The following recipe has been adapted from “Food from the Family Tree” by Pat Bell and Bonnie Rasmussen. These squares are very tasty and perfect for summer, just the right combination of salty and fresh, light yet filling.

Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon butter
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour (I used Whole Wheat)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
4 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 1 tablespoon crumbled dried
½ teaspoon finely grated nutmeg
350g frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup crumbled feta cheese (I used 5% fat ‘Bulgarit’ cheese)
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese with jalapeno (I used parmesan instead)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan cook the onion and garlic in the butter over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until they are softened.
3. In a large bowl beat the eggs with the milk until the mixture is well blended, stir in the flour, baking powder, thyme, basil and nutmeg, then fold in the onion mixture, spinach and cheeses.
4. Spread the mixture in a 9-by-12-inch baking dish, well coated with cooking spray, and bake it for 30 minutes, or until the top is lightly browned and the mixture pulls away slightly for the sides of the dish.
5. Let the mixture cool in the dish on a rack for a few minutes and then cut it into bite-size squares for hors d’oeuvres or larger squares for brunch.

Serve the squares hot, at room temperature or chilled. Serves 12 as an hors d’oeuvre or 6 as a brunch dish.

~ Recipe submitted by Joanne Mandel of the delicious food blog, Eat Love Jump

This dish serves 2 people, adjust according to how many people you are serving.

Ingredients:
Rigatoni pasta, half a box or 8 oz.
5-10 pieces of garlic 1-2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon sundried tomatoes
3/4-1 cup of strained or crushed tomatoes. (I tend to use canned whole tomatoes. Fresh is fine too, preferably skinned.)
2 tablespoons heavy cream.
1 tablespoon vodka
2 pinches of kosher salt
1 of pinch fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
Start by pan roasting garlic till slightly & evenly brown. Keep in mind roasted garlic is sweeter and less strong & pungent compared to fresh garlic. Add in chopped sundried tomatoes. Stir in and then add tomatoes. Let them simmer for at least 10 minutes. You want to see the color change from bight red to a darker deeper color. Mash with potato masher or fork the tomatoes & garlic till desired consistency.
Add 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Add 1 tablespoon vodka in sauce, more if you need. Add 2 pinches kosher salt, pinch fresh ground black pepper, and additional spices to suit your personal tastes.

Pour water out of pasta but leave a small amount of the water. Pour pasta into sauce pan including 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water. This mixes with sauce and fills the tubes with the creamy sauce. If done right it makes for a different textural eating experience. It’s also why I use rigatoni which is larger than ziti and thus allows for more sauce flow. Sautéing seals the sauce in.

For this pictured version I took a tablespoon of chopped sundried tomatoes and mixed in pepper, chipotle and a bit of balsamic & basil. A note of green garnish will impress with color.

Additional Notes:

Garlic is central to many of my dishes. Browning it evenly makes the taste just right. I love to take leftovers and top with mozzarella cheese and bake till crispy. My recipes are guides. I never follow a recipe exactly. You can but I encourage experimenting with slight changes of your own. Use different tomatoes. Use your own favorite spices. Sauce consistency can vary but should always be well simmered while not runny or dry. You can experiment by adding cream to garlic & sundried tomatoes which will give the cream a richer taste. But careful not to burn by lowering heat first.

Think you can rock this dish? Send in photos of yours by emailing nina@kosherinthekitch.com !

~ Recipe submitted by David Zimand of creagency

My husband has never been a fan of salmon until we had it one Friday night at our friends, Mira & Levi. I have to admit, at first I was jealous that she was able to get him to eat two servings of something that he would never finish at home. But then I gave myself a mental slap and realized I would be ridiculous not to ask her how she made it. So, as often happens when leaving the Martinez residence, I went home that night with a fabulous new recipe!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Chopped cilantro
Salmon

Directions:
Combine the olive oil and lemon juice and pour it over the fish. Then put chopped cilantro on top and put it in a 500 degree oven for 20 minutes, uncovered.

~ Mira Martinez’s recipe submitted by Nina Safar

Ingredients:
1 regular frozen pie shell
2 cups of frozen berries
1 can apple pie filling
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup margarine
1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put in a regular frozen pie shell in the oven for 10 minutes to cook it a little. Then take it out and cool it on a cooling rack. Meanwhile, mix the frozen berries with the apple pie filling in one bowl. In a separate bowl mix the rest of the ingredients to make the crumble topping.
When the pie shell has cooled, pour the berry apple filling into the shell and then top with the crumble topping. Put the pie on a piece of aluminum foil in case any of the liquid bubbles over. Bake for about 55 minutes or until the liquid is bubbling and the topping looks golden brown.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

Ingredients:
4 fillets of tilapia
Wishbone Robusto Italian dressing
1 onion, sliced
1/4 cup Trader Joe’s tomato basil marinara sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Marinate (or coat) fillets in Italian dressing. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray and put a very thin layer of Italian dressing on top of it. Lay coated fillets in pan. Mix marinara sauce, olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper by shaking it in a closed container or ziplock bag. Spoon the sauce over the fillets. Slice an onion and lay the slices on top of and around the fillets. Cover the pan and bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Then, turn the oven up to 400 degrees and bake uncovered for 10 more minutes.

