32 | JULY 4 • 2024 
J
N

W

ith no holiday in 
the immediate 
vicinity, I am focus-
ing on foods for Shabbat. This 
year, the JN has been featuring 
the Shabbat observance of 
local households. 
We’ve seen the 
diversity of how 
people celebrate 
as well as what 
drives them to 
make it a part of 
their lives.
Focusing on 
Shabbat dinner, 
I will say that I personally love 
everything about it. I love the 
idea of ending a hectic week 
and joining with friends and 
family around a table to slow 
down and connect over a meal. 
I love being invited to friends’ 
Shabbat dinners and getting 
to share in their traditions and 
connecting with them as well as 
others I might not yet know. 
I also love hosting Shabbat 
dinners, getting to curate a meal 
and experience, trying new 
recipes and introducing new 
friends. But I would be lying if I 
said that I didn’t sometimes find 

it stressful and, if you’ve been 
following along with these col-
umns for the past few months, 
you probably know that I can 
get a little carried away. And 
given the opulence of a tradi-
tional meal, it’s easy to do so. 
If I had an infinite amount 
of time, my meal would consist 
of homemade challah, accom-
panying dips and salads, a fish 
course, soup, at least one meat 
main, potentially a vegetarian 
main, at least one starch, at least 
one vegetable and dessert. Even 
writing it all out feels taxing, 
and it wouldn’t be possible 
for me to share recipes for all 
these elements in this column. 
And, as Ina Garten says, “Store 
bought is fine.
” 
Instead, I share a few Shabbat 
recipes that are crowd-pleasers 
without over-the-top effort 
to round out a Shabbat meal. 
These include an oven-baked 
rice side-dish including leeks, 
almonds and white beans that 
is endlessly adaptable, Chani 
Apfelbaum’s viral Hasselback 
salami, and some respectable 
chocolate chip cookies that are 
prepped the night before and 

just happen to be vegan. 

BAKED RICE WITH WHITE 
BEANS, LEEKS AND 
LEMON
Adapted from Ali Slagle

Serves 4

Pareve 

Ingredients

4 leeks (about 2 pounds), trimmed 

and thoroughly rinsed, white and 

pale green parts sliced ¼-inch thick

1 lemon

¼ cup sliced raw almonds

½ teaspoon red-pepper flakes or 

to taste

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste

1½ cups uncooked basmati rice

1 (15-ounce) can of white beans 

(such as cannellini or great north-

ern), drained and rinsed

2½ cups boiling water

¼ cup thinly sliced or chopped 

basil, chives, mint or fennel fronds, 

plus more for serving

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400. Peel 
1-inch lemon strips off an 
entire lemon. 
Toss the leeks, lemon 

strips, red pepper flakes, 
almonds and olive oil in a 
913 roasting pan. Season to 
taste with salt and pepper. 
Roast until the leeks begin 
to caramelize, about 20 min-
utes.
Once the leeks have 
begun to caramelize, remove 
the lemon strips and finely 
chop them, then return to the 
pan. Sprinkle the rice evenly 
over the leeks and distribute 
the beans evenly over the 
rice, seasoning with more 
salt to taste. Pour the boiling 
water over the rice and seal 
with aluminum foil. Bake for 
another 20-22 minutes.
Remove the pan from the 
oven and let it rest, cov-
ered, for about 5 minutes. 
Remove the aluminum foil, 
toss and sprinkle herbs over 
the top or mix in. Taste and 
adjust salt and pepper and 
add lemon juice to taste, if 
desired.
Note: While this recipe 
calls for leeks and white 
beans, any other type of 
onion or legume could be 
substituted, and the other 
mix-ins could be modified to 
incorporate different 
cuisines.

DRUNKEN HASSELBACK 
SALAMI
Adapted from Chani 
Apfelbaum

Serves 8 as a side dish

Meat 

Ingredients 

¼ cup apricot jam

⅛ cup spicy brown mustard

1½ tbsp. brandy or bourbon

1 tbsp. ketchup

1½ tsp. brown sugar

16 oz. salami

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 
degrees.
Add all ingredients except 

Food for 
 Thought

Joelle 
Abramowitz 
Contributing 
Writer

FOOD

Shabbat Crowd-Pleasers

WIKIPEDIA

