Low Cal Lunches: Veggie Chicken Sammy

Because I'm always throwing something together for a quick, healthy--and usually very late--lunch, I decided today to create a new post series on just that. Low Cal Lunches will be short and sweet and always diet friendly.

On today's menu? A veggie chicken patty sandwich! I prefer mine to be all Morningstar Farms all the way. Today, I spread some light mayo and mustard on my new favorite thing: a 100 calorie "everything" flagel, microwaved (I was just too hungry to commit to waiting for the toaster oven!) the patty and put it all together with a quartered orange on the side.

Total Calories: about 250 (higher if you add more condiments) + 64 for the orange.

Okay, so I took the photo with my cell phone and it's not so clear. We'll call it arty.

Variations on this recipe? You can use any other fake chicken (or real if that's your sort of thing!) and bread varieties out there. I think some fake bacon, a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, some romaine lettuce or spinach, even pickles would all be delicious on this sandwich. Go nuts!

Food Photography

Because I have taken so many photos over the years of foods that I or others have made, I thought it would be fun to upload them all here in a slideshow. Enjoy!

All the Sweet Stuff: Cinnamon Babka

When I think of babka, I think of two things: the way my Dad's face lights up at any mention of the yeasty, sugary pastry and the classic Seinfeld episode, below. Babka is like a hybrid of challah and gooey cinnamon rolls. It typically comes in two flavors: chocolate and cinnamon. Though some people feel very strongly about their preferences (my dad doesn't understand why anyone would waste their time with a babka that isn't cinnamon) I personally love both flavors so much, I can't choose.

Seinfeld -) The Babka - The best video clips are right here

A few weeks ago, I was obsessed with another classic NYC/Jewish treat: rugelach. I just couldn't get the recipe right. One night I decided to play with a basic rugelach recipe by adding yeast. After doing lots of online research and kitchen experiments, I came up with a dough that's a hybrid between a buttery biscuit and a croissant. I found myself with some extra dough and decided to roll it in chocolate chips and braid it like a challah. Though it didn't taste a thing like challah, it was incredible and reminded me and Doni of babka. I told myself that as soon as I had the opportunity, babka I would make.

I mentioned a pot-luck picnic in my last post. I thought saying goodbye to J, A, and cutie-pie N would be the perfect time to try out my recipe. It was such a crowd-pleaser! Soft, gooey, sweet and full of cinnamon goodness. Next time, I plan on doubling the fillings (which I did in the recipe you'll find below) because the dough absorbs some of it while baking. The recipe makes 1 extra large babka or 2 small babkas. I plan on making this again and again and bringing it to all sorts of holidays and family events.

Cinnamon Babka
dairy, parve or vegan

3 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
dash tsp salt
2 sticks butter
2 packets yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick cold butter
1 Tbs melted butter
dash cinnamon

Directions. Pour the water over both packets of yeast and a pinch of sugar in a small bowl. Let sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast is frothy, bubbly, and twice its size. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. The following can be done by hand or in a food processor: Add the butter in small pieces (or margarine) and knead together until the entire mixture is crumbly.

In a small bowl, beat together the vanilla and both eggs. Pour into the flour mixture and combine. Next, mix in the sour cream (or parve alternative). Lastly, knead in the yeast until the dough is firm. Place in a greased bowl and let rise, covered with a towel, for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 340 degrees. Roll out the dough in a large rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the cold butter (or margarine) into small pieces. In a small bowl, coat the pieces of butter (or margarine) in the brown sugar and cinnamon. Evenly cover the rectangle of dough with the cinnamon mixture, including the edges. Roll dough like a cinnamon roll--from one long side of the rectangle to the other. Close the seam by brushing melted butter on top and pinching together the dough. Form the tube of dough into a large circle, closing the ends together just as above.

Twist the circle of dough into a double helix and place in a loaf pan, prepared with parchment paper. Brush the remaining melted butter over the top of the babka and sprinkle with a dash of cinnamon, if desired. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and, when wiggled, the babka no longer jiggles in its pan.

Vegan Note: I was actually out of eggs when I made this at home, so I used Ener-G egg replacer and it turned out beautifully. If you also use margarine, as I did, this becomes an easy, delicious VEGAN treat! Who knew?

Shabbat This Week: Picnic Zucchini

This week, three close friends of ours--A, J, and adorable little N--are moving away into the great beyond: New Jersey. To celebrate their awesome new house and stifle our tears, a bunch of us had a lovely pot-luck Shabbat lunch picnic in Central Park this afternoon in their honor. As the resident vegetarian, it was my job to bring a vegetable and I chose summer squash.

Zucchini and yellow squash looked amazing at the farmer's market and I was craving something on the juicy side. I also happened to purchase some purslane, a mild, sweet and almost citrusy leafy green veggie that is high in omega 3. I thought it would work nicely as a herb with the squash. In my opinion, the trickiest part of working with summer squash is that they can end up on the soggy side and I wasn't in the mood for an accidental soup. I remembered how my friend Tracy once made some excellent roasted tomatoes with garlic and breadcrumbs and I decided to use the same model with the zucchini.

The recipe worked very well--the zucchini held up in texture and only the few slices at the bottom were soggy. The garlic was nice and mild, while the purslane was sweet and simple. The best part of this dish is that is works well both warm and cool. I served it lukewarm at the picnic, which I think was just perfect. All in all, this is an excellent picnic dish and it serves a lot of hungry adults and children.


Picnic Zucchini
Parve & Vegan

7 large zucchini and/or yellow squash, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp margarine
salt and black pepper, as desired
Purslane, as a garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Pour the olive oil, minced garlic, salt and black pepper in the bottom of a large baking dish. Add in the squash and toss to coat. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top and dot with margarine. Bake for 20 minutes, or until the squash is tender and the breadcrumbs are golden. Sprinkle with purslane and enjoy with 10 of your closest friends!

Kosher note: Check your breadcrumbs! I usually use Panko Italian, but it turned out that they were dairy. I toasted bread to make my own crumbs, but they ended up soggier than expected after reheating. After I returned home from the picnic, I transferred the dish from a parve tin to our dairy corningware and re-baked it with the panko crumbs. Store bought bread crumbs made all the difference! Maybe I'll revisit the breadcrumb issue in the near future and experiment on how I might make them better myself.