Hummus Under Attack

Bachmann: ‘We Must Ban Falafel’ in School Lunches

Sep. 28, 2012

Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann courted controversy today by claiming that falafel and other "jihadi foods" should be banned from school lunches in the United States.
In an interview with local television station KSTP in Minneapolis, Bachmann explained that after visiting a local elementary school she was shocked to find that falafel - a fried vegetable patty popular in the Arab world - was being served as a option on the vegetarian menu.
Ostensibly in the studio to discuss her close race for reelection against Democratic challenger Jim Graves, Bachmann instead used the time to appeal for a nationwide movement against Arab cuisine.
Startled by the parochial nature of her statements, KSTP anchor Chris Johnson felt obliged to challenge her reasoning:
"I have to ask Ms. Bachmann, why is that a problem? I mean some children like the taste of falafel, what's wrong with that?"
"Chris, falafel is a gateway food," responded Bachmann, "It starts with falafel, then the kids move on to shawarma. After a while they say 'hey this tastes good, I wonder what else comes from Arabia?' "
"Before you know it our children are listening to Muslim music, reading the Koran, and plotting attacks against the homeland."
"We need to stop these terror cakes now, before they infiltrate any further."
God Hates Chick Peas
Bachmann stopped short of advocating a ban on all Arab food, saying that  "responsible adults can probably use Arab food safely in moderation."
However, she made clear that she was frightened by the pace at which the cuisine has permeated the U.S.:
"I have a friend in Texas who has to homeschool her children because her local public school forces students to eat hummus. Its everywhere now. This is really scary stuff."
Bachmann then intimated that the widespread use of Arab foods in American schools could be the sign of a conspiracy that goes all the way to the top:
"I have no proof that President Obama is forcing our children to eat Arab and Middle Eastern food. But it would certainly fit the pattern."
Bachmann has a history of controversial statements regarding Islam and the role of Muslims in America.
She says her first priority upon returning to congress will be to introduce a bill protecting America's children from the dangers of Muslim cooking:
"We must ban falafel and other jihadi foods in schools before its too late."
__________________________________________________________
Thanks to a reader who pointed out that the article was a satire!

Here is a great article from the Jerusalem Post:

Chosen Bites: Humous, pure and simple

By LAURA FRANKEL

04/19/2012 13:31

While there are a number of different ways to make Israel's favorite dip, sometimes the simplest is the best.

Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

As a professional chef I like to play around with recipes, tweaking and fussing, reshaping and designing all in an effort to modernize and recreate a classic.

I rarely view recipes as a basic suggestion or just “words on paper,” begging to be re-imagined. I have been working in and running kitchens for a long time and feel as though it's my right to fiddle. Nothing is sacred, and it's a big free for all except when it comes to humous.

I love humous and make, from scratch, upwards of 100 pounds a week. I have soaked and slogged my way through thousands of pounds of chick peas and tons of tubs of tahini. I've toasted more than my share of cumin seeds and freshly juiced a gazillion lemons all in an effort to make the best “butter of the Middle East." 

I probably produce more “chip and dip” platters than any woman in the tri-state region, or maybe east of the Mississippi.

I make my dip with pride and never skimp. I don't go the canned chick pea route and would never cheat the flavor with anything less than tasty extra virgin olive oil.

I have taught non-Jewish catering sales people to properly say the word and never to say "Hum-iss." New cooks in my kitchen are quickly indoctrinated into the kitchen culture with several tasks including the sacred task of making the humous under my watchful eye and overly sensitive palate.

At home, I make much smaller batches of humous and take the same care and pride in preparation. Recently, I stopped to look at the small open cooler at the end of an aisle, at the upscale grocery store near my home. Usually I just breeze by the cooler, but for some reason the case jam packed full of the flavored dip caught my eye. I was mystified by the concocted varieties of humous. I practically laughed out loud at some of the flavors.

A million questions came to mind, the major one being, Who buys their humous with basil in it? Or with horseradish? Really?

I think people feel  they can mess around with humous because it's simple and they regard it as a blank slate, just waiting for embellishment.

Sometimes remakes are a good thing. Like movies and songs redone with a new vibe and beat. That's fun and cool.  But I am staunchly conservative when it comes to my humous. I like it the way it was intended.

