Salad

Chickpea Salad

01Jan

Posted by Jacques & Chanelle What’s cooking at Beit Chai No Comments - -

This is a recipe we found on the internet many years ago.

It is one of the absolute favourite salads that we serve.

Most of the guests love this salad and more often than not ask us for the recipe.

Of course we have made our own adjustments to the recipe and sometimes we even adjust our adjustments depending on what we forgot to buy or our own mood while making the salad.

What you need for the salad

  • Chickpeas (we use frozen chickpeas)
  • Celery
  • Red onion
  • Dried apricots
  • Peanuts
  • Cilantro
  • Diced Red Pepper for colour (Optional add on)

What you need for the dressing

I will not give any exact amounts because I cannot – I never use any measuring system when making a dressing.

  • Mayonnaise
  • Curry Powder
  • Salt
  • Sugar
  • Vinegar (only enough to make the dressing a little bit runny)

Put the frozen chickpeas in a pot with water.  Bring it to boil. Only once it has boiled for a. while add your salt into the water.  If you add salt from the start it does not allow the chickpea to soften.  I like to already add some curry powder to the water at this stage.  It feels to me that the curry flavour then penetrates the chickpea (or maybe it is just my imagination).

Once the chickpeas are soft remove from the heat and drain the water and allow them to cool down. If you are using dried chickpeas remember to soak it in water for at least 8 hours before cooking it. You can always cheat and use canned chickpeas but I would not do it as I do not like the taste of canned chickpeas.

Jacques is an expert cutter so he is in charge of chopping the red onions for the salad.  He chops the onions nice and fine.  We have used white onions also but the red onion brings a nice colour to the salad.

The apricots we dice into small pieces about the size of the chickpeas (if I am lazy and Jacques is not watching then I use a scissor to cut them. The apricots can also be substituted with other dried fruit.  We have used cranberries or finely chopped dates (I do not prefer this as I really have very strong negative feelings about dates – I will not elaborate – come to Israel and ask me in person about this).  We definitely do not use raisins as Jacques does not eat raisins that are mixed with other food but if you do not mind then this is an option for you.

The celery we use only the stem and also chop it very finely so that the taste does not overpower the salad.

For the dressing mix the curry powder, salt, sugar and mayonnaise together in a bowl, jug or container of your choice. Add the vinegar little by little until you get a nice (not to runny) consistency.  Remember to let “your Jacques” taste the dressing before adding it into the salad.

Mix all of the above ingredients together once the chickpeas are cooled down and then add the dressing.  This salad is perfect to make a day before you use it. We have found that the flavours enhance as it rests together.

Cilantro is definitely Jacques’ baby because he says I kill the herbs if I chop it, this together with the peanuts we only add just before we serve the salad.

We have also on occasion substituted the peanuts with cashews or almonds.  It is nice to add some kind of nut for the crunch in the salad.

Chopped Salad

01Jan

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While preparing for a shopping trip to purchase ingredients to create a Shabbat meal, I was searching online for a few new salad recipes.

My eye caught a picture of an Israeli chopped salad recipe that I thought looked appetising. Although we have made this kind of salad more times than we can count, we decided that it would be a good fit to the rest of our menu.  I made my shopping list and off we went to the shops.

We purchased everything we needed and when Thursday arrived (which is normally our preparation day for larger Shabbat meals) we started our preparation.

As we started preparing the salad we decided that we didn’t want to follow the recipe anymore and  made our own version of the chopped salad.

So this is what we ended up with and believe me it was very tasty and so beautiful that it is definitely going to be a new favourite.

What you need

  • An assortment of different colour bell peppers (We don’t use green pepper as much as they have a more bitter taste.)
  • Red onions
  • Fresh coriander
  • Fresh parsley  

What you need for the dressing

Olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Za’atar

Za’atar is a spice that we buy in Israel, which I am not sure if you are able to buy it in your home country.  If not come and visit us and we will show you where to purchase it at the Jewish market.

Cut the bell peppers in nice big pieces – we wanted a chunky salad so our pieces were about 1.5-2cm by 1.5-2cm.

Cut the red onions in thin slices.

Roughly chop the coriander and parsley – we used a whole lot of fresh herbs to advance the taste of the salad.

Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and za’atar together until they are well combined. Za’atar is spice blend popular in Israel made of hyssop, sumac, sesame and salt.

Once all the ingredients of the salad is nicely mixed add the dressing – we added our dressing just before we served the salad.

 

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

01Jan

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Since my very first Shabbat Meal with Family Nel in Beit Chai so many years ago this particular salad was always on the table.

This was my father-in-law’s favourite salad.  Once the meal was finished he would always take what was left over and finish it. 

