Sometimes all you need is a good sandwich, and this one is a goooood sandwich. What makes this sandwich so good is the smoky tofu! Thin slices of tofu with barbecue style seasoning. Call it vegan ham, call it vegan pastrami, it doesn’t matter, the main thing is that it’s delicious.

How to make vegan smoky tofu ham?

For making the tofu “ham” use firm tofu. The first step is slicing the tofu.

Slice the tofu into thin slices – about 2-3 mm/ 1/8-inch. Since the tofu is sliced so thin, there’s no need to dry it before marinating.

Making the marinade

The marinade has barbecue style flavors (not accurate BBQ, more inspired by). The main flavor in this marinade is smoked paprika. I looove smoked paprika, and I really recommend keeping one in your pantry. If you don’t use smoked paprika often – you can store it in your freezer. In addition to the smoked paprika, the marinade also has in it soy sauce, silan (date syrup), tomato paste, wine vinegar and black pepper. If you don’t have silan on hand – sub it with maple syrup or molasses. Mix all the ingredients together to a smooth paste.

After preparing the marinade it’s time to marinade the tofu. Use a shallow container and place one layer of the tofu slices. Next, brush the tofu slices with the barbecue style marinade. Place another layer of tofu slices on top, and again spread the marinade on top using a brush. Repeat for all the tofu. If there is any marinade left at the end – pour it on top. Finally, cover the container, either with a lid or plastic wrap, and let it marinade in the fridge for an hour.

Baking the vegan smoky tofu ham –

Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Place the vegan tofu “ham” on a tray, lined with baking paper or a silicone mat. The “ham” slices should be placed next to each other and not on top of each other. Using a brush, spread some of the marinade left in the dish. Bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove it from the oven and carefully flip the tofu slices to the other side. Spread all that is left of the marinade on the tofu slices and bake for another 10 minutes.

Next it’s just a matter of assembling the sandwich. Use any of your favorite bread (for a gluten-free version – use GF bread) or wrap it in lettuce leaves (delicious!). Apply a spread you like – pesto, vegan mayo, tahini etc. And of course – don’t forget to add vegetables.

Keep the vegan tofu “ham” in an airtight container, in the fridge, for up to a week.

Looking for more delicious vegan recipes?

• Vegan white bean and almonds meatballs
• Green lentil and mushroom soup
• Vegan sweet potato shepherd’s pie
• Green curry with charred tofu, green vegetables and coconut cream

Print Recipe

Vegan Smoky Tofu Ham

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

marinating time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 35 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

serves: 12 slices

Ingredients:

• 300 gr/ 10 oz firm tofu

For the marinade –

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp date syrup (silan), you can sub it with maple syrup or molasses
• 1 tbsp wine vinegar
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper

To assemble the sandwich – your favorite bread, spread and vegetables

Instructions:

• Slice firm tofu into thin slices, about 2-3 mm/ 1/8-inch thick.
• Prepare the marinade – in a small bowl place all the ingredients: soy sauce, tomato paste, date syrup, wine vinegar, smoked paprika and ground black pepper. Mix well to obtain a smooth paste.
• Prepare a shalow container and place in it a single layer of tofu slices. Using a brush, spread the tofu slices with some of the marinade. Arrange another layer of tofu slices on top, and again brush it with the marinade. Repeat for all the tofu slices. If there is any marinade left – pour it into the dish on top of the tofu slices. Cover the dish, using a lid or plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator for an hour (possibly up to 12 hours).
• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a baking tray lined with baking paper or silicone mat.
• Arrange the marinated tofu slices on the baking tray in a single layer (not on top of the other). Using a brush, generously spread some of the marinade on the tofu slices, keeping aside the remaining marinade. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes. After, carefully remove the tray from the oven and flip the tofu slices to the other side. Brush the tofu slices again with all the remaining marinade and return to the oven to bake for another 10 minutes. Let it cool.
• Use the vegan smoky tofu "ham" and put together a sandwich according to your preferences. Use your favorite bread or make lettuce wraps, along with a good spead and of course vegetables.

  I used a rustic baguette, mint-cilantro pesto, roasted peppers and lettuce. delicious!
• Keep in the fridge for up to a week in an airtight container.