A fellow chef recently called me to ask for some tips on making Fava Bean Humous. I was completely caught off guard. Humous made without chick peas? Is that even possible? Would that not just be a Puree, I suggested to my colleague? Well, yes, but humous just sounds better on the menu, he confessed, and especially with lamb. I gulped back my sarcastic response and gave my best “words on paper” advice and then hung up.

Best Humous with Spicy Lamb Tidbits and Fresh Fava Beans, on the side

I never garnish my humous with paprika. Instead, I prefer to add a lemony tang with the attractive addition of Sumac. Ground Sumac is made from the fruit of the Sumac tree, where it is dried and ground into a lemony-fragrant powder.

1/2 pound dried chickpeas
7 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon toasted ground cumin,
1/2 cup tahini, at room temperature
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Kosher Salt

Suggested garnishes: Extra virgin olive oil, za’atar, sumac and fresh chopped parsley

1. In a medium bowl, cover the dried chickpeas with 2 inches of water and refrigerate overnight. Drain the chickpeas and rinse them under cold water.

2. In a medium saucepan, cover the chickpeas with 2 inches of fresh water and bring to a boil. Simmer over moderately low heat until the chickpeas are very tender, about 50 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the hot cooking water. Rinse the chickpeas under cold water.

3. In a food processor, puree the chickpeas with the reserved cooking water, olive oil and garlic cloves. Add the cumin, tahini and lemon juice and process until creamy. Season the humous with salt and transfer to a serving bowl. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil, za’atar, sumac and fresh chopped parsley and Spicy Lamb tidbits and fresh Fava Beans (see recipes below)

Spicy Lamb Tidbits

1 pound ground lamb
3 tablespoons grated onion
4 garlic cloves, freshly grated on a microplane
1 tablespoon or more favorite hot sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

1. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Lightly grease a medium sauté pan and heat it over medium heat. Add the lamb into pan and cook, occasionally breaking up the clumps, until the lamb is cooked through (about 5 minutes).

3. Serve the lamb with humous, as a side!

Fresh Fava Beans with Mint

One of the first signs of spring, Fava beans are a delicious side and addition to my best humous, as a side!

3 pounds fresh fava beans, shelled and peeled
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly cracked pepper

1. Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fava beans and cook for 2 minutes.

2. Plunge the cooked fava beans into ice water to stop the cooking process.

3. Dry the beans and toss with olive oil, mint and salt and pepper to taste.

With Hanukkah Microbrews, A Taste of Jewish History by Deena Prichep

Hannukah 2011



Gift of Rose Sacks. Courtesy of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, 1988.227.1
An early predecessor to the Hanukkah brews of today, Russian Jew Max Lapides stands with his sons in front of the Bauernschmidt Brewery Saloon in Baltimore, circa 1900.

During the holidays, many beer manufacturers roll out seasonal brews. But there's a relative newcomer for the festival of lights: Hanukkah beer.
Lompoc Brewing, in Portland, Ore., is one small, craft brewery that has added it to its winter lineup.
"We had a Jewish gentleman here ... and he wanted to make a Hanukkah brew," says David Fleming, the head brewer. "So we thought it was a great idea. We already had six Christmas beers going anyhow, so why couldn't we have a seventh one for Hanukkah?"
Lompoc ended up with a chocolate rye porter called 8 Malty Nights. It has become one of its more popular winter beers. And Lompoc is not alone – a few others, like Schmaltz Brewing Company, are also bringing Jewish beers to market.
But this isn't the first time Jews have gone into the beer business.
  "The story ... begins really far back, at the Babylonian exile," says Marni Davis, the author of Jews and Booze and an assistant professor of history at Georgia State University. She says that even though beer is never mentioned in the Hebrew bible, it is kosher. And Jews have brewed it from Persia to Europe, and into America.
Davis has found lots of examples of central European Jews founding breweries. One of the biggest was New York's Rheingold Brewery, founded by Samuel Leibmann.
But Davis says that, for the most part, Jewish breweries cropped up in smaller, non-German cities – places like Denver, or Anaheim. Unfortunately, even the most successful of these breweries had to empty out their kegs in 1919, at least officially.

