Janice Feuer-Haugen – Chef & Food Blogger

Syrian Roasted Red Pepper & Walnut Dip & Spread

Janice Feuer-Haugen
November – December 2022 • Vol 4, No 1

Richly colored, crunchy textured, and bursting with flavor, Muhammara helps celebrate the holidays deliciously. Originating in Syria, Muhammara is undeniably a standout, whether on its own, as a dip for crudités or pita, or slathered on a sandwich. Deep-red Muhammara, which is Arabic for “reddened,” is a most healthy and delicious alternative to hummus—everyone’s previously favorite dip!

Based on an online search, I learned to pronounce this Syrian specialty as mu-ham-ma-ra. Although, you might prefer one of these other possibilities: mu-HUMM-a-ra, moo-hahm-MRAH, or mooah-MARA. 😁

Despite the number of pronunciations and recipes, the ingredients are mostly the same, though perhaps treated differently. The givens include red peppers (roasted or not), walnuts (toasted or not), pomegranate molasses, and Aleppo red pepper flakes. The variations include differing spices and quantities, as well as differing textures from coarsely chopped to smoothly puréed. Thus, it took a bit of research, tasting and refining to create today’s Muhammara recipe.

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Made with Pumpkin, Spice & Everything Nice

Janice Feuer-Haugen
September – October 2022 • Vol 3, No 123

Vegan, gluten- and dairy-free Snickerdoodles that look, taste and smell just like the Snickerdoodles we remember.

Until March of this year, it had been many years since my last Snickerdoodle cookie. Though, that first bite, even after so many years, quickly brought back memories of the taste, smell and texture of original Snickerdoodles. Yet, that cookie included olive oil and eggs, was both dairy and gluten-free, made with a small amount of puréed pumpkin and was round. Not a standard list of Snickerdoodle ingredients or look.

THE SEARCH WAS ON
The friend I was with at the time and I both agreed that we wanted to find and/or create a vegan Snickerdoodle recipe. Our search began once we saw the list of ingredients for those cookies. Surprisingly that pumpkin purée was the first ingredient, and almond flour made them gluten-free. However, we wanted a cookie without eggs or olive oil. I searched online for vegan Snickerdoodles with pumpkin, and found a promising recipe on the following blog, Wholesomelicious.com. Today’s recipe was inspired by and lightly adapted from that recipe.

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Cucumbers, Fresh Herbs, Kalamatas & Feta

Janice Feuer-Haugen
July – August 2022 • Vol 3, No 122

Clean flavors, crisp textures and colorful fresh vegetables make French Green Lentil Salad a great addition to summer menus. Crisp and colorful with summer’s juicy, ripe tomatoes and refreshing cucumbers. Clean and bright with the garden’s bounty of fresh parsley, mint, oregano and scallions. Healthy and wholesome with earthy, French-green, du Puy lentils. And all tossed together with a tangy Sherry-Mustard Vinaigrette. French Green Lentil Salad travels well, whether to work, a picnic, a potluck or to your patio table. This salad’s destined to become a summertime favorite.

French Green Lentils
French green lentils, provide the hearty and flavorful foundation for this main dish salad. These tiny, mottled, bluish-green lentils have a richer and earthier flavor than many other lentil varieties. Plus, they hold thei