of the nation."


However, when I was in high school I learned a different understanding of this twist in the story of Moses. In this portion there is a whole new generation than the one Moses started out leading. The group he started with has died off in the desert as punishment for their sins. This generation is a different group with different needs and the fact that Moses is treating them in the same way that he treated the previous generation may be indicative that he is no longer the right leader for them. In this light we can view Moses's early retirement as a strategic leadership decision on the part of God instead of a punishment. The nation needs a new leader who will understand them as a generation.


I learned this idea from my 11th and 12th grade Tanach (Bible) teacher, Rabbi Natti Helfgot. Rabbi Helfgot was the one who first got me excited about the text of Tanach, not only because he has such an engaging style of teaching, but because he got so visibly excited about the ideas in the text himself. I recently saw Rabbi Helfgot and many of my 23 class mates from the first graduating class of Ma'ayanot at our ten year high school reunion. It was a lot of fun to go back to the building where I participated in great extra curricular activities and learned an integrated curriculum. As an example, if we were studying Government in Social Studies, our Talmud classes were focused on Judicial law. I painted Monet's garden in art class, played on the intramural hockey team, and started a chapter of Free the Children. I switched to Ma'ayanot in the middle of 11th grade, a risky decision, but one of the best I have ever made. I really loved going to that school - I learned a ton, grew as a leader and my Jewish identity got an energy boost. It was perfect for me then but now it's a different place with a different principal, and while it made me nostalgic, maybe that's the right thing for the school. In the ten years since we have graduated, the school has grown in size and number and the population probably needed something different than us pioneers did. Akin to Moses's situation.


Well that was a nice trip down high school Memory Lane. Now it's time for the recipe. Looking over the food line in the portion, which can easily be located in the nation's complaint, a new ingredient jumped out at me that I haven't talked about yet in the book of Numbers: Grains. I recently made some tabouli that I took with me to work for lunch, and Emily requested that I share the recipe here. Tabouli is typically prepared with cooked bulgur and served cold, tossed with tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs. I like to use couscous as the base for mine, throw in some tomatoes, cucumbers, olives and mint, then squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top and toss with salt and pepper. I hope you enjoy the recipe below- it's a really wonderful summer dish. And I'm sure that nation of Israel would've been a happier bunch had they had this dish in the desert.



Couscous Tabouli

1/2 tsp salt
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cups of couscous
2.5 cups of water
2 tomatoes
1 cucumber
10 black olives (such as Kalamata olives, don't used canned olives)
3 sprigs of fresh mint leaves
2 lemons
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, add the water, salt and oil and bring to a boil over high heat. Once it reaches a boil, stir in the couscous and remove from the heat. Let the couscous sit in the pot with a cover on for 5 minutes. Then fluff with a fork and refrigerate to cool completely.

Slice the tomatoes, cucumbers and olives (de-pit the olives if they aren't already) into thin, bite size pieces. Chop the fresh mint leaves and add them, as well as the other vegetables to the cold couscous. Squeeze the lemons over the couscous mix and season with salt and pepper. Serve cold as a side dish or with tortilla chips as a snack.

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