"The most important Jewish beer entrepreneurs during Prohibition were the bootleggers, the gangsters," says Davis. "They were operating with Irish and Italian immigrants, these sort of inter-ethnic crime syndicates really helped to maintain the presence of alcohol, and beer in particular, in American life."
After Prohibition, small Jewish breweries — like small breweries everywhere — were edged out by the big guys. It's only in the last few years, with the microbrewery revival, that we're starting to see them again.
So does this long history mean that we've had it all wrong? That Jews really are the people of the hops? Davis says beer isn't particularly Jewish. But it is a part of Jewish life.

"Beer is one of the ways that Jews can become part of the culture that they're in, and they can do it as Persians, they can do so as German-Americans in the beer gardens of Cincinnati, and they could do it today, as producers of cheeky beers that are coming out of craft breweries right as we speak," says David.
Fleming says 8 Malty Nights is doing well. Lompoc has already brewed 60 kegs for the holiday season. And, perhaps even more importantly, it goes well with Hanukkah latkes.

During the holidays, many beer manufacturers roll out seasonal brews. But there's a relative newcomer for the festival of lights: Hanukkah beer.
Lompoc Brewing, in Portland, Ore., is one small, craft brewery that has added it to its winter lineup.
"We had a Jewish gentleman here ... and he wanted to make a Hanukkah brew," says David Fleming, the head brewer. "So we thought it was a great idea. We already had six Christmas beers going anyhow, so why couldn't we have a seventh one for Hanukkah?"
Lompoc ended up with a chocolate rye porter called 8 Malty Nights. It has become one of its more popular winter beers. And Lompoc is not alone – a few others, like Schmaltz Brewing Company, are also bringing Jewish beers to market.
But this isn't the first time Jews have gone into the beer business.
  "The story ... begins really far back, at the Babylonian exile," says Marni Davis, the author of Jews and Booze and an assistant professor of history at Georgia State University. She says that even though beer is never mentioned in the Hebrew bible, it is kosher. And Jews have brewed it from Persia to Europe, and into America.
Davis has found lots of examples of central European Jews founding breweries. One of the biggest was New York's Rheingold Brewery, founded by Samuel Leibmann.
But Davis says that, for the most part, Jewish breweries cropped up in smaller, non-German cities – places like Denver, or Anaheim. Unfortunately, even the most successful of these breweries had to empty out their kegs in 1919, at least officially.

"The most important Jewish beer entrepreneurs during Prohibition were the bootleggers, the gangsters," says Davis. "They were operating with Irish and Italian immigrants, these sort of inter-ethnic crime syndicates really helped to maintain the presence of alcohol, and beer in particular, in American life."
After Prohibition, small Jewish breweries — like small breweries everywhere — were edged out by the big guys. It's only in the last few years, with the microbrewery revival, that we're starting to see them again.
So does this long history mean that we've had it all wrong? That Jews really are the people of the hops? Davis says beer isn't particularly Jewish. But it is a part of Jewish life.

"Beer is one of the ways that Jews can become part of the culture that they're in, and they can do it as Persians, they can do so as German-Americans in the beer gardens of Cincinnati, and they could do it today, as producers of cheeky beers that are coming out of craft breweries right as we speak," says David.
Fleming says 8 Malty Nights is doing well. Lompoc has already brewed 60 kegs for the holiday season. And, perhaps even more importantly, it goes well with Hanukkah latkes.

One Cold Brew-A Beer Expedition

This is a wonderful article about my cousin's husband Chris and his beer expedition!

One cold brew

Bethlehem brewer and friends to trek by motorcycle to the Canadian Arctic to brew a historic beer
July 02, 2010
By Daniel Patrick Sheehan, OF THE MORNING CALL

Later this month, Chris Bowen of Bethlehem and a couple of his friends will lead a motorcycle expedition north — far, far north — to the Canadian Arctic, where they plan to set up a portable brewery and make 100 gallons of a hoppy, potent beer that is exceeded in richness only by its own fanciful history.

We'll get back to Bowen in a moment, but first, the beer. It's called Allsop's Arctic Ale. The first people ever to drink it were British sailors dispatched to the Arctic by Queen Victoria in 1852 to discover the fate of an earlier expedition to that frozen realm.

They brought thousands of bottles of the beer, which had been specially crafted by Allsop's Brewery with loads of hops and a bracing alcohol content — 12 percent, compared with 5 percent in your Budweiser — to ward off scurvy and withstand freezing.

