Salmon with Yogurt Sauce

3-4 salmon filets
1 large onion
olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper

SAUCE:

1/4 cup yogurt
1/4 cup sour cream
1 T. lemon juice
1 bunch dill, chopped
1 T. grainy mustard
2-3 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp. honey
2 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350

1. Make sauce above by blending everything together

2. Chop onions into large slices and place along a baking sheet

3. Wash and pat dry salmon filets, then rub with olive oil, sprinkle with lemon juice, and add salt and pepper; place salmon on top of the sliced onions in the baking sheet

4. Add a couple tablespoons of water underneath onions (NOT to touch salmon), then bake for 6 minutes.

5. Remove, add a tablespoon of yogurt sauce on each filet, spread a little, then continue to bake until salmon is fully cooked (about 15-20 minutes)

Cucumber Dill Salad

1 large cucumber
1 orange pepper (or yellow; red would probably also be fine)
1 handful fresh dill, chopped
1/4 cup feta cheese

Dressing: 2-3 parts olive oil, 1 part balsamic vinegar, 1 part pomegranate syrup, salt to taste

1. Cut cucumber in half, then slice

2. Cut pepper into bite-sized strips; mix peppers, cucumbers, and dill together

3. Sprinkle dressing over salad, toss salad, then top with feta cheese.

Mango Avocado Salsa

This made an incredible quesadilla topping, and would probably also be delicious spooned over chicken or fish. This was a kind of "clean out the refrigerator" salsa, so you can add or subtract ingredients as you see fit. It goes really well with black beans, but if you aren't eating black beans you can probably put some directly into the salsa.

If you don't want it too spicy, you can take the seeds out of the jalapeno (how I like it), or if you really don't want it spicy you can leave the jalapeno out altogether.

Kudos to Elizabeth for adding the tomato and jalapeno (and for doing all the grunt work!)


Ingredients

2 ripe mangoes (preferably the yellow variety), peeled and cut into 1 cm. cubes
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1 ripe peach (with skin), cut into 1 cm. cubes
1 small tomato (roma or on the vine), cut into 1 cm. cubes
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
2 avocados, peeled and cut into 1 cm. cubes
Lime juice and salt to tastepp=

Ginger Honey Salmon

Ingredients

4 salmon filets
2 T. lime juice
2 T. honey
2 T. soy sauce
1 small shallot, finely chopped
1 1 x 2 inch knob ginger, finely chopped
1 T. black carraway seeds (can substitute black sesame seeds)
Salt and pepper to taste
olive oil for cooking

Directions

1. Mix together lime, honey, soy sauce, black carraway seeds, and 1/3 of the shallots and half the ginger; add salt and pepper to taste

2. Cook rest of the shallots and ginger in olive oil over medium heat in a large frying pan until fragrant (about 5 minutes)

3. Place the salmon on the frying pan, and brush the salmon generously with the honey-lime sauce (I was lazy and used a turkey baster

4. Cook on medium-high heat for about 7 minutes, or until cooked through on one side

5. Flip, brush on more sauce, and continue to cook on medium-high heat until cooked through

Lentil Soup

This is an easy and simple soup (other than dicing potatoes, which is sort of a pain) that is perfect for a quick snack or a cold night (just in time for summer!) This recipe makes a LOT of soup, which is okay because it makes good leftovers. Or you could just cut the recipe in half.

I like my soup a little chunky, which means I don't puree it at the end. If you're a pureest (ha!) you can certainly puree it if you feel like it. In that case, you probably won't need to dice the potatoes quite so small.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups red lentils
3 medium-sized potatoes, peeled diced into 1 cm cubes
1 medium white or yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, very finely chopped or put through a press
1/2 cup lemon juice (approximately; to taste)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. oregano
About 8 cups of water, vegetable stock, or chicken stock (or any combination thereof)
salt and pepper to taste (LOTS is good!)

Directions

1. Dump all ingredients into a large pot and cook on medium until it starts to boil

2. Reduce to medium-low heat and continue to boil/simmer for about 40 minutes (the lentils should have split nicely, so the color is not only nice and opaque but it actually starts to taste like lentils and not water); salt and pepper to taste.

Watermelon-Feta Salad

Just what it sounds like.

This simple salad makes an excellent snack, and you'll be surprised at how well the flavors blend together!

Ingredients:

1 whole watermelon flesh, cut into chunks or rolled into balls
1 bunch of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
1/2 cup (or more) feta cheese, crumbled

Just combine and enjoy!

Sut Muzlu (Turkish Banana Smoothie)

This is a yummy and healthy way to start your day, and surprisingly filling!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups milk
1 whole ripe banana
1 heaping soup spoon of almond meal (crushed almonds)
1 small spoon of honey
(a couple ice cubes if you want it cold)

Directions:

1. Blend together half the milk and the banana in slices

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until well-blended and bubbly at the top. Serve immediately.

