Recipe Category Archives: 30 Minutes or Less

Vegan Black Bean Burgers Recipe

By on March 10, 2017 in

adapted from Levana Cooks, using Garden Vegetable Levana Nourishments

My Black Bean Burgers are Vegan AND Gluten-Free!

If you are carb-conscious, you’ll be happy to know my BBB are so hearty, nourishing and filling you will enjoy them even sans bun, so as not to pile on too many carbs at one seating.

I make no end of Burgers: Meat, Fish, Poultry and Vegetarian, check them all out. But in this recipe, I am aiming at something else:

Black Bean Burgers are a wonderful way of getting your fill of fiber and protein!

They look and taste so much like their meaty counterparts, it will leave you scratching your head! While the flavor lineup in my black bean burgers is decidedly Latin, feel free to vary the seasonings to suit your taste. Likewise, experiment with cooked red or white beans, lentils, quinoa or kasha. Same with other flours: Chickpea flour, lentil, buckwheat, brown rice etc….

The nutritional yeast flakes will give the black bean burgers a pleasantly cheesy flavor, the vegan way.

The burgers freeze beautifully, and they are delicious at room temperature too.

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Sweet Potato Olive Tajine Recipe

By on March 10, 2017 in

adapted from Levana Cooks, using Garden Vegetable Levana Nourishmentssweet potato tajine

 

 

Attention sweet potato lovers:

This is a wonderful way to expand on your repertoire, and enjoy it more often.

We don’t often think of pairing it with bold assertive ingredients like olives, lemon and cilantro: this is a real winner! The humble Sweet Potato looks and tastes quite chic in this Moroccan dish.

We Sephardis love Stovetop cooking.

It will only get better the second and even the third day, so don’t worry about making the whole batch.

The dish will be just as good with half sweet potatoes and half carrots.

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Energy Bites. Quick Halva Recipe

By on March 10, 2017 in

adapted from Levana Cooks, using Vanilla Bean Levana Nourishments

halva energy bites

My Energy Bites start with my Quick Halva

We all love the wonderful taste of halva, that great Sephardi dessert classic confection starring Tehina paste and sold all over Israeli and Middle Eastern markets, but hardly ever get near it because of the prohibitive amount of sugar it contains. I tinkered with the flavors, using Tehina as my base, until I obtained this delicious and infinitely less sweet approximation, lightly sweetened with agave syrup.

The best part is:

My Quick Halva Recipe makes Halva go from a guilty indulgence to perfectly delicious and super healthy energy bites:

Gluten-free friendly, take no time and don’t even cook or bake, and keep refrigerated for weeks. Attack of the munchies? One of these halva energy bites will hit the spot! You will never have to worry again that your teeth might walk away from one of those fabulous commercial halva bars we love but which don’t love us back!

If you are making this treat on short notice and don’t have time to let the mixture firm up to shape halva bites, don’t worry about a thing: Serve it the way I always serve it, never bothering to make halva bars. Great for sprinkling over yogurt too!

Pour the energy bites mixture into a serving bowl, and serve it with a spoon!

I love to tinker with tehina and halva flavors, in both savory and sweet preparations. I make my Maple Halva Mousse with store-bought Halva, and stretch the flavors to the hilt to end up with another wonderful, not-too-sweet and healthy Halva dessert.

There’s no reason you can’t explore with other nut butters: Peanut, almond or cashew butter will be perfectly suitable for these energy bites as well: That won’t make you halva, but it will make the perfect energy bites or energy bars!

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Frittata Recipe with All the Fixings!

By on February 14, 2017 in

adapted from Levana Cooks, using Garden Vegetable Levana Nourishments

frittata

Frittata is the Latin answer to our classic omelets:

It is an open-faced omelet, about an inch high, with other ingredients mixed into the egg mixture rather than used as a filling. The batter is poured into a large skillet and placed on a stovetop, just a few minutes until the bottom is set, then baked a few minutes in a hot oven until just set. It is then cut into wedges. Frittatas are great fun as amazingly versatile: you can use any filling you like, they are ready in minutes, and can be served hot or at room temperature. Also, one serving of frittata will include just about one egg if served as a first course, 2 eggs if it is served in larger portions as a main course, making it a good choice for all of us watching their egg, protein and calorie intake.

I will make a few suggestions, and you will have fun playing with the fillings and getting different results each time. A good-quality oven-proof large skillet is all you need to make  6 to 8 servings in one shot.

Frittata is good at room temperature too, so don’t worry about leftovers.

Scroll down for all the variations on Frittata!

Frozen spinach makes this frittata a pleasure to put together!

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Favorite Smoothies Recipes. Smoothie Bowl Variations

By on February 14, 2017 in

adapted from Levana Cooks, using Vanilla Bean Levana Nourishments

smoothie

Many smoothie joints have recently sprouted all over the city.

But none will whip up a smoothie as delicious, nutritious, inexpensive and quick as you will.

Scroll down for Smoothie bowl Variations

Use frozen fruit in your smoothies!

Why use ice, when frozen fruit will keep all your flavors intense and undiluted, and your smoothies nice and cold?

The only exception is the chocolate smoothie, which needs ice because all ingredients are at room temperature.

Bananas got too ripe? throw them in the freezer, and when ready to use them, just run your warm water faucet over them, the peel will come right off!

Smoothie Bowl: An ideally nutritious and complete meal.

smoothie bowl

 

 

Follow the recipe guidelines below, and add in your blender whatever good stuff you might have on hand, varying each time and getting an exciting variation each time:

– A handful of green leaves (kale, spinach, lettuce, parsley, mint etc…)
– Avocado, green apple, celery, cucumber, cauliflower, lemon (skin and all) etc…
– A scoop of nut or seed butter (almond, peanut, pumpkin, sunflower, cashew etc…)…
– Yogurt or buttermilk… dairy or dairy-free
– A scoop of raw oats

Use fruit juice sparingly if at all, as it will set you back with lots of unwanted sugar and calories.

Now play with your toppings:

Sliced fruit, berries, granola, coconut, cacao nibs etc…

 

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