Cafe Liz

As you may have noticed, I’ve been making a lot of ice cream and chilled drinks lately, and not too much of what I’d call “real food.” That’s because the last thing I want to do right now is stand over a hot stove (or worse, turn on the oven). The weather is so hot that I’m feeling rather well cooked as it is. Indeed, (wo)man cannot survive on ice cream and watermelon alone, but we’ll worry about that another [...]

The combination of sprouted lentils and herb-infused oil produces a dish with a rich, nutty taste. I was inspired by a very similar dish we had at a brunch in Zichron Yaakov.

We are blessed by a wealth of fresh, young cheeses as well as healthy herbs, so I threw all of the above together, along with my home-pickled capers, to make a quick salad. I happen to have Thai basil and pineapple sage growing quite robustly on my patio. These herbs have different flavors than their more standard counterparts (basil and sage), which you’re more likely to find around here, but any combination of fresh herbs that suits your fancy would [...]

It’s officially hot. Hot as in I don’t want to do anything that involves moving, all I want to do is sit in front of the fan. Fortunately, a light, refreshing summer drink can do much to make the heat more tolerable. Especially if that drink is prepped, sitting in the fridge, just waiting for you to drink it. I currently have three such drinks in the fridge. All are easy to prepare, and best chilled — meaning you make [...]

I was looking for a fresh way to prepare a springtime bunch of asparagus I picked up at the market — something light that would let the flavor of the asparagus dominate. This simple salad incorporates fresh herbs, another great springtime ingredient. I used a few leaves of sage and zaatar, which I have growing on my patio, but if you don’t have any zaatar, you could substitute oregano or thyme. I don’t recommend using dried spices, since that would [...]

I’m not entirely sure this merits a recipe, but it certainly merits a photo. So I might as well explain how I made it. We’ve been buying purple vegetables since we discovered them at the Friday farmer’s market in the Tel Aviv port. They definitely liven up any meal. And yes, it seems the color of the cauliflower bled slightly onto the egg.

When I discovered the Thai House‘s recipe for pad thai, I felt like I was discovering the dish anew — with a sauce of only soy sauce and sugar, this recipe was amazingly simple, produced way better results than any other pad thai I had ever made in the past, and tasted great. In fact, the pad thai I was making at home was so good that I didn’t even bother to order the dish on my first few days [...]

I'm off to the United States for the rest of the month, so what better time to write about an herb that grows primarily in the Galilee?

Since I think my coconut pumpkin soup recipe inspired at least one person to go out and buy pumpkin seed oil (hi mom!), I figured I’d offer a few more suggestions for how to use it.