Easy Motzei Shabbat Chanukah menu ideas

[Southern Belle]

Trying to plan an easy, make ahead, but interesting menu for small motzei shabbat chanukah party. I am thinking dairy. Latkes are a given (maybe two kinds for fun) but looking for something to accompany them that will please kids and adults and not take too much effort last minute?

[cheesehead in recovery]

Shaksukah! I just made it, and its easy, and is very Israeli. We skipped the spicy peppers, to accomodate kids, but it wen't over well. Easy to make.

[mamaleh]

Big pot of hearty vegetable soup goes well with latkes. You can prepare before shabbos and reheat. My family really likes Alton Brown's Garden Vegetable soup recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/al...

[1sweetpea]

I made a Spanish Tortilla last night that could work. I steamed red skinned potatoes, then sliced them thinly. I chopped a Spanish onion and fried it gently in olive oil with a couple of pinches of kosher salt in a nonstick pan. When the onions were translucent and soft I added the potatoes and a bit more olive oil then added 6 farm fresh eggs that had been lightly beaten with a fork. I poured the eggs evenly over the mixture in the pan and cooked gently until the eggs were almost set. I put the pan under the broiler for a minute or two (my oven has 3 broiler settings -- I went with the medium one). This is such a simple combination of 3 ingredients, but with the farm fresh eggs, it is so delicious! I served a baby greens salad with a simple vinaigrette (Tuscan cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, wine vinegar, salt, pepper and a smashed garlic clove. A very simple combination such as this one, with latkes, perhaps another vegetable dish, fruit salad, sweets and whatever else suits your fancy could be a winner.

[Southern Belle]

I guess I was trying to avoid an abundance of extra carbs due to first-night latke excitement. Greek salad bar & spanikopita sound nice if I can find my recipe for spanikopita (i spike mine with tofu to get a little low fat protein in).... fruit salad & sufganiot.... starting to look like a plan!

[lburrell]

I always like to use Greek food for Chanukah (without Greek thought, there would be no Talmud, so they may have lost the battle but their ideas stayed around to enrich our Tradition). When I do spanikopita (vegan) I follow the advice of one cookbook at use some chopped chard with lemon along with the spinach. it holds up better and has an extra kick. I also prefer to use the frozen chopped spinach and chard. Defrost in the bag or box and press water out, then squeeze in a dishtowel that you don't mind getting messy (paper will melt and stick to the vegetable.) Much easier than cooking and chopping. The fruit salad is a great idea. The one i use has apple, pear, banana, grapes (red and green), walnuts and a bit of orange peel. Option to top with yogurt-honey mixture. I'd be interested in your recipe for spanikopita (i can veganize if necessary.)

[cheesecake17]

America's test kitchen had an interesting recipe for spanakopita. Not terribly complicated.

Also trader joes sells a frozen kosher spanakopita

[lburrell]

Only vegan works for me, so I can't buy the frozen. I'll check out the test kitchen version to see if it's an improvement over the vegan one I usually use. Thanks

[cheesecake17]

http://www.recipething.com/recipes/sh...

Here's a link to the recipe. Not sure if the recipe itself can be veganized, but I liked how they baked it on a cookie sheet

[lburrell]

This looks a lot more manageable to eat as a small plate appetizer or even eating by hand than what I usually do. It can be veganized fairly easily, the only issue will be the egg and i have several solutions for that I can try. Thanks. (i do think that using the frozen defrosted spinach will work much better than their fresh spinach method, though.)

[cheesecake17]

I almost always use frozen spinach. I have a white kitchen towel stained greenish from squeezing it.

[lburrell]

I find that the easiest type to wash the green out of are the very thin ones that look almost like cloth diapers used to. (Do they still make them?) I'm old enough and my mother was frugal enough, that I recall using my no longer needed for their original purpose diapers to dry dishes for my mother. The really thin dish towels that resemble them don't look as fancy as the thick striped ones I have, but they dry both themselves and the things I use them for much more quickly!

[cheesecake17]

That's what I use. It's from Williams Sonoma I think and it has Xmas trees on it. I want to say they're called tea towel.

Cloth diapers are a great idea! I have tons of them that I don't use

[cheesecake17]

Pizza, salad, cheese Borekas.

If you want more substantial, bagels, lox, cream cheese...

[Miri1]

I did a late night brunch one year that was a big hit. Big pan of scrambled eggs, baked French toast, bagels with lox, Greek salad, spanikopita. All easy to do ahead.

[DeisCane]

I like the night brunch idea.

[cheesecake17]

We did something like this a few weeks ago. I like the idea of French toast!
The Greek salad I served salad bar style, with the lettuce In big center bowl and all the toppings in small surrounding dishes.

The biggest hit was baked ravioli, which is a joke to make.

[4greatkds]

Not from scratch ? What's the secret? :)

[cheesecake17]

Not from scratch, sorry

1 bag ravioli, boiled and drained
1 box pasta, boiled and drained
1.5 jars Kirkland marinara
16 oz ricotta
Several handfuls shredded mozzarella

Combine pastas, half of cheese, sauce, half of ricotta. Pour mixture into greased casserole. Top with remaining cheese and dollops of ricotta. Bake till bubbly

The dish can be assembled from the day before and refrigerated. Wrap tightly in plastic and foil.

[shoelace]

ive done this recipe for motzei for chanuka for a couple of years

http://www.zarela.com/2009/the-best-t...

its delicious, can be prepared before shabbat and then warmed up after, and will wow, despite it being pretty simplistic

obv, i didnt use the lard, olive oil worked fine

[Southern Belle]

yum to the baked ravioli too

[Southern Belle]

That sounds great!

[4greatkds]

Thanks for your idea, the ravioli ziti went over really well!

[cheesecake17]

Happy they liked it!

[helou]

Can you tell me a little more about the baked French toast? That's something I always make on top of the stove in a fry pan, one serving at a time. I'd love to have a do-ahead method.

[DeisCane]

You can make a french toast casserole, which is basically just preparing the slices and then arranging them in a baking pan like you were putting the loaf back together. Cover the top with the leftover batter/egg mix and bake on 350 until the top gets crusty (20-30).

[helou]

By prepare you mean soak them in the batter, but not frying in the fry pan, right? Or, actually finish them off and then put them in to bake?

[DeisCane]

Just soak. The egg mixture that sits at the bottom half of the pan becomes a kind of custard after baking. It's delicious. I also like to drizzle maple syrup on top to really make it decadent.

[DeisCane]

This recipe looks like what I do.

http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_e...