~ Recipe submitted by Sarrit Kovacs

I have been slacking in the kitchen these past few months and wanted a fresh new recipe for dinner. I called up my sister in law Sarrit who told me about the following tasty dish her mom often makes. I am a huge fan of my mother in laws cooking so I knew without a doubt it would taste great however I also know that some of her dishes can be somewhat complicated so I was relieved to find out that this one is not only rich with flavor but is also easy to make. I served the fish with couscous and a fresh garden salad.

Ingredients:
Tilapia, either whole or fillets
Cumin
Black Pepper
Paprika
Salt
olive oil
1 onion sliced
1 tomato sliced
several potatoes sliced thinly

Directions:
Pour some olive oil and the above listed spices into a 9 x 13 inch pan and mix the potato, onion, and tomato slices with olive oil mixture to coat them. Then layer the potato, onion, and tomato slices in the pan. Rub the WHOLE tilapia or tilapia filets with the same olive oil/spice mixture and put the rubbed tilapia on top of the layered vegetables. Bake at 350 degrees, checking after 45 minutes to see if potatoes are done.

* If you are not using a whole tilapia, and instead are using fillets, check the fish after about 20 minutes and if it is ready take the fillets off of the vegetables and set aside. Return the pan with the vegetables back into the oven and bake until potatoes are ready (soft). Then place fillets back on top of vegetables and serve.

~ Frida Zipor’s recipe submitted by Nina Safar

Two of my favourite dishes are kugel and quiche, so when a friend of mine presented me with a recipe that was essentially those two combined into one beautiful work of culinary art, you can imagine I was pretty darn excited. I’ve had to alter the recipe to make it work the way I’d like, but with these changes, it comes out very nicely. This is another dish that my two children will eat without complaint which automatically turns it into one of my favourites. Aside from tasting great when it’s first made, it is also quite tasty the next day, even served cold. For this reason, we’ve found this is a great dish for Shabbes or any Yom Tov.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2-3 medium Potatoes, peeled and grated
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp Salt

Filling:
1/2 lb Broccoli, sliced thinly
2 Cloves of Garlic, minced
1/2 cup Onion, chopped
3 Large Eggs
1 cup Milk or Cream
1/2 Cup Grated Cheese
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Basil
Paprika for dusting

Directions:
Combine ingredients for crust in a large bowl. When thoroughly mixed, form into a crust in a 9 inch pie dish, pressing down the bottom but not the sides. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes. Cover and continue baking for another 10 minutes. While crust is baking, prepare the filling; Saute onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil until translucent. Add broccoli, stir and cover, cooking about 5 minutes, or until tender. When the crust has finished baking, spread half of the cheese on the bottom of the crust. Spread cooked vegetables on top, and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Beat eggs and milk together and pour over top. Dust with Paprika. Bake uncovered at 375F for 35 minutes.

~ Recipe submitted by Moishe Callow of Stay At Home Tatty

Ingredients:
Broccoli (frozen or fresh)
Spinach (frozen or fresh)
Mushrooms
4 eggs
2 tablespoons mayo
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon of onion soup mix
a hanful of cornflake crumbs for the topping
Pie crust

Directions:
Cook the broccoli & spinach. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix it so it’s combined fully. Pour into pie crust and sprinkle on the cornflake crumbs then bake it uncovered for an hour on 350.

~ Recipe submitted by Tova Berger

My wife really loves Scalloped Potatoes. As a matter of fact it’s her favorite dish, and if it were up to her we’d probably eat it at least once a week. The only problem for us is that we live in an area where the availability of kosher cheese is equal to that of Vancouver Canucks Stanley Cup Rings. That is to say it isn’t available. It was always an assumption of ours that good Scalloped Potatoes needed cheese, but I’m happy to announce that this is not the case. This dish rivals the best cheese filled potato dishes out there, and if you happen to live in a place where pareve margarine is available, this dish could be either pareve or even fleishig. Of course, if you’re having a dairy meal, you can go ahead and use good old fashioned butter. I’ve also had this dish where we put cheese on top with just about 10 minutes left in the cooking time and it came out delicious. Both of my children really like this dish as well, and as anyone who has two children under the age of three can tell you, if they’ll eat it all up and then tell you it was yummy, it’s a good thing.

Ingredients:
5 Large Potatoes
3/4 cup Chopped Onion
3 Tbsp Butter(or pareve margarine if it’s a meat meal)
1/4 cup Flour
1 3/4 cup Chicken Broth(use pareve chicken broth if you’re using butter)
2 Tbsp Mayonnaise
3/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper

Directions:
1. Wash, peel, and slice potatoes thinly(about 1/2 cm thick)
2. In a greased casserole dish layer potatoes and chopped onion
3. In a saucepan melt butter and stir in flour until smooth
4. Add remaining ingredients to saucepan gradually and stir until sauce has thickened
5. Pour sauce over potatoes and bake at 325F for 2 hours

~ Recipe submitted by Moishe Callow of Stay At Home Tatte

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion diced
1 large tomato diced
1 loaf of gefilta fish

Directions:
Saute the onions and tomatoes. Drizzle some olive oil into a small loaf pan then place the gefilta fish in it (remove the paper beforehand) Pour the veggies on top and bake it on 400 for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. (Uncovered for the first half hour and covered for the remaining time)

~ Recipe submitted by Shany Baitz