Did you make this recipe?
Please let me know how it turned out!
comment below or share it on instagram and tag #thehappylentils

הפוסט Vegan Smoky Tofu Ham הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

As a child, we used to spend every Yom Kippur in my mom’s hometown city (Nahariya), where most of my mom’s family still lives. I can’t remember exactly if we slept at my late grandmother’s house or at my aunts, and the truth is that it doesn’t really matter, because for the 25 hours of Yom Kippur I couldn’t care less about grownups. Yom Kippur was all about my cousins, hanging out with them, moving from that park to this garden, from one aunt’s house to another, living in a children only world without any adult supervising (or at least that how if felt …).

I remember we were fascinated by the fasting. We constantly calculated how much hours we’d been fasting already (more like minutes…) and how much more we can last. We were little kids, so the fast was pretty much over by the time it was dinner time, 2-3 hours after it began, but that didn’t stop us from giving each other advises on how not to be hungry and getting into epic kids’ discussions about whether chewing gum is allowed on Yom Kippur, since it’s not really food but kinda is..

I remember one Yom Kippur we caught one of my cousins, who was already at the age that you suppose to fast in, eating chicken in his bedroom. For us kids, this was the biggest scandal to say the least, at that time I thought everyone who was old enough fast. We spent all that Yom Kippur deliberating whether to tell his mother and maybe get him into big troubles, or not to tell. In the end we didn’t tell, even though we all thought we should. At the moment of truth, no child was brave enough for the task. Today it’s quite clear to me that of course his mother knew that, how else did a plate full of chicken got to his room, but as a child I didn’t think that far.

When the time came, and the sun began to set, we all gathered in the synagogue’s square. Our kids’ world began, once again, to mix into the adults’ world, and we all looked to find three stars in the sky and hear the shofar, to single us the fast is over. After, we went to my grandma’s house and my dad, who always looked somehow close to god on Yom Kippur, blessed all kinds of things like wine and bread and this good smelling herbs. Then we always ate this very high and delicious orange cake and drink tea.
On the same night, we would return to our home in Kiryat Haim, and on the way back I would dream about the next Yom Kippur, and how maybe, only maybe, this time I’ll be grown-up enough to fast…

This recipe for oatmeal vegan cookies with apples has both oatmeal and granola in it, to help getting crunchier texture. The choice of the granola is important here, and I, of course recommend using my excellent homemade granola

Print Recipe

Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with Apples

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack, Sweet

serves: 20 cookies

Ingredients:

• 3½ oz coconut oil, in a soft to liquid texture (heat slightly in microwave if solid)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 4 oz apple puree, natural
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup granola
• 1 cut apple into tiny cubes (about a quarter of an inch)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
• ,In a mixing bowl, place coconut oil in a soft or liquid state (if solid – slightly warm beforehand) sugar of two kinds, and mix. Add apple puree and stir again. Add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and stir until all ingredients are incorporated into the mixture. Finally add oats and granola and mix until uniform.
• Using an ice cream spoon or just a spoon, make dough balls about 1.5 inch in diameter and place on the baking paper, flatten the cookies to about half an inch high and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. Cool.
• The cookies are at their best fresh out of the oven, and can be kept well in a sealed box for up to a week.

הפוסט Vegan Oatmeal Cookies with Apples הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

My mom is under pressure. Pesach is coming. Pesach is, of course, the jewish holiday in which jewish people are not supposed to own or eat hametz- any kind of food that has wheat, barley, rye, oats or spelt in it. It’s been a month that my parents’ home life revolves around Pesach, that will arrive in three weeks and one day exactly. Pesach is also called the freedom holiday. Well… it doesn’t feel like it when you look at my mom. She hasn’t stopped working for three weeks. She’s busy. Cleaning and throwing, throwing and cleaning. Just working constantly. Now, my mom is not religious. She fasted on Yom Kippur, sure, but there’s no way you can call her religious, her madness for the Pesach cleaning comes from a deeper place. Probably from her home, her childhood, her mother.

Ever since I can remember myself, Pesach is sacred.

Every year since I was a child, life in my parents’ home has been going on like this: one month before Pesach, you don’t buy any new chametz. Three weeks before Pesach, there is only one small shelf in the fridge + one basket on the kitchen counter, and there, and only there, it is permissible to put chametz. Two weeks before Pesach, my mom begins to throw out all of her spices, because of the possibility they’ve been touched by chametz. Throw, not put in a closed box in the upper closet or in the garage – throw. A week before Pesach the chametz doesn’t enter the house and every evening ends with a falafel on the steps outside the apartment. every evening. That’s how it was when I was a child and that’s how it happens today.

