Herring in sour cream

Herring in Sour Cream Sauce

(from my mother, Helen Schine Gold)

This is a delicious appetizer, best served on a good rye bread or freshly made artisan bread. It's very easy to make--the only difficult part is remembering to put it together two or three days before you want to serve it!

8 oz. sour cream

1 32-oz jar herring in wine sauce

2/3 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

1 t. pickling spices

3 medium onions, thinly sliced

Bring vinegar, sugar, and pickling spices to a boil.  Strain out spices and discard.  Cool the liquid.

Drain herring and discard onions.  Place herring in a bowl.  Add the sliced onions.

Blend vinegar mixture and sour cream.  Pour over herring and onions.  Marinate 2-3 days, mixing occasionally.

Will keep for weeks in the refrigerator.

Baked Onion Rings

Baked Onion Rings

Adapted from WeightWatchers Hit the Spot Cookbook (2009)

serves 2

1/2 c. all-purpose flour

1 c. low-fat buttermilk

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

1/2 c. Italian-seasoned bread crumbs

1 large sweet onion, cut crosswise into 1/2 inch rounds and separated into rings

Preheat the oven to 450.  Spray a large baking sheet with olive-oil spray.

Put the flour in a large ziplock baggie.  Pour the buttermilk into a shallow bowl; mix in salt and pepper.  Put the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl or plate.

Put about a third of the onion rings into the bag with the flour and shake to coat.  Dip the rings, one at a time, in the buttermilk, then dip in the bread crumbs, and place on the baking sheet.

Bake until golden and crisp, about 20 minutes.

Per serving: 147 cal, 1 g fat, 3 g Fib

Tacos with refried beans

 TACOS WITH REFRIED BEANS

I first learned how to make this dish from one of my roommates in graduate school, and have been enjoying it ever since.  It's one of those dishes where the ingredients are all pretty ordinary, and you can't imagine why anyone would recommend this to you, but it really is delicious! We generally have a couple of tortillas per person.

This also happens to be a great meal to serve when you don't know people's food avoidances—they can pick whatever they want to put in their tacos; you'd just want to have some corn tortillas available in case someone needs gluten-free.

flour tortillas (corn also work)
a can of vegetarian refried beans
chopped onions
chopped kalamata olives (or a small can of chopped olives, if you'd like to save time)
chopped tomatoes (unless I have garden tomatoes on hand, I use cherry tomatoes
shredded lettuce
salsa and/or Sriracha sauce

optional additions
diced avocado
shredded cheese
sour cream

Put the refried beans in a medium saucepan (preferably non-stick) and heat slowly, on a lot heat, until hot. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Put each ingredient in its own bowl and put out on the table.

Heat up the tortillas in the microwave (about 12 seconds per tortilla).  Or, you can heat them individually in a dry frying pan--very nice, but takes longer.

Put a tortilla on your plate, smear is with some refried beans, and then add whatever else you want of the other ingredients.

Split Pea Soup

This is one of those recipes that I look at each time I make it, and think, because of the simplicity of the ingredients, "Can it really be as good as I remember it?"  It is!  The bit of cloves gives just a little edge of special flavor.

Split Pea Soup (6 servings)

adapted from The Mayo Clinic-Williams Sonoma Cookbook

2 cups split pea

1 T. olive oil

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 onions, chopped

1/2 t. ground pepper

4-1/2 cups water, plus more as needed

1 can vegetable (or chicken) broth

1 bay leaves

1/2 t. dried thyme

1/8 t. ground cloves

         Rinse split peas under cold running water. Drain.  In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat the oil.  Add celery, carrots, garlic, onion, and pepper.  Sauté until the onions are translucent, about 5-7 minutes.

          Stir in the split peas, water, broth, bay leaf, thyme, and cloves and bring to a boil.  

         Reduce heat to low, cover partially, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the soup is thick and the peas are mushy, about 80 minutes.  If the soup seems too thick, stir in additional water.  Remove bay leaf.

Harira--two types

I first had this soup in Jerusalem, while there for a week to attend a conference. I was staying at the YMCA (small room, but great location and an indoor pool big enough to swim laps). It also has a restaurant with a lovely outdoor terrace, where I ordered the harira more than once. Once I got home, I searched out a recipe, and found two versions that I like very much, one vegetarian and one with meat. This soup is both delicious and comforting.

HARIRA (vegetarian)

from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

serves 4-6

total time: 1 hour

1 cup chopped onions

4 cups vegetable stock

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 t. turmeric

1 T. grated fresh ginger root

1/8 t. cayenne

1 cup peeled and diced carrots

1/2 cup diced celery

1 cup undrained canned tomatoes, chopped

1-1/2 cups diced potatoes

pinch of saffron

1 cup cooked lentils (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup dried)

1 cup drained cooked chickpeas

1-2 T. chopped fresh cilantro

1 T. fresh lemon juice (I use lime)

salt and black pepper to tast

lemon (or lime) wedges

In a covered soup pot, simmer the onions in 1 cup of the stock for 10 minutes.  Combine the cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, and cayenne in a small bowl and add 2-3 T. of the hot liquid to form a paste.  Stir this paste into the pot along with the carrots, celery, and the remaining stock.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 min.  Add the tomatoes and potatoes and continue to cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.  Crumble in the saffron.  Stir in the lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Reheat.  Serve with lemon wedges.

Harira (with meat)

from The New York Times International Cookbook

8-10 servings

1/2 cup barley

1/3 cup lentils

1/3 cup split peas

2 lbs. shin of beef (meat and bones)

3 T. vegetable oil

3 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrot

1 T. turmeric

10 cups beef stock or water

salt and freshly ground pepper1/2 cup uncooked rice

1 cup canned, drained chick-peas

1-1/2 T. all-purpose flour

1 egg, lightly beaten

lime juice, lemon juice, or vinegar to taste

1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander

lime wedges

            1. Place the barley in a mixing bowl and add water to cover.  Soak overnight.  If package directions indicate it, soak the lentils and split peas overnight.

            2. Cut the meat from the bones of the shin of beef.  Cut the meat into small cubes.  Reserve the bones.

            3. In a kettle, heat the oil and add the onion, celery, and carrot.  Cook, stirring, until the vegetables give up most of their moisture.  Add the meat and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture browns,  Sprinkle with the turmeric and add the bones.  Stir in the beef stock or water and add salt and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, partly cover, and simmer, skimming the surface to remove foam and fat.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, about one hour.  Take out bones.

            4. Drain and add the barley, lentils, and split peas and simmer 15 minutes.  Add the rice and chick-peas and cook thirty minutes longer.

            5. Place the flour in a small mixing bowl and blend with a little of the soup.  Return this to the kettle, stirring. Beat the egg with a little soup liquid and add it.  Bring just to a boil, but do not boil.  Add the lime juice and coriander and serve, with a lime wedge on the side.

            Note:  If this soup stands it will become thick.  If it is to be served later, thin it with more beef broth.