Veggie Burgers

These are best served with Mango Avocado Salsa (trust me on this). You can also add anything you want to inside them, like shredded zucchini, spinach, or edamame. This is the basic recipe, but I recommend adding onto it!


Burgers

1 14. oz can black beans, drained (I used Bush's seasoned)
A handful or two of baby carrots, finely chopped (these don't cook much, so make it small!)
1 yellow onion, diced
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs (or regular bread crumbs)
1/4 cup wheat germ (or corn meal)
edamame/spinach/zucchini/etc.
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. salt
olive oil for cooking

1. Squish all ingredients (except olive oil) between your fingers until it's consistent. If you prefer a milder taste to the onions, you can saute them in olive oil until translucent before putting into your burgers.

2. Shape into patties big enough to fit your buns and cook in olive oil for 3 minutes a side until lightly browned; serve with salsa!

Buns

Here is the bun recipe in case you're feeling bold (or bored. Or both.)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water
2 envelopes yeast
3/4 cup warm milk (I find 45 seconds in the microwave does the trick!)
1/4 cup sugar (plus one pinch)
3 T. butter, melted but not too hot
2 teaspoons salt
about 5 cups flour (625 g.)
2 eggs
1 egg for brushing (optional; butter can also be used but the effect is not as nice)
sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. Proof yeast in a large bowl with the warm water with a pinch of sugar.

2. Add milk, sugar, butter, salt, and 2 cups of flour and mix with your hand

3. Stir in the 2 eggs

4. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough is formed

5. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes

6. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes

7. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces for buns, 16 pieces for sliders

8. Roll each piece into a ball and place on a lightly greased or parchment-covered baking sheet; cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 30-40 minutes

9. Preheat oven to 400

10. Brush buns with egg (or butter) and sprinkle on sesame seeds if you have them. P

11. Cook for 10-12 minutes

Sweet Potato Fries

New and improved method! The cornstarch makes for crispier fries, although of course they will never be as crunchy as deep fried regular potatoes.

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes
1/4 cup olive oil (approximately)
1-2 T. lime juice
1 T. cornstarch (approximate)
cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400

2. Peel and cut sweet potatoes into even-sized pieces.

3. Place potatoes on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, being careful to spread them out so they don't pile on top of each other

4. Drizzle olive oil over sweet potatoes, then ground pepper, a few pinches of salt, and a couple dashes of cayenne. Drizzle lime juice over the potatoes, then sprinkle cornstarch on the potatoes.

5. Mix with your hands until consistent and the cornstarch "disappears"

6. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn over and continue to bake for 10 minutes or so. Turn off the oven until they're the consistency you like!

Baba Ghanouj

I'm not sure if I spelled it right, but it sure is good! This is very simple for even the laziest cooks, and much better than the junk you get in a plastic container full of preservatives.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
3 T. olive oil
2 T. tahini
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
3 T. lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
3/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut eggplant in half lengthwise, rub olive oil on the two halves, and place face down on a cookie sheet. Cook for 35 minutes.

3. When the eggplant is out of the oven and slightly cooled off, scoop it into a food processor along with the other ingredients.

4. Pulse until JUST blended.

Vegan (almost) pesto sauce

This comes from Chef Chloe's blog with just a few modifications, and I'm just putting it here for safe keeping. It is really, REALLY good and so healthy it should be illegal.

Ingredients:

1 lb. fettucine
2 ripe avocados
A whole lot of basil (the entire container you buy from a grocery store; more never hurts)
1/2 cup pine nuts (since these are super expensive, you can sub half walnuts/half sunflower seeds, but won't be as good)
3-4 T. lemon juice (or whole lemon's worth)
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. honey

Directions

1. While boiling the pasta, mix everything else in a food processor. Toss pesto sauce with still warm pasta.

Can be served with sundried tomatoes.

Murat's Salmon Salad Sandwich

Ingredients

1 large pouch/can of salmon
1 tomato, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/3 long cucumber, cubed
several sprigs of dill, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
3 T. lemon juice
mayonaise
bread

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except mayonnaise and bread

2. Spread mayonnaise onto bread, add salad!

A good time had by all!

Lemon-Basil Chicken

This is a very light, easy to make chicken that's wonderful if you don't have a lot of time. It's much better with fresh herbs as opposed to dried (why would you ever use dried dill, by the way?)


Ingredients

3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (can also be done with whole thighs)
Juice of 1 lemon
1 T. white vinegar
several sprigs of fresh dill, chopped (or 2 T. dried)
several leaves of fresh basil, chopped (or 2 T. dried)
1 T. honey
1 T. grainy mustard
1 tsp. salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except chicken

2. Add chicken and marinate for 2 hours

3. Cook in a covered pan until chicken is cooked through

Breakfast smoothie

This was shown to me by my friend Alexis, who made this delicious smoothie for me when I went to visit her. It's healthy and delicious and is a lifesaver over passover when there isn't much to be found without corn syrup. It's also great to make a smoothie without any ice, which never really gets fully crushed in the blender. I love that I can get all those awesome berry nutrients without the expense and waste of the too-quick-to-rot fresh berries. My version has been slightly modified from hers.