What you need for the salad

  • Cucumbers
  • Tomatoes (I prefer to use cherry tomatoes as it is less soggy and you only need to cut it in half)
  • Onions

What you need for the dressing

  • Vinegar 
  • Sugar 
  • Salt and Pepper

Cut the tomatoes in half (if using cherry tomatoes, otherwise cut it in small cubes)

Cut the cucumbers in small pieces

Cut the onions in small pieces or slices 

The shape of your vegetables are absolutely your own choice.  

Mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together and let it stand for a while to allow the sugar to dissolve.

For Gerrit the more sugar we used, the better.  This again is obviously according to your own taste and preference. 

We mix the vinigar, sugar, salt and pepper together a few hours before we need to serve the salad to allow the sugar to disolve into the vinegar.

Make sure you have enough salt and pepper over the salad.

We add the dressing over the salad just before we have to serve it to prevent it from becoming soggy and “pickled”.

Cumin Carrot Salad

01Jan

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This is a very common Moroccan style salad found in Israel. Different restaurants and hotels have their own way of preparing it. We started making it purely according to taste and what we thought the ingredients should be. It’s one of Jacques’ favourites.

What you need for the salad

Carrots
Cilantro leaves

What you need for the dressing

I will not give any exact amounts because I cannot – I never use any measuring system when making a dressing.

Cumin Spice
Salt
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice

Peel the carrots and cut them in circles.

The thickness of the circle is really up to your own preference.

Place them into a pot with water. We already add salt and cumin into the water that we boil the carrots in as we find that it enhances the taste of the carrots.

Boil the carrots until soft, but not too soft it. Is nice if they still have a slight crunch on them so that it is not a soft soggy salad.

Drain the water and allow the carrots to cool down.

Mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and cumin until well combined – Jacques likes a very strong cumin taste on this salad so we are very generous when using the cumin, but it is really up to you how you spice this dressing.

Finely chop the cilantro and add it to the carrots.

Cover the salad with the dressing and make sure that everything is well covered.

We normally prepare this salad a day ahead of time to allow the flavours to mix and rest well.

We also take it out of the refrigerator about an hour or so before serving to allow the olive oil to liquify, olive oil solidifies when it is chilled.

Mix the salad through before serving to ensure that all the flavours are mixed well.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant Salad

01Jan

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When I started helping in the kitchen of Beit Chai, we had certain set salads every week for erev shabbat. As the responsibility of Jacques and myself grew, we started experimenting with new and different salads. One of the salads we had made weekly was a tomato based eggplant salad which we now only very seldomly make. Most of the time if we make it, we make it as for a filling for vegetarian lasagna. As a replacement, we started making this sweet and sour eggplant salad. It is an absolute favourite Shabbat salad among our guests.

What you need 

  • Eggplant, aubergine, brinjal
  • Onions
  • Red peppers
  • Vinegar
  • Sugar
  • Salt and pepper
  • Sesame seed for garnish

We start by dicing the onions and peppers into small pieces and then fry them together in olive oil. I prefer to use our non-stick pot (yes frown if you must) as the eggplant needs a lot of time on the stove to become nice and soft. I have found with any other pot it tends to burn to the bottom of the pot. If there is anything besides a messy kitchen I really dislike, its a burnt pot.  So if you do not mind scrubbing a pot please feel free to use a normal stainless steel pot.

While I am frying the onions and peppers, Jacques normally cuts the eggplant into small 1.5cm squares.  Once the onions and peppers are lightly caramelized or sautéed, we add the eggplant.  Usually at this point Jacques also dumps a half a bottle of olive oil on the eggplant. Okay I’m exaggerating a bit but some extra olive you is welcome. The pot might seem very full but bear in mind the eggplant loses a lot of volume while cooking. Stirring regularly we cook it together until the eggplant starts changing from its dry spongelike appearance to a moist appearance.

Then we add the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper and allow the eggplant to cook for at least 30 minutes with the lid of the pot on.  You will need to stir it occasionally to prevent it from burning. It a good idea to taste it and add more vinegar if you feel it’s not acidic enough or more sugar if you need to sweeten it a bit. You might need to add a bit of both if you see it drying out a bit as it cooks.

The salad is ready once the eggplant is completely soft and has totally lost its sponge-like texture. Allow it to cool and store in the fridge. We normally make if the day before. When serving it you can sprinkle some sesame seed on top.

Cucumber and Feta Salad

01Jan

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This salad was born out of Gerrit’s favourite salad, which was Tomato and cucumber salad. 

We used to serve the tomato and cucumber salad every week with Shabbat and whatever was left over he would finish. The only thing is that Jacques does not eat tomatoes so I searched for a salad that I could make just for him. 

Although it is a very fast and easy salad it is very flavourful.