My parents’ house, that is spotless every day of the year (cleaning bleach is the smell of my childhood), goes into a constant state of being cleaned, meaning all the chairs are raised, the rugs are sent for cleaning and then rolled back until the evening before the Seder, then they will be spread for the holiday, there is always a bucket and 2-3 bottles in the hall, and mopping cloths everywhere.

But the truth is that it’s all worth it when you get to my parents’ house at noon before the Seder (Pesach eve). The whole house is screaming holiday, the curtains stand proud, there is always some new pillows or decoration that wasn’t there before, of course there are flowers and everything is clean, inviting, quiet, there is no hint of the chaos it has undergone in recent weeks. I love this feeling so much. I enter the house and my soul rises differently from any other day of the year. And in those moments I can not help but wonder if all this madness, all the hard work my mom (and dad!) put for weeks, maybe it just pays off.

Just a small thing before I get to the recipe… Mom, if you read it, despite the magic that happens to the house on the eve of Pesach, my dream is that next year you will take a break from all of it, skip all this hard work for a year, maybe take a trip abroad for the holiday, the spring is a wonderful season

These crackers are so delicious and crunchy that you just have to make them. Packed with so many different kinds of seeds and pistachios, they are an addictive snack but with ingredients that make it a healthy snack. The making of the crackers is a child game – just mix all the ingredients in the bowl, but the trick is in the baking, and to get perfect crackers you should make sure to take the crackers out of the oven only when they are dry and not before because no one likes soft crackers (otherwise they wouldn’t call it crackers!). By the way, my mother will probably say, at this stage of the year, that it is a great recipe for removing chametz from the house:)

Print Recipe

Vegan Spelt Crackers

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

serves: 30 crackers

• 38X32-cm -or- 18X13-in large oven baking pan

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup spelt flour (I use whole spelt flour)
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sesame (I use whole sesame)
• 1/4 cup pistachios, , coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon nigella seeds
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1½ tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup water
• For salt lovers – 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt to sprinkle over

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and prepare a standard baking pan lined with baking paper.
•  In a mixing bowl, put all the ingredients in the recipe, while keeping aside about a tablespoon of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds and pistachios, plus a little bit of nigella seeds, to sprinkle over. Mix all the ingredients with a fork or a spoon until the mixture is even.
  
• Spread the mixture on the baking paper and spread it using spatula or platter in a thin layer to cover the entire pan. Sprinkle the seeds and pistachios we left on the side and coarse salt if desired (optional for those who like their crackers extra salty). Place the pan in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the oven until the dough is slightly thickens. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and with a knife cut the dough to your desired crackers shape and size (rectangles, squares, whatever you like).
  
• Lower the heat in the oven to 320°F/160°C and place the crackers back in the oven for another 35 minutes, but check after 30 minutes. The crackers are supposed to come out of the oven firm and not soft in any way. Because of the differences between ovens, the baking time at this stage can range from 30-40 minutes, so I recommend checking every 3 minutes the first time you prepare.
  
• Remove and let cool completely. The crackers can be kept in a sealed box for up to 4 days.
  

הפוסט Vegan Spelt Crackers הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

Can you feel it too? That the winter will end soon? Yes yes, I know, winter is not over yet. We still have many days of rain and cold ahead of us, but still, you can see the end. The first hint that winter is at its end I received a few weeks ago at the grocery store. Next to the register were stacked with strawberry boxes and a sign saying “The celebration started! 2 for 25” (at the beginning of winter one strawberry box can easily cost 25 ILS). Boom. Even though on that day there was a mad rain I realized – we’re nearing the end of winter.

An end is always the beginning of something else, and I love new beginnings (I don’t like endings but that’s a different subject). The potential at a new beginning is always a bit exciting to me. New season, new year, new week, even a new day. If there are those who go to sleep thinking about what was, I belong to those who think about what will be, and almost always positive. Such a hopeless optimist.

So soon the winter will be over. We’re all going to peel off all the layers we’ve been putting on ourselves all these past months. We’ll take off coats and sweaters and boots, and our skin, so covered these days, will feel the sun again. If winter is the time of convergence in ourselves, in our family and friends, then spring and surely summer, it’s time to go outside. Both physically and mentally. Our diet will also change. It’s already changing. Already we look at all the carbs that have warmed us all winter, all the soups and stews, and realize that this kind of eating is starting to exhaust itself. It’s not just a matter of “Prepare your body for summer,” it happens naturally, if you listen to the body.