Ingredients

1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
2 cups of frozen fruit (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and mangoes work well; mix them up!)
1/2 fresh banana (optional)

Some great additives: flax seeds, wheat germ, and/or a handful of frozen spinach (trust me, you won't taste it)

Directions

Blend in a blender! Nice and easy. If the blender can't seem to crush your berries, adding more liquid should do the trick.

Baked Salmon

Ingredients

2 salmon steaks or filets
1-2 heaping T. of grainy mustard (depending on taste)
1/4 T. olive oil
1/2 tsp. basil
1/8 cup lemon juice
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 bunch of fresh dill
Sliced lemon
Salt to taste (optional)


Directions

1. In a large bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice, mustard, basil and pepper. Add salmon steaks and marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (ideally turned halfway through so the marinade gets all over)

2. When the marinating is done, preheat oven to 375.

3. Place salmon filets on a sheet (one for each) of aluminium foil. Place sprigs of dill and lemon slices on top of the salmon and wrap up the foil.

4. Put wrapped salmon into a pyrex or glass plate and cook for 45 minutes, or until it will flake with a fork.

Murat's Chicken Soup

Soul food for everyone! This is about as basic and simple a chicken soup as you can get. It's really nice when you get sick (G-d fahbid!)

Ingredients

1/8 cup olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
Handful of chopped baby carrots (optional; I don't like cooked carrots ruining my soup!)
3 small potatoes, diced
2 gloves of garlic, chopped or minced
1/2 tsp. oregano
3+ T. lemon juice
Huge bunch of fresh dill, chopped
2 chicken breasts
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions

1. In a large soup pot, saute the onion in the olive oil. When it is almost translucent, add the garlic and saute that, too (tends to burn, be careful!)

2. Add the diced potatoes and chopped celery and fill the pot with water so it just covers all the ingredients

3. Add the chicken breast, lemon juice, oregano and dill to the pot. Cover with additional water if needed.

4. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

5. Once the chicken is cooked, pull it out of the pot and shred it with a knife; return shredded chicken to the pot

6. Salt and pepper to taste; voila!

Avocado and Tomato Salad

This is like a deconstructed guacomole. Makes a nice, light lunch.

Ingredients

2 avocados, cut into bite-size chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into bite-size chunks
Lime juice from 1 lime (or lime juice to taste)
4 T. olive oil
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
1 garlic clove, very finely choppped (optional)


Directions

Mix it all together, being careful not to mush the avocados. If you put too much lime juice, add more pepper/salt (and visa-versa). You can add jalepenos or cilantro if you want to.

Beetroot with apples and goat cheese

Exactly like it sounds. This is a surprisingly tasty recipe, despite the oddity of the combination. This is a great way to get your folate/fiber! My cousin Ilya made this recipe for me when I was visiting him, and it has made a beetroot fan out of this previous hater.


Ingredients

3 cooked beetroots (I buy them packaged, since I'm lazy, but if you are hardcore you can peel and steam them yourself)
2 granny smith apples, cored
Goat cheese


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375

2. Slice the beetroots and apples horizontally into 1/2 inch slices

3. Place the apples onto an aluminium foil lined cookie sheet and place the sliced beats on top

4. Put goat cheese on top, amount depending on your taste (I like it sliced into medallions [or the undignified "crottes", as they say in France], but you can crumble it on top if you want to keep it light)

5. Cook until goat cheese begins to melt and turn brown; the apples should be softened by now (and soaked with beetroot juice)

Just slice and enjoy! An excellent side dish.

Spinach with rice

Turkish soul food. This is surprisingly awesome for something that's good for you.

Ingredients

About 10-12 ounces of spinach (I use frozen, but fresh is always good!)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1/3 cup rice (I like basmati)
Olive oil for cooking
Salt and pepper to taste

(serve with plain yogurt)


Directions

1. Saute onion in olive oil in a medium pot (not a frying pan), adding the garlic a little later (garlic scorches, so be careful!)

2. Add spinach, tomato, rice, salt and pepper to the pot.

3. Cover the lid and cook for about 20 minutes on medium-low heat. The rice should be cooked through, but make sure before you take it off the burner

Guacamole

Best guacomole you've ever tasted, guaranteed. You can add jalepenos or cilantro (blech) if you really want to, but this is perfectly good as is, I promise.

Ingredients

2 avocados, cut into 1/2 inch chunks (you can mash it if you want, but why???)
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1 large clove of garlic, VERY finely chopped
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
Juice from 1-2 limes
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste


Directions

1. Mix together onions, garlic, and tomatoes

2. Fold in the avocados; stir if you want it mushier

3. Add salt, pepper, and lime to taste. If it's too limey, add more salt. Too salty, add more lime.