Alas, the rescuers fared little better than the explorers they were sent to rescue. Led by Sir Edward Belcher, they were forced to abandon four of their five ships in the ice and return to England, where Belcher was court-martialed — though acquitted — for his failure.

That might have been the end of it, but one of the ships, the HMS Resolute, broke free from the ice and drifted thousands of miles into the path of an American whaling vessel, which towed it back to Massachusetts. It was restored at a Brooklyn shipyard and returned to the British as a gift, and served the Royal Navy a dozen more . (Beams from the ship, incidentally, were turned into two desks: one for Buckingham Palace, the other for the Oval Office).

Now, back to Bowen. In 2007, the 43-year-old financial planner read about an eBay auction in which one of two bottles of Allsop's Arctic Ale known to exist sold for $500,000.

It turned out to be a false bid, but Bowen — a craft beer brewer who has been honored with national awards and built his own private brew pub in a cottage near Stabler Arena — was hooked by the Allsop's story. He set about investigating its history and, over the course of 2 1/2 years, discovered a couple of things. One was the second Allsop's bottle, which he now possesses.

The other was the recipe for the beer.

"This was the Tang of its day," Bowen said, likening Allsop's to the powdered orangeade touted as the astronaut's choice in the heyday of the space program.

Being the sort of man he is — a curious tinkerer with an adventurous streak — he decided the Allsop's story needed to be told in dramatic fashion. He's been riding a motorcycle for years, so a plan evolved: ride to the Arctic, brew the beer and turn the epic journey into a documentary film.

"How am I going to tell the story? I'll tell it from the back of a motorcycle," he said as he stood astride the burly BMW bike that will carry him from here to there.

You don't do this sort of thing alone. Bowen asked friends, John Chay and Dick Gethin, to ride along, and enlisted the services of some Russian filmmakers whose work he had seen and admired at a Bethlehem film festival. Also on board are a Chester County photographer, Dan Savage, and Lance McKay, a motorcyclist and adventurer from Maryland.

Follow their adventure on their blog Arctic Alchemy.

Matbucha: Spicy Morrocan Salsa

Many years ago an Israeli friend, whose parents were born in Morocco, taught me how to make the classic Moroccan-Jewish dish:  Matbucha (Maat-boo-hah).  It's my pleasure to share with you my favorite Sephardic Jewish dish!  Here is how Wikipedia describes it:

Matbucha (Hebrew: מטבוחה‎) is a cooked dish of tomatoes and roasted bell peppers seasoned with garlic and chili pepper.  The name of the dish originates from Arabic and means "cooked salad". It is also known as Turkish Salad. It is served as an appetizer, often as part of a meze. In Israel it is sometimes referred to as "Turkish salad."  Matbucha is popular across the Maghreb. It was brought to Israel by new immigrants from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya.

1-First of all, you need the following items:
-large metal pot
-24 fully ripe tomatoes
-8 long green hot peppers
-1/2 of a head of garlic
-250 grams of soy oil
-20 grams of salt

Press on photos to enlarge

Cut a large "x" in the bottom of all of the tomatoes.  Take the core out of each tomato as well.

Boil the tomatoes in water for about 15 or so minutes and then remove the skin from each one.

Take the hot peppers and roast them on a gas flame.  Be sure not to burn them too much.  There should be a thin layer of burnt black skin around the entire pepper.  Over-burning is not desired.

Scrape off the black layer on the peppers with a sharp knife.  Run them under the faucet to remove the excess burnt black skin.  They should look like the bottom photo below.

Using a rubber funnel is the easiest way to remove the skin from the garlic.  You can adjust the amount of garlic you use, depending on your taste.

Pour about 250 grams of soy oil into the pot containing the skinned tomatoes, roasted hot peppers, crushed garlic, and 20 grams of salt.

The initial cooking should look like this.

Use the "smasher" below to stir and smash the matbucha salad.  The initial cool should last about an hour on the highest flame.  Be sure to stir regularly, especially as the excess water evaporates.  Otherwise, the mixture will burn in the bottom of the pot.  The smasher is sitting on an electric hot plate.  You will need this in the next step.

Place the semi-finished matbucha on the electric hot-plate.  For the next 3-4 hours stir the mixture occasionally.