There is something exciting in the changing of the seasons, it’s like nature’s way to tell us that one period is over, and another time begins, and when the next period is spring then all it’s surely involves feelings of renewal, of change. Soon it will be time to open wide all the windows in the house, store all the heavy blankets and let the body absorb a load full of vitamin D from the sun. Not yet, but soon. And about the strawberries? I love strawberries, strawberries that are great, but nothing beats mango.

I love granola. It’s good for breakfast, for an afternoon snack, it’s always fun having a jar of it at your home counter and the easiest thing is to take a bag of granola for work. I usually have a jar of my favorite granola at home (and if you haven’t tried it yet, you should!), But sometimes you just want some chocolate… This granola is also a bit like the end of the winter – we are signaling to our bodies that soon the days of warm and comforting dishes will end, but soon, not yet.

An important note – this granola is not sweet. It does have strong flavors of cocoa and hazelnuts. If you are interested in a sweeter granola, you may want to double the amount of sugar.

Print Recipe

Cocoa and Hazelnuts Granola

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

serves: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup natural hazelnuts, , coarsely chopped
• 1 cup natural almonds, , coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup of silan (date syrup) or maple
• 1/4 cup canola oil (or any other healthy oil)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• Pinch of salt

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C.
• In a large mixing bowl, place oats, chopped hazelnuts, chopped almonds, cocoa powder, brown sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the wet ingredients: silan or maple, oil and water, and mix well until the mixture is fully and evenly covered.
• Spread the mixture over a large baking pan lined with baking paper and bake for about 35 minutes, during which time carefully mix the mixture at least once.
• Cool the granola completely. Then, stir in the chocolate chips (or dark chocolate chopped in the same amount).
• Keep in a sealed container for at least two weeks.

הפוסט Cocoa and Hazelnuts Granola הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

Grandma Masuda, may she rest in peace, made the most delicious orange cake I ever tasted. A very high cake, baked in an aluminum mold with a hole in the middle, yellow as the sun, from all the oranges gramma had squeezed into. I can still see and feel its taste. I’ve had some good orange cakes since then, but no one compares to this cake. For years I’ve been trying to recreate her recipe, but I probably will never quite make it. It’s impossible to reminisce about this orange cake and not remember gramma’s apartment, with the old sideboard, and the glass-cabinet on it and inside pictures, including a picture of my grandparents looking straight at the camera. I think the picture was printed on a plate, but the years that have passed may be deceptive.

In front of the living room was a small kitchen, and at the end a stove, always with huge pots on it, filled with various wonderful dishes. No matter when you came, grandma always offered food, and when I say food I mean a crazy meal of a million dishes and salads, and there is no way you will not eat, even a little, because grandma didn’t really let go till you ate. After grandma died, so many people came to her funeral, some of them unknown to us. It turns out that grandma, who lived alone for many years, would walk around in the neighborhood and give out pots full of food to people who she knew needed a hot meal and couldn’t take care of it themselves, I can just imagine her walking around the neighborhood with pots, an old woman with a clear agenda of feeding the world. She saw it as a Mitzvah, and never told anyone about it.

Grandma Fanny, may she rest in peace, was probably the best cook in the world, except my mom. Throughout her life, until she got sick, she would command over huge meals, meals I still can’t decide if they had more participants or more dishes … I remember in great detail the preparations before the holidays, almost like a military operation, the whole house was filled with huge plastic basins, filled with all the market had to offer, and everyone had a different task- cleaning the artichokes, take beans out of its bags, cut the edges off the green beans. Days of preparations for the meal that is the crowning glory of the holiday. Before we would eat, we all sang all the holidays songs, because grandma never demanded anything except to hear us sing before eating, and for a few moments she sat, and only listen to all of the family singing with a little smile on her face.

On the Mimouna (the north-african jewish celebration that marks the end of Passover) we would never see grandma. She was too busy preparing us mofletta (Moroccan-jewish pancake) and barcokesh (dairy couscous) with sacks of flour and semolina that grandpa bought from the Arabs in the wadi at the end of the holiday. I remember as a child sneaking in to her kitchen and looking at the oil-spattered balls lying on the greased worktop just before spreading them one by one for delicious moflettas and then frying them in huge piles in a small frying pan that stood next to the full steaming pot of the couscous. I remember helping her, flattening the mofletta’s balls myself, passing the couscous through the colander, I remember the pride I felt, how I already knew in those moments that it was a great privilege that had fallen into my hands. I would give a great deal to return to those moments, even for a little while, and I’m sure I would ask her a lot of questions.