What you need for the salad

  • Cucumber 
  • Onions
  • Feta

Optional addition of Fresh parsley 

What you need for the dressing

  • Olive oil
  • Lemon Juice 
  • Salt and pepper 

Cut the cucumbers according to your own desire. We sometimes chop them up into squares and sometimes just in round slices or half rounds. 

We prefer to use red onions for the colour that it adds to the salad.  It’s also a bit sweeter. These to you can cut in small squares or thin slices. 

Cut the Feta in small cubes.

Mix all the ingredients of the dressing together and taste it before pouring it over your salad.  Make sure you use enough salt and pepper otherwise the salad can be a bit bland.

For a special treat we have also recently added fresh cut parsley, just because we had it in the fridge.  It was such a great addition that I think it will now be a permanent part of the salad, unless we don’t have it in the fridge.

We normally only add the dressing to the salad just before we serve it. 

Broccoli Salad

01Jan

Posted by Jacques & Chanelle What’s cooking at Beit Chai No Comments -

Finally, at last the famous broccoli salad. This salad is a great addition to either a Shabbat meal or a “braai”.  It’s just a few simple ingredients and is so basic and easy to make but it’s always a huge hit.

What you need 

  • 1 or 2 heads of Broccoli
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Red or white onion

What you need for the dressing 

  • Mayonnaise
  • Brown sugar
  • Balsamic vinegar

Cut the broccoli down into bite sized pieces.  Dice your onion into small pieces.  We prefer red onions.  It adds a bit of colour and tastes a bit sweeter.

Mix the broccoli and onions together.

Mix the ingredients for the dressing together to taste.  Allow the sugar to dissolve into the mayonnaise and vinegar before dressing the salad.

We normally taste the dressing as we go along to make sure that it is sweet and acidic enough and of course that there is enough to cover all of the broccoli.

In a frying pan toast your sunflower seeds.  Make sure that you keep a close eye on the sunflower seeds as not to burn them.  They are very sneaky, one moment they are still happily toasting away and the next moment they are burned.  Please note that sometimes they continue to roast even after you have taken it off the heat.  So then it is best to immediately transfer them into a bowl to cool down instead of keeping them in the pan where they might burn.  You can skip this step but when you toast the seeds it enhances the flavour.

Once the sugar in the dressing has dissolved you can mix it together with the broccoli and onions.

The sunflower seeds we add to the salad just before we want to serve it, this way they still have their crunchy texture.

We have also added cranberries to this salad on occasion to mix things up a bit.

Quinoa Salad

01Jan

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One of our dear friends introduced Jacques to quinoa salad while she and her daughters were visiting Israel even before we got married.  A quinoa salad is a great addition to any meal.  We especially like to serve it when we are making a roast in the oven as it’s fresh acidic taste brings a nice balance to a rich meaty taste.

I have a hard time making the quinoa itself as it has a tendency to overcook which leaves the texture mushy, so I have now opted to leave the preparation of the quinoa in Jacques’s capable hands. There are many helpful websites with instructions on how to prepare quinoa but this is a method that works for us.

What you need for the salad

  • Dried quinoa
  • Cranberries or dates
  • Fresh mint leaves
  • Shavings of almonds

What you need for the dressing

  • Olive oil
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Dijon Mustard we like to use the one with the mustard seeds in.
  • Maple syrup or honey
  • Salt and ground pepper
  • Lemon juice

A very important step is to first wash the quinoa before you boil it as it can have a bitter taste to it if you don’t.

We use a ratio of 1 cup of quinoa with 1 and 1/2 cups of water with a bit of salt.  With the lid off bring the quinoa to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot and allow to simmer for 10min (please set a timer as it is so easy to forget about your quinoa on the heat).  Remove the pot from the heat and leave it covered to steam for another 10 minutes.  Remove the lid fluff the quinoa using a fork.

Allow the quinoa to completely cool. We normally cook it the day before and combine the rest just before serving to keep everything nice and fresh. You can also make the dressing the day before.

When making the dressing make sure that you do not make too much, you basically just want to wet the salad and not drench it with dressing. We use about the same amount of olive oil, apple cider vinegar and lemon juice and then add the mustard and maple syrup, salt and pepper. Taste the dressing to make sure it has enough of everything. You might want it a bit more sweet or acidic, it is easier to adjust the flavour of the dressing before adding it to the salad.

Add your sliced almond or nut of your choice. It is just to add a crunchy texture to the salad, so you don’t need too much.

Add the cranberries or dates. Cranberries are easy while dates are a bit more work. Both options are great, this depends on your personal preference. For the dates you need cut it open and remove the pip, cut it into 1/2cm slices lengthwise and then cut these strips into squares. Dates get sticky when cutting to avoid it sticking to the knife you can oil your knife or keep a container of hot water nearby to melt the sugars off the knife.

