Vegan carrot cake

 I've tried to make my favorite recipe vegan before and it didn't work so well. So I tried again today with a secret ingredient and it came out great.

2 cups shredded carrot

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup water

Put this in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook 5 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.

1 and a half cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

Sift all these together. Add the liquid plus 1/2 cup applesauce. Mix well.

Pour into loaf pan. Bake at 350 / 160 for 50 minutes. 

I made Schav!!! (Sorrel soup)

We got a bunch of farm greens including sorrel. So I decided to make Schav which I have never done. I left out the eggs and scallions. This is kind of like Portuguese kale soup but with a Russian flavor profile. The recipe is a mashup of two recipes I found online. One of the recipes called for sugar and lemon too, but I didn't add them.

o    4 tbsp oil

o    1 onion chopped

o    1 carrot grated

o    3 qt water or broth

o    4 medium potatoes

o    2 hard boiled eggs

o    2 bunches sorrel chopped

o    2 scallions chopped

o    2 tbsp dill diced

o    1tbsp salt adjust to taste

o    1 tsp pepper adjust to taste

Clean the sorrel and remove the stems. Chop onion and grate carrot.

Saute carrots and onions until soft. Add the water to the pot and season with salt and pepper.

Cut potatoes into cubes. Add the potatoes to the cooking ingredients. Boil for 10 minutes.

Prepare the sorrel and dill. Add to the pot.

Simmer for 10 more minutes.

Serve hot with a big dollop of sour cream or yogurt!

 

Pashtida with chard - Israeli comfort food

Pashtida means pie. The word comes from Italian originally, and entered the Jewish lexicon in the middle ages! Originally it meant a meat filled pie. Today in Israel, the word refers to a crustless quiche.

It's a comfort food because it's ubiquitous. If there's a shiva or other happy or sad occasion to cook for, someone will always make a pashtida. Lately even me. 

Chard is a common green in Israel. I don't know why but we don't have collard greens and we don't get much kale. If you can't get chard, the closest ingredient to substitute is spinach, but cook it for less time.

Additional note: I've been making this every week and have modified the recipe somewhat.  See the notes in the recipe below:

Ingredients:

1 leek or one large onion

2 cloves garlic - or less - you can omit this if you want.

1 bunch chard, chopped fine including stems. You can add more and add an additional egg. You can mix chard and kale or chard and spinach - just remember to cook each green for the time it needs - kale needs more time, spinach needs less.

2 or 3 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

200 g yogurt

1/2 cup grated cheddar or other cheese

salt and pepper

Other things that can add to the mix: chopped parsley or dill - about one tablespoon or two of either. 

Fry the leek or onion until translucent or slightly browning, add the chopped garlic and fry one minute, add the chard and cook for 3-5 minutes until it is soft.

Mix the other ingredients. Allow the vegetables to cool for a few minutes and then mix everything together.

The original recipe called for making this in a loaf pan, but I prefer a rectangular pan. Watch for how long to cook it based on the depth of the batter. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes until the pashtida is brown on top and set. Can be served hot or cold. 

I make this for mildly lactose intolerant so I use yogurt. The original recipe calls for cottage cheese. Of course anyone who lives here knows that US cottage cheese (and yogurt) are not the same as Israeli. So use your discretion, especially if you are in the USA.