(iStock) The following recipes are perfect fare that can literally be served for any meal. Annabel Cohen It’s as if September arrived and “boom,” it is autumn. I’m sure there are warm and dry days ahead, but after one of the hottest summers in a while, the chill has […]
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The following recipes are perfect fare that can literally be served for any meal.
It’s as if September arrived and “boom,” it is autumn. I’m sure there are warm and dry days ahead, but after one of the hottest summers in a while, the chill has been somewhat of a shock. Still, we know what we’re in for so there should be no surprises when the days become shorter and we wake up in the dark.
So, when it comes to eating, we are yearning for more and more warm and comforting foods. The following recipes are perfect fare that can literally be served for any meal.
Vegetarian Spinach and Ricotta-Stuffed Shells
Stuffed pasta shells are great for many reasons — light, pretty, easy and each shell is an individual portion.
Ingredients
Filling:
- 2 packages (10-ounces each) frozen spinach, thawed and well drained
- 2 tsp. granulated garlic or garlic powder
- 1 pound (16-ounces) ricotta cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup chopped scallions (white and green parts)
- 3 Tbsp. prepared pesto
- Salt and pepper to taste
Topping:
- 3-4 cups (or more to taste) good-quality marinara sauce (your favorite)
- Fresh grated or shaved Parmesan cheese to taste (about 1 cup to start)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a large baking dish or disposable aluminum pan with nonstick cooking spray.
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Cook the shells according to package instructions to al dente (undercooked is better than overcooked). Carefully drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside.
Drain the spinach in a colander for 15 minutes.
Make the filling: Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir well.
Divide the filling among the shells (use all the filling). Discard broken or damaged cooked shells (or chop them and put them in soup!).
Assemble the dish: Spread half the sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Arrange the shells, open side up in the baking dish (use more than one baking dish if the one you are using isn’t large enough).
Spoon the remaining sauce over the tops of the shells. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and sprinkle with Parmesan and drizzle with olive oil. Makes 8 or more servings.
Overnight Pumpkin French Toast
Although I’m not a big fan of the pumpkin spice craze, this is a recipe that is worth the praise. Make this in the morning or the night before you serve it, and bake it close to when you serve it.
Ingredients
Custard:
- 1 cup canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
Spray an attractive glass or ceramic baking dish (9×12-inch or equivalent). The dish should be more than 3 inches tall.
Place the bread cubes in a large bowl. Set aside.
Whisk together custard ingredients and pour over the bread cubes. Use a rubber spatula or your hands to toss the ingredients.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and cover with plastic wrap up to 24 hours in advance.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350°F.
Place the baking dish in the oven and bake about 1 hour, until very puffy and golden. Serve immediately, sprinkled with powdered sugar, if desired, and real maple syrup. Or serve warm (the French toast will deflate). Makes 12 or more servings.
Curried Cauliflower Sweet Potato Soup
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tsp. minced garlic
- 2 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
- 1½ Tbsp. ground curry
- 1 tsp. fennel seeds
- ½ tsp. ground cumin seeds
- 3 cups chopped cauliflower florets
- 4 cups 1-inch diced sweet potatoes
- 1 Tbsp. turmeric
- 1 can (about 14-oz) chickpeas or garbanzo beans
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish: fresh plain yogurt
Directions
Combine oil, onions, bell pepper and garlic in a large pot over high heat. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened. Add the remaining ingredients, EXCEPT lemon, salt and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 1 hour. Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice. Serve hot, with a dollop of yogurt. Makes 8 servings.
Zucchini Coffee Cake
Simple because it’s made in a baking dish (so you just cut it into squares) and it always comes out perfect.
Ingredients
Topping:
Cake:
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- ¾ cup brown sugar (dark or light)
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9×12-inch baking dish with parchment. Set aside.
Make the topping: Combine the topping ingredients and stir well (should be crumbly). Set aside.
Make the cake: Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl. Set aside.
Combine the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla extract together in another bowl and stir or mix well (use an electric mixer, if you wish). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Fold in the zucchini. Spread into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly on top.
Bake for 40 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool. Cut into squares and serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 20 servings.
Hearty Mushroom Barely Soup
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds button or white mushrooms
- 3 Tbsp. butter or olive oil
- 1½ cups chopped yellow or white onion
- 1 tsp. chopped garlic, optional
- 1 cup ¼-inch diced celery
- 1½ cups ¼-inch diced carrots
- 1 Tbsp. dried parsley flakes
- 8 cups beef broth or water
- 1 cup pearled barley
- Salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1 oz. Sherry, if desired
Directions
Trim the ends of the mushroom stems and place them in a colander. Rinse them, turning them with your hands, to remove any soil. Slice the mushrooms.
Melt butter or oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the celery and sauté for 3 minutes more. Add the carrots and parsley and stir well. Add the broth, mushrooms and bay leaf and stir well.
Bring the soup to a boil, stir in the barley and bring to a boil again. Add 1 tsp. of salt and ½ tsp. of pepper, reduce heat to simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until the barley is tender. Stir in the Sherry, if using, and peas and cook for 10 minutes more. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Makes 8 or more servings.
Rabbi Aaron Bergman is the current president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis and represents local rabbis throughout the state in various interfaith initiatives.
Thirty years after being ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), Rabbi Aaron Bergman of Adat Shalom Synagogue was presented with an honorary doctorate from JTS.
“It was something I’ve actually been hoping for from the day I was ordained in 1991,” Bergman said. “It’s something JTS gives if you’ve served as a rabbi for at least 25 years or so. There were actually other rabbis getting their honorary doctorate when I was being ordained.”
JTS is a Conservative Jewish education organization based in New York City. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.