When the color of the matbucha is dark red and the vast majority of water has evaporated, then the dish is ready.

The final product can be served hot or cold.  It is usually eaten with bread or challah.

Learn Hebrew Online topic: Israeli food

Learning Hebrew Online

Learn Hebrew Online topic: Israeli food
(by Shira Choen-Regev - Hebrew online teacher)

Oct. 7, 2009
THE JERUSALEM POST

Shalom,
What is Israeli food? It is rather difficult to answer this question. Actually, we still try to develop a recognized cuisine in the "land of milk and honey;" a cuisine that reflects the diversity of Israeli society, rooted in the Jewish tradition, and utilizing the regional customs.
Hence, we find a very eclectic cuisine that integrates local dishes as well as "emigrated" dishes, and uses the local fresh fruits and vegetables as well as the notable dairy products of Israel to create a unique Israeli flavor. On a typical Israeli table, you can easily find Romanian eggplant salad served besides a North-African Chirshi pumpkin salad, and Mediterranean Pita bread holds Wiener schnitzel and French fries, not to mention the Arab-Israeli vegetable salad.
Often, it is easier to recognize your home food when you're away from home. So, I ran a little non-scientific survey on an internet forum of Israelis who live abroad. I asked them about the food they really crave for, the food they want to eat as soon as they land in Israel. The list turned rather long, and few discussions evolved around the level of authenticity of certain foods to the Israeli culture. Naturally not all Israeli-related dishes will be presented in this issue, but you will get a general taste of our gastronomical cravings.
So, open up your appetite, and join our Israeli table.

בְּתֵאָבוֹן,
Bete'avon,
Bon Appetite
by Shira Choen-Regev
The HebrewOnline Team
Weekly Hebrew Food
Many Israelis emigrated from the Mediterranean and Arab countries and brought with them the flavors of the Middle Eastern food. In addition, the Arabs that have been living in the area contributed a lot to the developing cuisine of the young country.
We begin our culinary tour with a sample of the Middle Eastern cuisine, continue with tastes from the Balkan and Europe and conclude with some original Israeli foods. Don't worry - desert is being served at the end.

פִּתָּה
Transcription: pita
Literal Meaning: Pita bread
Description: Pita bread is a double-layered flat or pocket bread traditional in many Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. When the pocket bread is filled with Hummus, it may serve as the base of many dishes such as falafel, French fries, salads, and shish-kabob. It is also customary to take a piece of the pita bread and dip it in the Hummus or labane while picking some spicy olives and pickles on the side.


חוּמוּס
Transcription: Xumus
Literal Meaning: Hummus
Description: Hummus is a dip or spread made from cooked, mashed chickpeas, blended with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic. Hummus in pita is a common school sandwich and is present in almost every dinner table. People, however, will take the extra mile to find their fine, fresh, tasty Hummus.

פָלָאפֶל
Transcription: falafel
Description: fried ball or patty made from spiced smashed chickpeas (חוּמוּס)and/or fava beans (פוּל, ful).
Although Israel doesn't have a universally recognized national dish, many believe it is falafel.
If you want to get the real feeling of the falafel stand, you can click
here to play the Falafel King (מֶלֶךְ הַפָלָאפֶל) game.

לַבַּנֶה
Transcription: labane
Description: Labane is a yogurt which has been strained in a cloth to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yoghurt and cheese, while preserving yogurt's distinctive sour taste.
The word Labne is derived from the word לָבָן (lavan) which means white.

סָלַט יְרָקוֹת יִשְׂרְאֵלִי
Transcription: Salat yerakot yisraeli
Literal Meaning: Israeli vegetable salad
Description: Tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, finely sliced and spiced with olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper and minced parsley.

בּוּרֶקַס
Transcription: burekas
Description: A type of baked or fried filled pastry, made of a thin flaky dough such as yufka, phyllo or puff pastry, and can be filled with cheese, mashed potatoes, spinach or other fillings. It is often served with hard-boiled egg.
The burekas was brought to Israel by the Balkan Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire.

