It is nice to be home, but I hope that a little of my trip will always stay with me. A few sweet moments I will treasure...That first taste of fresh lemonade with mint at the Jerusalem YMCA--which is a beautiful structure committed to the peace of the city of peace...Soaking my feet in the Kinneret for hours as the sun set...Enjoying seeing Israel through the fresh eyes of my friends who had never visited the country before. I think we all really enjoyed the food and wished there was a cookbook on offer everywhere we stayed. The first leg of our journey was spent at a hotel in the center of Jerusalem called "Ayal". The chef there was pretty amazing and we couldn't get enough of the plethora of salads on offer. What a nice surprise this past Friday night when I made a carrot /chickpea salad for dinner from my cookbook "Plenty" by a famous Israeli Chef called Yotam Ottolenghi, and to my joy the flavor was super familiar. I am pretty sure that this was one of my favorite salads from the Ayal hotel. Here is the recipe with a few changes that I made while making it.
One of the first things that I did after I got home was to soak some chickpeas over night so that I could use fresh ones. I don't know if it was essential for this dish but that is how I started.
Chickpea saute with greek yogurt by Yotam Ottolenghi
The recipe calls for 8 cups of Swiss chard separated from the stalks and cooked in boiling salted water for 3 minutes then rinsed under cold water and chopped roughly. I bought a bag of shredded dark greens at Harris Teeter and I think it did just as well. I used about half of the bag.
rest of the ingredients:
1/3 cup of olive oil
4 carrots peeled and sliced
1 tsp. of caraway seeds
1 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas or canned ones that are rinsed
1 garlic clove crushed (I like the Frozen Dorot brand that takes the hard work out of garlic and other spices)
1 Tbsp. of chopped mint
1 Tbsp. of chopped cilantro (Both my sister in law and my daughter who claim they can't stand cilantro loved this dish--I forgot it was in there to warn them)
1 Tbsp. of Lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Heat up the olive oil in a large heavy sauce pan. Add the carrots and caraway seeds and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat. add the greens and the chickpeas and continue cooking for 6 minutes. Now add the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
To serve mix up 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil with salt and pepper and drizzle this over the salad. I put a mint leaf in the dressing on top and it made a lovely appetizer. It can be served warm or at room temperature so it is a nice appetizer to replace soup in the warm summer months.
Tomorrow I plan to share a fool proof Challah recipe. All for now.
Donna
One of the first things that I did after I got home was to soak some chickpeas over night so that I could use fresh ones. I don't know if it was essential for this dish but that is how I started.
Chickpea saute with greek yogurt by Yotam Ottolenghi
The recipe calls for 8 cups of Swiss chard separated from the stalks and cooked in boiling salted water for 3 minutes then rinsed under cold water and chopped roughly. I bought a bag of shredded dark greens at Harris Teeter and I think it did just as well. I used about half of the bag.
rest of the ingredients:
1/3 cup of olive oil
4 carrots peeled and sliced
1 tsp. of caraway seeds
1 1/2 cup of cooked chickpeas or canned ones that are rinsed
1 garlic clove crushed (I like the Frozen Dorot brand that takes the hard work out of garlic and other spices)
1 Tbsp. of chopped mint
1 Tbsp. of chopped cilantro (Both my sister in law and my daughter who claim they can't stand cilantro loved this dish--I forgot it was in there to warn them)
1 Tbsp. of Lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Heat up the olive oil in a large heavy sauce pan. Add the carrots and caraway seeds and sauté for 5 minutes on medium heat. add the greens and the chickpeas and continue cooking for 6 minutes. Now add the garlic, herbs, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
To serve mix up 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil with salt and pepper and drizzle this over the salad. I put a mint leaf in the dressing on top and it made a lovely appetizer. It can be served warm or at room temperature so it is a nice appetizer to replace soup in the warm summer months.
Tomorrow I plan to share a fool proof Challah recipe. All for now.
Donna