JTS educates intellectual and spiritual leaders for Conservative Judaism, training rabbis, cantors, scholars, educators, communal professionals and lay activists.
Bergman was supposed to receive the honor last year, but his family couldn’t make it. The ceremony this year took place over Zoom, where members of Bergman’s family and congregation were able to watch.
“I didn’t know how I was going to feel because I’ve never had anything like this before, but my family told me they were proud of me and the reaction from congregants was
really nice as well,” Bergman said. “It meant a lot. I’ve been very lucky to be a rabbi in the same community and in the community I grew up in for 30 years.”
After being ordained at JTS, Bergman pursued additional graduate work in Jewish folklore at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Bergman is the current president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis and represents local rabbis throughout the state in various interfaith initiatives.
In the past, Bergman traveled to Israel with other North American rabbis from Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Modern Orthodox denominations to discuss Israeli-diaspora relations with Israeli politicians, including former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Receiving the honor after three decades, Bergman reflects on why he got into the field in the first place.
“My goal was really to help our people, and I was figuring if I could help the next generation and the generation after that, I would feel good,” Bergman said. “I’ve had an interesting career and it’s still going, which is nice.
“I think sometimes there’s the fear of getting an award like this and it means, ‘OK, thanks for coming,’ but I’m very lucky. The fact I was able to get this honor while I’m still at a good place in my career was very powerful for me.”
In one incident, an individual joined a biology class group chat using a Nazi swastika as a profile picture, claiming they study biology to prove that “Jews are scum.”
Jewish organizational administrators, faculty and Jewish student leaders agree that, though they are disturbed by a two antisemitic incidents that occurred on small online forums as well as an anti-Israel rhetoric sprayed on the “MSU Rock,” they are encouraged that the incidents were reported to campus law enforcement authorities by non-Jews.
On Wednesday, Sept. 15, MSU’s Michael and Elaine Serling Institute for Jewish Studies and Modern Israel released a statement detailing the offenses under investigation.
In one incident, an individual joined a biology class group chat using a Nazi swastika as a profile picture, claiming they study biology to prove that “Jews are scum.” Other students in the chat denounced those statements, removed the perpetrator from the chat, and reported the incident to the class professor and to a number of campus units, including the Serling Institute.
An individual using the same screenname also made antisemitic comments in the chatroom of an off-campus apartment complex, responding to another resident’s message with, “Shut the hell up Jew boy.” When asked to leave the chat by other participants, the perpetrator answered, “This is why you don’t trust Jews.”
MSU investigations are trying to determine if the individual is a member of the MSU community.
A third incident happened at the MSU Rock on Farm Lane, which featured an American flag with the caption “Never Forget” to honor the 20th anniversary of the 9-11 terror attacks. The word “Israel” was spray painted over the American flag and the word “never” was painted over.
The Serling Institute views the use of the word Israel as an evocation of the conspiracy theory that Israel was responsible for the 9-11 attack and is a “modern iteration of the centuries-old trope that Jews control world events.”
The MSU Department of Police and Public Safety was made aware of an incident that occurred on Sept.13 in an online chat group. A police report was initiated, and a police investigator was immediately assigned to the case, which is ongoing.
“Investigators are currently following up on all available leads and are in touch with people who were impacted by the incident, and the case remains an active police investigation,” reads the statement released by the department.
As a local, proactive measure to curb the nationwide rising tide of antisemitism on college campuses, Serling Institute Executive Director Yael Aronoff said she has been working with the MSU Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to increase antisemitism awareness on campus and would like to see information about anti-Jewish bias to become standardized in orientations for all incoming students.
This year, as an initiative-taking approach to counter the presence of antisemitism at MSU, the Serling Institute will host “The Jonathan Netanyahu Symposium on Antisemitism” from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8. The free online event is hosted by the institute in partnership with the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student Center and other MSU academic departments. It will feature insights from leading experts from around the country as well as a recorded message from MSU President Samuel Stanley. For more information and to register, go to jsp.msu.edu.
“I think the symposium is going to be a great service to the university in terms of awareness and education,” Aronoff said. “But we know most students and faculty and staff will not attend. The next step for us is to try to get the university to include education about antisemitism in its orientations and workshops so all students coming to MSU can get some exposure to the issue.”
Hillel Executive Director Cindy Hughey said despite what happened, the incidents were limited in scope and said she was encouraged that non-Jews acted against the hate.
“It was non-Jewish students who reported these incidents and who repainted the rock, and to me that is amazing,” Hughey said. “It was really great to see that we have support of non-Jewish students on campus, and it is part of Hillel’s mission to keep building these partnerships and alliances.
“Hillel has also been working with administrators in two newly created positions over the summer [concerning diversity and inclusion], and we are hoping we are going to expand antisemitism awareness into diversity training on campus.”
The 3,000 Jewish MSU students in recent years have experienced several cases of antisemitism. In April 2021, Jewish student leaders were harassed and intimidated as they attempted to pass a bill to define antisemitism in MSU’s student government.
There have been threatening phone messages, a defaced mezuzah and a swastika painted in front of a fraternity house. In 2019, Hillel’s sukkah was destroyed by drunken vandals.
“With recent incidents here on campus, many Jewish students have been frightened and feel as if they have to hide their Judaism,” said Ethan Price, MSU sophomore and StandWithUs Emerson Fellow. The latest incidents may be disturbing, but Price added there is excellent support for Jewish students among their peers and at places like Hillel.
As an Emerson Fellow, he participates in educational and leadership training seminars with the pro-Israel group to help offset anti-Israel bias on campus.
“We hope to combat this antisemitism by getting the university involved and by educating as many students as we can about what antisemitism looks like and how we can all work to stop it in its tracks.”