שְׁנִיצֶל
Transcription: shnitsel
Literal Meaning: Schnitzel
Description: A kosher variation of the Wiener schnitzel made of chicken or turkey breast, coated with a mixture of beaten eggs and bread crumbs, and fried. The Israeli schnitzel is often served in pita bread accompanied by hummus and French fries. The schnitzel tradition was brought to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews coming from Europe. Many Israelis were of Viennese or German origin, but during the early years of the State of Israel, veal was unobtainable and chicken or turkey proved an inexpensive and tasty substitute.

פְּתִיתִים
Transcription: ptitim
Literal Meaning: Baked flakes / Ben-Gurion rice / Israeli couscous
Description: Ptitim is one of the foods considered to be a unique Israeli culinary contribution. This wheat-based baked pasta shaped like rice grains or round pearls was invented during the austerity (צֶנַע, tsena) period in Israel, when rice was scarce. Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, challenged the Osem food company to quickly devise a wheat-based substitute to rice. The resulted product was nicknamed "Ben-Gurion's Rice" by the people.
Nowadays Ptitim is generally considered as a food for children and is often served as a side dish along with the aforementioned schnitzel.

גְּבִינָה צְפָתִית
Transcription: Gvina Tsfatit
Literal Meaning: Safad cheese
Description: A special kind of cheese which was first produced by the Hameiri family in Safed (צְפַת) right after the big earthquake which struck Safed in 1837. Although the original cheese is still produced in the same dairy by the sixth generation descendant of the Hameiri cheese makers, it is also produced with many variations by other dairies and varies in the amount of fat (as low as 3% fat) and the origin of the milk. 

קְרֶמְבּוֹ
Transcription: krembo
Literal Meaning: cream-in-it: a portmanteau of the words: קְרֶם (cream) and בּוֹ (in it)
Description: Krembo is a chocolate-coated marshmallow treat that is only sold in the winter tike. It consists of a round biscuit base on the bottom, and whipped egg whites cream from above, coated in a thin layer of chocolate. Although the "krembo season" is very short, (October to February), 50 million krembos are sold each year-an average of 9 per person in Israel.
You can watch the Krembo making process in the following link.
Improve You Hebrew - Learn Hebrew Online click here

The Moroccan flavor formula

Nov. 12, 2009
faye levy , THE JERUSALEM POST

Twenty-five years ago I purchased a cookbook that I found fascinating in its approach to different cuisines - Ethnic Cuisine: the Flavor-Principle Cookbook by Elisabeth Rozin. Its central premise is that when you analyze a regional cuisine, certain seasoning combinations are pervasive. "Every culture tends to combine a small number of flavoring ingredients so frequently and so consistently that they become definitive of that particular cuisine."
Of course, this doesn't spell monotony. "When we... look closely at any cuisine, we find rich and subtle variations in seasoning practices," wrote Rozin. "The flavor principle, that characteristic bond of flavor ingredients, provides a culinary theme that is varied by the addition of other ingredients... different proportions and different cooking techniques. What results then, is a set of variations on a general theme."
To make her point, she presents a list of over 30 flavor principles. For example, garlic + cumin + mint evokes Northeast Africa, while tomato + cinnamon is a typically Greek pairing. For me learning formulas of flavor was almost as satisfying as learning a new language.
Over the years, from cooking and dining with Moroccan relatives and friends, as well as sampling the fare of such fine restaurants as Timgad in Paris, Darna in Jerusalem and Koutoubia in Los Angeles, I have refined my own Moroccan flavor formulas.
When I want to prepare an easy vegetable dish in the Maghreb style, I might look at the homey recipes of Rena Ben-Simhon, author of Moroccan Food (in Hebrew). She accents her cooked carrot salad with sweet peppers, garlic, cumin, parsley, lemon juice and oil, and her cooked chard with sauteed garlic, cumin, paprika and lemon juice. Similar seasonings with the addition of hot paprika are used by Viviane and Nina Moryoussef in their book on Moroccan Jewish cooking, La Cuisine Juive Marocaine. Neither specifies what kind of oil to use; I opt for fruity extra virgin olive oil.
Whenever I yearn for a taste of Morocco, I utilize the flavor principle. Even when I want to cook a vegetable that wasn't available in North Africa, I can prepare it so it "tastes Moroccan." Recipes for eggplant and peppers are easy to find in Moroccan cookbooks but not dishes using broccoli, mushrooms or asparagus. No problem; I use their flavorings to make my own Moroccan-style vegetable accompaniments and cooked salads.
I have often improvised with different vegetables and have been delighted with the results. Using traditional Moroccan carrot salad as a model, I make carrot-asparagus and carrot-zucchini salad. The flavorings used in Ben-Simhon's chard recipe are fine with spinach and other cooking greens, and I also like them with cauliflower, broccoli and mushrooms.
Similarly, when I want to cook in the Tunisian fashion, I treat the vegetable the way Pascal Perez, author of North African Cooking (in Hebrew), makes her red carrot salad; it's similar to Moroccan carrots but with the addition of tomato paste and with ground caraway and cinnamon substituted for cumin.
In the following recipes, you can vary the vegetables according to what you have, including medleys of frozen vegetables. To prevent soupy dressings, start with a small amount of water and add more if the pan starts to become dry before the vegetables are tender. Serve the vegetables hot or cold as appetizers or as accompaniments. 