Grandma Fanny and grandma Masuda were part of a generation of women whose kitchen was (really) their place. Both women were brilliant, intelligent, and sensitive women, the world could enjoy their contribution very much, but the limitations for women at those times made the beneficiaries mostly family and acquaintances. From their small kitchens they fed generations of happy and satisfied people, and even today, years after they died, I can feel the wonderful flavors they have brought to my life. Because that’s how it is with good food, it stays with you long after the meal itself has ended.

Some recipes come from products you see in the market, some recipes pass from generation to generation, some of the most delicious recipes I know came from leftovers found in the refrigerator. This recipe was born out of a picture I had in my head, of the orange coin, like a small sun, on top of the muffins. I tried several versions, but once the semolina came into the picture, I knew I’d found it.

Upside down orange muffins, in a slightly healthier version than usual, and to my taste (much) tastier, with spelled flour, olive oil, ground almonds and of course, orange juice. The oranges at the bottom (or at the top) of the muffins are briefly cooked in sugar water and rosemary.

Print Recipe

Upside Down Orange Muffins with Semolina and Spelt Flour – the VEGAN version

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Sweet

serves: 20 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole spelled flour
• 1 cup semolina
• 1 cup grounded almonds
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda powder
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup apple puree
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the upside-down oranges-

• 2 oranges, sliced into 1/4-inch/0.5 cm coins
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 rosemary branch

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a muffin tray and oil the cups.
• For the upside down oranges: In a suitable pot, place the sliced oranges, water, brown sugar and rosemary. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the oranges and let cool. Continue to reduce the syrup for another 10 minutes.
• After the oranges have cooled a bit, carefully cut the orange peel around with a sharp knife, making round orange wheels. Place each orange coin in each of the greased muffins tins.
• In a mixing bowl place spelled flower, semolina, grounded almonds, baking powder and baking soda powder. Stir. In a separate bowl place the wet ingredients- orange juice, olive oil, apple puree and vanilla extract. mix until the mixture is well combined.
• Transfer the wet ingredients mixture to the dry ingredients mixture. mix until the mixture is smooth without any lumps in it. The mixture is slightly liquidish and that's fine
• Fill each of the muffins tins with the muffins mixture almost to the end. Bake for 20 minutes and allow it to cool for another 10 minutes. After cooling off, go with a knife around the muffins edges to help the muffins to be released, and then turn over the tray over a cooling net. Pour some of the sugar and rosemary syrup on each of the muffins.
• The muffins are best on the day of baking. It can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 4 days.

Print Recipe

Upside Down Orange Muffins with Semolina and Spelt Flour

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Breakfast, Sweet

serves: 20 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole spelled flour
• 1 cup semolina
• 1 cup grounded almonds
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the upside-down oranges-

• 2 oranges, sliced into 1/4-inch/0.5 cm coins
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 rosemary branch

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Prepare a muffin tray and oil the cups.
• For the upside down oranges: In a suitable pot, place the sliced oranges, water, brown sugar and rosemary. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Carefully remove the oranges and let cool. Continue to reduce the syrup for another 10 minutes.
• After the oranges have cooled a bit, carefully cut the orange peel around with a sharp knife, making round orange wheels. Place each orange coin in each of the greased muffins tins.
• In a mixing bowl place spelled flower, semolina, grounded almonds and baking powder. Stir. In a separate bowl place the wet ingredients – orange juice, olive oil, eggs and vanilla extract. beat until the mixture is well combined.
• Transfer the wet ingredients mixture to the dry ingredients mixture. mix until the mixture is smooth without any lumps in it. The mixture is slightly liquidish and that's fine
• Fill each of the muffins tins with the muffins mixture almost to the end. Bake for 17-20 minutes and allow it to cool for another 10 minutes. After cooling off, go with a knife around the muffins edges to help the muffins to be released, and then turn over the tray over a cooling net. Pour some of the sugar and rosemary syrup on each of the muffins.
• The muffins are best on the day of baking. It can be kept in a sealed container in the refrigerator for about 4 days.

