Israel 60 Celebratory Dinner Recipes

This year, Action Israel and many other organizations joined with the Allied Jewish Federation to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, one of the miracles of the modern world. Many dinners have been held this year in the Denver metropolitan area, including 100 on the Night of 60 Dinners in April . Our small community of friends of Israel held a celebratory dinner tonight. You can read more about that here.

In addition to being very delicious, these recipes are very healthy!

Traditional Chopped Israeli Salad

From: Avi Schwalb

Mix all together the following ingredients:

8 medium sized tomatoes diced into small squares

4 peeled and seeded cucumbers diced into small squares

2 medium sized green peppers diced the same way

2 red peppers diced the same way

3 bunches of green onions diced fine

1/2 cup Italian parsley chopped fine

Dressing:

The juice of two lemons

Two T olive oil

1/2 t salt

Mix all together and pour in salad.

Chill at least an hour—the longer the better.

Sliced Eggplants with Garlic and Tomato Glaze

From Judy Jackson in The Jewish Cookbook

2 Eggplants about 8 oz. each

5 garlic cloves, pressed

3 T tomato paste

6-8 T olive oil

salt and ground black pepper to taste

chopped flat-leaf parsley to garnish, if desired

1. Slice the eggplants 1/4" thick (not too thin). Sprinkle with salt and let stand 30 minutes.

2. Stir together garlic, tomato paste, 1 T oil, salt and pepper.

3. Grease a baking sheet with about 4 T olive oil.

4. Rinse eggplant slices and pat dry, and arrange on the baking sheet in a single layer.

5. Spread a little of the garlic mixture over each slice (use it all up). Drizzle remaining oil over all.

6. Bake slices in 375°F oven for 30 minutes or until the eggplant is tender and the glaze is slightly brown.

7. Carefully lift slices off with spatula and arrange slightly overlapping on plate. Garnish with parsley, if desired.

Delicious served either warm or at room temperature.

Israeli Cous-Cous Salad with Fennel and Goat Cheese

1 medium fennel bulb
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4-1/2 cup sliced fresh basil
5 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1 red or orange bell pepper, julienned
1/2 cup kalamata olives, quartered
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cup Israeli cous-cous, cooked according to package directions
1 pkg goat cheese (I used goat feta), crumbled

1. Trim base from fennel bulb and cut into thin strips.
2. Whisk olive oil together with next six ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Put vegetables into dressing, tossing to coat.
4. Add cous-cous and toss lightly.
5. Sprinkle with goat cheese.

Note: If Israeli cous-cous is unavailabe, orzo may be substituted.

More recipes to be published tomorrow. Right now, with this blogger, WYSIWYG--isn't!

I have a new acronym WYSINNWYG-WIVA. What you see is not necessarily what you get—which is very annoying!