MAGHREB ZUCCHINI SALAD IN TOMATO DRESSING
It's the seasonings that are the secret to the delicious cooked vegetable starters in the North African kitchen. In this easy-to-make salad, the zucchini cook in a spicy tomato garlic dressing, then are crowned with fresh coriander.
I also like to make this salad with a combination of fresh green beans and zucchini. Cut the green beans in half and cook them in the liquid for 3 minutes before adding the zucchini.
700 gr. zucchini or white squash (kishuim)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1⁄4 tsp. hot pepper flakes, or cayenne pepper to taste
2 to 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1⁄4 cup water
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 green onion, chopped
1 to 2 Tbsp. strained fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)
Quarter zucchini lengthwise, and then cut it in 2.5-cm. lengths. Put zucchini in a large skillet or saute pan with garlic, pepper flakes, oil and water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cook uncovered over medium-high heat, stirring often, for 3 to 5 minutes or until zucchini is crisp-tender and most of the liquid has evaporated; during cooking, if the liquid evaporates too fast and the zucchini is not yet tender, add a few more tablespoons water.
Add tomato paste, cumin and cayenne pepper (if using) and stir over low heat for 30 seconds.
At this point, if the dressing is too soupy, remove the zucchini with a slotted spoon and cook the dressing uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes to thicken it. Off heat, add green onion and lemon juice.
If you have removed the zucchini, return it to the sauce now. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve warm or cool, sprinkled with fresh coriander.
Makes 4 or 5 servings.


CAULIFLOWER WITH MUSHROOMS AND FRESH CORIANDER
For this satisfying cooked vegetable salad, which you can serve hot or cold, the cauliflower and mushrooms cook briefly in a Moroccan-spiced garlic dressing. A hint of acidity from fresh lemon juice, along with cumin and other spices, gives the cauliflower a lively flavor. Some Moroccan cooks consider turmeric a standard in their spice pantry too; adding it gives the cauliflower an appealing golden hue. If you have a Moroccan preserved lemon, you can dice a little of it and add it to the dressing along with the lemon juice.
Serve the crisp-tender vegetables cool as a salad or warm with roast chicken and couscous or with a vegetable burger.
450 gr. cauliflower, divided in small to medium florets
225 gr. mushrooms, quartered
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 to 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1⁄3 cup water
salt and freshly ground pepper
3⁄4 tsp. ground cumin
1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger
1⁄4 tsp. turmeric (optional)
1⁄2 tsp. sweet (regular) paprika
1⁄4 tsp. hot paprika or cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 Tbsp. strained fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander, parsley or a mixture of
both
Put cauliflower and mushrooms in a saute pan with garlic, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1⁄3 cup water. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring often, for 3 minutes.
Add mushrooms and cook uncovered over medium heat, stirring often, for 4 more minutes or until cauliflower florets are crisp-tender and most of liquid evaporates. Add cumin, ginger, turmeric, paprika and cayenne pepper and stir over low heat for 30 seconds.
At this point, if the dressing is too soupy, remove the vegetables with a slotted spoon and cook the dressing uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes to thicken it. Off heat, add lemon juice and half of fresh coriander.
If you have removed the vegetables, return them to the sauce now. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve warm or cool, sprinkled with remaining coriander.
Makes 4 servings.


Faye Levy is the author of Healthy Cooking for the Jewish Home and Feast from the Mideast.