הפוסט Upside Down Orange Muffins with Semolina and Spelt Flour הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

I remember those minutes of leaving the house in the mornings a few years back when Tamar and Ido were still in kindergarten …

We are all set to go. I take my bag, then her bag, and his bag. In my right hand I pick up my lunch bag, and my keys. With my free hand (free?) I put on my sunglasses.
“Come on, let’s go to the kindergarten.”
They run and cling to the door, waiting to charge…
“Wait, be careful, stay away from the door, I open it”
I open the door carefully.
“Tell Kutcher (their four legs brother) goodbye”. “Bye Kutcher.” “Bye Kuti”. “Bye Kutcher.”
We leave the house and I lock the door.

Tamar orders the elevator. Ido runs to turn on the light. He stands at the switch and raises his hands up. “Light .. Light ..”. I pick him up so he can turn the light on. He becomes heavy the little fellow… The elevator doors open up and Tamar enters. I run quickly with all the bags and block the elevator doors so that they won’t close suddenly without us. Even though the elevator is here, Ido also presses the button to call it and then enters. Everyone is in.

Tamar presses the button to the ground floor. The elevator doors close. Without thinking twice Ido jumps and presses the button to the second floor, the floor we’re in. The doors open again. I give him the look, adding a little smile, and the doors close again. He jumps again to the elevator buttons and presses again on the second floor button. The doors open again. “Ido no, not now”, I mumble.  I corner both of them physically and block the elevator buttons. The doors close again. The elevator begins to go down, I clear the way to the buttons and Ido runs and presses again on the second floor (too late ..), and on the minus one floor …

We made it to the entrance level. The little ones run out in a frenzy. I wonder why is it and don’t know if to tell them to stop or smile for the naivety it represent. Tamar is first to the entrance door and pushes it. I rush quickly and hold it before it will be slammed on Ido and he passes me without noticing there was ever any danger. They continue their run outside, to the car, Tamar to the right side of the car, Ido to the left.
I open the door to Tamar and move to the other side of the car while she’s climbing to her chair. “Mum, buckle me up first!” “Of course”. I open the door to Ido and he begins to climb to his seat. I follow him with my eyes and come back again to Tamar’s side. I fasten her seat belt, and give her a kiss. “Do you want to close the door by yourself?” Slam. I Move to back to Ido’s side, open the passenger front door, and put down my lunch bag, then Tamar’s bag, then Ido’s bag, and then my bag and close the door. Then I go to Ido’s door and fasten his seat belt. a kiss. “Do you want to close the door by yourself?” Slam.
I return to the driver’s side of the car. Suddenly there is silence. They’re both safely in the car, I’m out. I Open the driver’s door, get in and start the engine. I open the air conditioner, turn the radio on, and put the car in reverse. “Mom.. don’t forget to put your seat belt on!”

A few years have passed since then. Tamar and Ido walk on foot to school. They don’t need my help to turn the light on or call the elevator, they also carry their own bags (most of the time). And still, those minutes, the minutes when you leave home to start a new day, always carry a certain feeling of frenzy, and in this sense they seem to repeat themselves every day.

These muffins can be used as a great breakfast. They are tasty, pretty, have oatmeal and whole wheat flour in (as far as I’m concerned, that’s a check on upgrading to a healthier version) and you can eat them on the way in the days you don’t really sit down to eat breakfast. When I prepare them I immediately freeze almost all the amount, and then when I wake up, take a few from the freezer – a few minutes outside and they defrost great.

For the tahini and silan (date syrup) spread use a store-bought spread that I live in peace with. I tried to make a kind of homemade paste with raw tahini and silan and the truth is that the muffins were really ugly. When the children were small I made them with Nutella spread instead of tahini, and also these days, most of the time, I make some of the quantity this way.

Banana Muffins with Tahini and Silan Spread
for 12 muffins

Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup natural brown sugar (demerara or cane)
2+1/2 teaspoons baking powder (10 gr)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
120 gr/4.5 oz tahini and silan (date syrup) spread (a teaspoon for each muffin, I use this)

Instructions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C, line a 12 muffin pan with muffin tins.
2. In a medium bowl combine all the dry ingredients and stir.
3. In a small bowl beat egg, milk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Add the mashed bananas and stir till well combined.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients bowl and stir only till combined.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin tins. Add to each muffin a teaspoon of the tahini and silan spread, and with a toothpick or a knife cut the tahini spread into the batter making some sort of a star.
6. Bake between 17-20 minutes, till the muffins are golden and stable. Let it cool completely on a cooling rack.
7. Keep in an airtight container in the fridge up to 5 days, or in the freezer up to 3 weeks.

