3-25-2011 The Dish on Shabbat Cooking

I was Speedy Gonzalez in the kitchen this morning, I finished all of my prep and cooking before 12:15 p.m. I still have to actually cook a lot of the food, but the majority of work is out of the way. Woohoo! Now I can relax while my children nap.
We are having only one family over tonight, so I didn't make as large of portions as normal. It is funny though because whether I cook for 2 people or 20, it seems as though the amount of work remains the same (alot!). Yes, I will admit sometimes it gets tiring, but the joy it gives me outweighs the exhaustion.

My dinner menu for tonight:
(click the link to see the recipe in an older post)

1. Bread Machine Challah
2. Black Bean Corn Salad- see below for recipe
3. Strawberry Mango Green Salad
4. Baked Salmon Croquettes- see below for recipe
5. Gazpacho with Avocado- see below for recipe
6. Sunshine Chicken- recipe below
7. Sweet-n-Sour Meatballs
8. Roasted Potato and Sweet Potato medley- recipe below
9. Steamed Green Beans
10. Apple Crisp- recipe below
11. Vanilla Cake with strawberry frosting
12. Fresh Fruit

Black Bean Corn Salad

3 T. apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 T. olive oil
1 T. dijon mustard
3/4 t. salt
2 T. honey
pinch black pepper
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

In a medium salad bowl, mix together apple cider vinegar, olive oil, dijon, salt, honey, and green onions. Add the bell pepper, corn, and black beans. Stir to combine dressing and corn and beans completely. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, to allow flavors to come together.

Baked Salmon Croquettes
Normally, Salmon croquettes are fried, but I decided to make a lighter version without the huge mess of frying.

2 (5oz.) cans salmon, boneless and skinless
2 eggs
1/2 C. bread crumbs
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 T. mayonaise
1 T. lemon juice
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. old bay seasoning
pinch salt and pepper, or to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together all of the above ingredients. Scoop out golf ball size scoops and place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Smush each ball into a patty. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from baking sheet, let cool, and place in refrigerator. Serve cold with horseradish mayo, or wasabi mayo.

Gazpacho with Avocado- serves 4
My hubby a.k.a. King Hock loves gazpacho, he will be very excited when I serve it tonight.

4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/8 C. red onion, chopped
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. olive oil
1/4 C. tomato juice
1 lemon, juiced
drizzle of hot sauce, such as Cholula
salt, to taste
pinch black pepper
1 avocado, sliced thinly for garnish

Place all of the above ingredients into a blender, food processor, or using a hand immersion blender, puree.
Add 1/2 t. salt, mix together. Taste to see if it needs more, add small amounts until adjusted to your liking.
Place in refrigerator and chill until ready to serve.

Sunshine Chicken 
I gave this chicken the sunshine name after it's golden color.

1 cut up 8 piece chicken
3 T. melted margarine
1/2 C. honey
1/4 C. yellow mustard
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large baking dish, sprayed with non stick spray, place chicken face up. Mix together margarine, honey, mustard, lemon juice, and salt. Pour over chicken. Place in oven.
Bake uncovered for 1- 1.5 hours until chicken is done (meat thermometer reads 170 or is no longer pink), baste chicken with pan juices a few time throughout the cooking. The top should be carmelized.

Roasted Sweet Potato and Potato Medley- serves 4-6
Adding sweet potatoes to my normal roasted potatoes recipe makes a nice change. I find the sweet potatoes addictive.

1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into cubes
1 large potato or 2 small potato, scrubbed and cut into cubes
2 T. olive oil
kosher salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place sweet potatoes and potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper, and toss together to evenly coat. Roast for 40 minutes, until center is tender and outside is nicely browned.

Apple Crisp
4-5 large apples, such as Braeburn, Gala, or Granny Smith ( a mixture is the best), peeled, cored, thinly sliced
1 T. flour
1/2 lemon juiced
1/2 t. cinnamon, more if you like it very cinnamony
2 T. brown sugar
1 T. white sugar
2 T. margarine

Crisp:
1/2 C. oats, not instant or quick cook
1/2 C. flour
4 T. margarine
1/4 C. packed brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/4 t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a glass pie dish with margarine. In a large bowl place apples, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugars. Toss until the apples are coated. Place apples into greased pie dish, dot with margarine.
In a seperate bowl, place oats, flour, margarine, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt. Using a dough blender, blend until small pebbles form.
See picture:

Sprinkle crisp topping over the apples to cover.

Bake for 1 hour uncovered, or until the apples inside are tender. Serve hot.

I had some leftover strawberry frosting that was going to go to waste, so I made a vanilla cake, and frosted it with the strawberry frosting. I covered it with sprinkles, a sure fire winner with the kiddos.

Ok, now I have exactly 30 minutes and 5.625 seconds left of relaxation time until one of the boys wakes up. I'm going to try really hard to relax, even though I incessantly have thoughts of what I have left to do swirling around in my head.

Have a good Shabbos and enjoy the beautiful weather!

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