Feature Archives - Pamela Salzman

Dinner Planner – Week of October 2, 2023

I’m currently on Long Island helping my mom so I’ll have to wing it if I can manage an IG live on Monday night. Just check my stories on Monday and I’ll let you know then! If you’re a monthly cooking class subscriber, we are uploading the new class on October 1st! The theme is Cozy Fall Dinners at Home and the recipes include the following:

Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup, Oven Roasted Salmon with Rice and Coconut-Tomato Sauce, Tamale Pie, Radicchio Salad with Olives and Parmesan, Vegan Chocolate Snacking Cake with Sweet Potato Chocolate Frosting

All the recipes can be made vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and they are all brand-new! If you are not taking my cooking classes, you should be! Give me an hour a month, and I’ll make you a better cook! Here’s your dinner planner for the week:Continue reading

Rice Chopped Salad Recipe

Rice is one of the least expensive grains and it is also highly digestible. I just don’t like to overeat it because it doesn’t have a ton of nutrition and it can cause a blood sugar spike on its own. So ideally, I will bulk up rice with lots of non-starchy vegetables. You can top this rice chopped salad with tuna, turkey or chicken, or cooked beans to make this a complete meal. I even grated hard boiled eggs on top once and it was delicious! It lasts a good 5 days in the fridge too.

Dinner Planner – Week of September 25, 2023

I have been churning out the homemade veggie and chicken stocks and freezing them because once football starts, I consider it soup season. I actually make more soup than my dinner planner indicates. I always make soup for Sunday lunch and at least once during the week. A tip I have for you is that many leftovers can be transformed into a soup. Casseroles, leftover cooked proteins and vegetables, baked potatoes and other starches. I chop up anything that might taste good together and put it in a saucepan and add enough stock that it looks like a soup. Reheat and enjoy! Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Flourless Monster Cookie Bars Recipe

Who doesn’t love Monster Cookies? Well, sure, they’re delicious, but they are usually LOADED with sugar and tons of candy. We can do better and they’ll still taste amazing. In fact, this recipe has no flour at all and a fraction of the added sweetener you’d usually find. You can go crazy with M&M’s and mini peanut butter cups if that’s your thing or you can go health-nut with hemp seeds, coconut and cacao nibs. Play around and have fun. These last for up to two weeks in the fridge and they freeze great. If you use sprouted oats, do let the batter sit for a bit before baking so the oats can soften up. Sprouted oats are great, but they tend to be a bit thicker and chewy in baking recipes. Regarding the quick-cooking oats, they help to make the cookie batter less chewy. But I never buy quick-cooking oats. Instead, I pulse old-fashioned rolled oats in either a food processor or a spice grinder. I use the spice grinder to grind whole flax seeds as well.

Dinner Planner – Week of September 18, 2023

Happy and sweet new year to everyone celebrating Rosh Hashana! Next week I’ll have some links for the break fast, but you can always look at previous dinner planners from years past for ideas if you need inspo asap.

For my monthly online cooking class students, I hope you are enjoying the September class! I have heard from many of you who are cooking up a storm and love the new recipes! Nothing makes me happier! I am hosting live zoom office hours this Wednesday at 12:00 pm PT if you want to come and hang out or ask my anything. Check your inbox for the zoom link. Here’s your dinner planner for the week:

Sweet Noodle Kugel Recipe

I make my mother-in-law’s recipe for sweet noodle kugel once a year. Everyone loves it and I do not deviate from it to try to make it less rich or more nutrient dense. It’s a traditional holiday dish and it does not need messing with. I have never made it any other way, but I assume you can use gluten-free noodles if you have a gluten intolerance. Not sure how it would turn out dairy-free, but you can check out the suggestions below if you wanted to go that direction!Continue reading

Dinner Planner – Week of September 11, 2023

The Jewish new year is coming up at the end of this week, so I’ve provided some ideas if you’re looking to change up your menu. Whenever I host any Jewish holiday, I like to honor some of the traditional foods, but mix in some modern dishes just to keep things interesting and fresh! As I always say, commit to your menu as soon as possible so you can start prepping and taking action. Don’t overthink it!

Cheesy Zucchini Planks Recipe

This zucchini plank recipe has been going viral this summer, but I actually taught it in class last year. I can’t remember where I saw it first, but the great chef Thomas Keller has been getting credit for the technique. My mom used to broil zucchini halves when I was a kid and then add some parmesan before serving. Honestly, they were kind of bland and watery. If you take some of the water out by salting them first, you already have a head start creating more flavor. Then, making micro-cuts into the zucchini allows for more flavor to penetrate.