Notes:
• As said, you can use Nutella spread instead of the tahini spread. You can also combine the two spreads (1/2 teaspoon each from both spreads) and it will turn up yummy.
• For those who like the flavor, add 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to the mixture.

הפוסט Banana Muffins with Tahini and Silan Spread הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.

The alarm clock rings. I wake up to a total darkness. It takes me exactly a quarter of a second to snap out of the sleep I was in a moment ago. I get out of bed, take the clothes I set up for me the day before and change them quietly in the bathroom, all while washing my face and brushing my teeth. Then, I sit on the bathroom floor, put a sock on and then put my foot into the shoe and tie it up. The same with the other leg. Suddenly a slight sense of festivity, that can’t be explained, sneaks in.

I walk quietly down the corridor to the kitchen. Everyone is still asleep, and I open the refrigerator door for light. I grab and eat a few nuts, one date, and drink water. Finally I take my phone packed in his carrier and my headphones, and leave the house. It’s dark outside, and so quiet. There is no one on the streets. And suddenly, again, the same sense of festivity fills me up, but this time it’s justified. The ceremony begins.

I put the headphones on and play the most important playlist on the phone, the most private. You can find songs of David Bowie along with Kendrick Lamar, along with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, along with Beyoncé, I don’t know why. that’s how I am. No matter what the first song is, I’m pleased. That’s it, I’m in my own world. I put down the volume so that it won’t be too loud, I’ll turn it up later, wrap the phone around my hand and start walking. In the dark. Alone. With music blowing in my ears. A few minutes later I turn on my running watch and start running. I know the road, I know exactly how many meters pass between each point, I know the rhythm of my breaths and the sensation of my legs along the way. And the silence. Oh, that quiet that won’t come back all day long. My silence, my breathing, my feet that land on the road time after time. A silence that is all about listening to myself, even if the music is at high volume.

The minutes pass and so do the miles. The sun enters the skies more and more, it’s quite clear that the day is coming. Five minutes away from my house, I switch to walking, adjust my breath and give myself a little smile. The sun is out and there are quite a few cars on the roads that were empty just a while ago. Next to my house I stretch and my neighbor from the first floor leaves the building for his work day. He looks at me surprised, and I return a small, almost apologetic smile: “Good morning,” I think he answers back but I’m not really sure because of the headphones. When I enter my house, everyone is still asleep. I know these are the last moments of quiet and I enjoy them so much. Again I scatter in the dark to find clothes, and go into the shower. After I finish I wash my running clothes and hang them to dry. When I walk down the hall to the kitchen, It’s not so quiet anymore. My time with me is up.

“mom…”

This recipe is one of my favorites, and it is also my “house granola,” which means that you will almost always find a jar full of this goodness on my kitchen counter. I like to eat it for breakfast with yogurt and fruit, and it always gives me the feeling that I’m doing something good for my body. The granola recipe is very flexible and forgiving, and you can easily replace all kinds of nuts / dried fruit / seeds in what you like and have available at that moment, as long as you keep the same quantities (more or less). Of course you can also play with the sugar quantities according to your own preference.

It is important to make sure to let the granola cool completely after baking and before adding the dried cranberries and goji berry (the same applies to raisins / dried apricots, dates or any other dry fruit you wish to add), otherwise they will harden and feel like stones in your mouth. and try it with hazelnuts! OK, now the recipe:)

The recipe is based on this recipe by Leah Shomron Finder.

Print Recipe

Homemade Granola

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time55 minutes mins

serves: 8 cups

Ingredients:

• 4 cups old fashioned oats, (400 gr/14 oz)
• 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds
• 1/2 cup goji berries
• 1/2 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup demerara sugar
• 1/4 cup coconut or canola oil , (or other healthy oil)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened natural silan (date honey syrup)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 pinch of salt

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C.
• Combine in a mixing bowl the oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts and almonds.
• Combine in a separated bowl the demerara sugar, coconut or canola oil, silan, water, cinnamon and salt.
• Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix well and toss to coat.
• Spread the mixture in a thin layer on a baking pan lined with parchment paper and bake for about 45 minutes (depending on your oven). Toss every 15 minutes.
• Let the granola cool off completely before adding the goji berries and dried cranberries.
• Store in an airtight container (up to 3 weeks, but it wouldn’t last that long:))

הפוסט Homemade Granola הופיע לראשונה ב- The Happy Lentils.