The mint leaves are a bit of a hassle to prepare but the taste is worth the while.  We normally purchase a nice bunch of fresh mint.  Remove the leaves and stack them on top of each other and roll them up like a little cigar. Then we cut it into thin strips.  The more mint you add to your salad the more flavour and colour you will have.

Just before serving, add the dressing and make sure everything is well combined. If you have some extra dressing you can save it for later. You can add some mayonnaise to it this goes very well on a leafy salad.

This is a very nice way to serve the quinoa salad and we prefer to keep it simple. 

If however you want to increase the volume of your salad you can consider to add chopped cucumber pieces, cherry tomatoes cut in half, diced red onions or even diced of bell peppers.

Roasted Butternut and Glazed Nuts Salad

01Jan

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One of our favourite salads to make is a large leafy salad.  We purchase different types and colour salad leaves and then you can basically do anything on top of it.

Of course one of our main goals when preparing a salad is to make it as beautiful as possible.  We normally use a flat serving plate so that all the elements of the salad can be appreciated and all the guests can help themselves to all the different ingredients.

What you need for the salad

  • Different kinds and colour salad leaves 
  • Butternut
  • Olive oil and spices for the roasting of the butternut
  • Walnuts or any nut of your choice 
  • Butter and honey or syrup to glaze the nuts
  • Red onion
  • Feta cheese 
  • Roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds

What you need for the dressing

  • Honey
  • Mustard 
  • Vinegar 
  • Mayonnaise 
  • Salt mixture of your choice 

Peel and cut the butternut into pieces.  Not too small as they do tend to reduce in size while roasting.  This of course is Jacques’s job as I do not have enough strength in my arms to cut through the larger pieces of butternut

Coat the butternut with olive oil and any spices that you prefer. More oil is better, we aren’t deep frying it but we are also not shy with the oil.  Salt is also important, you might get a nice color by adding paprika or cinnamon but if there is no or little salt the taste would be less pleasant that having just enough salt.

Spread them out in a single layer onto a baking dish and place them in the oven.  Make sure to stir them around on the dish every now and again to allow an even roast.  When they are soft but not mushy and have a nice brown colour remove them and allow to cool down.

In a pan melt butter and either honey or syrup.  Add the nuts and stir until all the nuts are covered in the butter.  Continue to stir around until the butter and syrup form a nice sticky coat over the nuts.  It is better to work on a lower flame so that you do not burn the nuts.  Once they are nice and sticky put them on a baking sheet and separate them as much as possible and allow to cool down.

Cut your red onions in nice thin slices.

Put the sunflower and pumpkin seeds into a pan over a low heat.  Stir or even better if you can toss them around in the pan until you can smell them roasting – remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Now to pack the salad.

Here you can either do a single layer or a double layer of all the ingredients.

Take your serving dish and cover the base of the dish with your assortment of salad leaves.  

Here you can be creative and pack the rest of the ingredients onto the salad leaves.  

Normally we leave the feta and seeds for last.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing together.  Do not use too much vinegar, it is actually just there to allow your dressing to be a bit runny but not too runny for easier application.

Make sure that you taste your dressing before adding it to your salad.

We normally add the dressing just before serving it so that it doesn’t just run down the plate.

When adding the dressing it is important not to drown your salad.

With a salad the sky is the limit.   You can add and take away according to your taste. The trick is in the presentation and making sure that all your ingredients are nice and fresh.

Carrot with Sweet Chilli Sauce

01Jan

Posted by Jacques & Chanelle What’s cooking at Beit Chai No Comments -

This is an accidental salad. We were planning on making carrots in the oven to serve as a hot side with our main course but we had a few last minute surprise guests and then we realized that we had too little carrots to serve as a side dish so we decided to make it as a salad together with our Challah and other salads. 

What you need

  • Carrots 
  • Olive oil
  • Sweet paprika spice 
  • Sweet chilli sauce
  • Ground salt

Peel and cut your carrots 

We like to play around with different shapes when it comes to cutting carrots. We cut these diagonally but your carrots can be any shape.

Place the carrots in a baking dish and cover them with olive oil, sweet chilli sauce, salt and paprika. 

Stir it through making sure that all the carrots are covered and roast it in the oven uncovered  until they are soft and the sweet chill has formed a nice sticky glaze on the carrots.

Remember to stir the carrots a few times through the roasting process a few times to avoid them from burning and to make sure that they all cook evenly and stay covered in the sauce.  

When roasting carrots it is also best to rather have a single layer of carrots than too many on top of each other so that they roast evenly instead of steaming.

When the carrots are done allow them to cool down, serve them in a nice glass bowl and dress it with a nice piece of fresh coriander.

Although it was an accidental salad, I think it will definitely be a repeat dish.

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