The International Conference of Chabad Shluchos

Last week my family joined me in visiting NY as I attended the International Conference of Chabad Shluchos (the women Chabad emissaries).  This conference is held each year during the weekend of the 22nd day of the month of Shvat as this is the day of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka's (the Rebbe's wife) passing. 

My husband was thrilled to be able to spend some time with his family and my kids loved having hours to play with their cousins. Shabbat was really lovely at my brother's home - and I was lucky enough to have 3  visitors from my Birthright trip last  January join us for dinner. 

During the conference on Thursday and Friday I had the opportunity to see cousins and friends whom I hadn't seen in ages - while listening to interesting speakers and checking out new resources for Chabad House across the globe. Interacting with "Shluchos" from all over gave me the opportunity to share ideas and arm myself with some new ones too!

The highlight of the conference was surely the banquet at the Hilton in NYC on Sunday night. Imagine if you can for a moment, a ballroom filled with 2,000 women who run Chabad Houses all around the world. It was an awesome sight - at my table alone there were women from the Georgia, Florida, Sao Paolo, Brazil, and the Netherlands to name a few. The speakers did a phenomenal job and were truly inspiring. It was a true reminder of how Chabad is available for every Jewish soul, no matter where on this earth he or she may be. It was a reminder for of how incredible this path I have chosen for my life is - and a reminder of the incredible things each and every individual can accomplish. 

As I listened to the "roll call" at the end of the evening when each and every Chabad House location was named, I was awestruck by the span of Chabad Lubavitch. It filled me with pride to be a part of this incredible network of people who have dedicated their lives to helping people around the globe in a multitude of ways. 

Of course an "Un-Recipes" post would not be complete without a recipe and so I will share a recipe for a salad I enjoyed during my Shabbat meal at my brother's home. This recipe is not mine, but rather that of my sister in law Zlata :)

Hearts of Palm - Avocado Salad

1 can hearts of palm, sliced

2 avocados, cut into chunks

Grape tomatoes, halved

Canola oil

Lemon juice

Salt

Pepper

Garlic

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!

Grilled Flatbread

Like the rest of the world, I can usually have some pretty crazy, hectic days.  Delicious, but easy and quick to prepare recipes are a must for busy days! Knowing that I was heading out to run with a friend at 5:30 I decided to get cracking on dinner at about 4 so that everything would pretty much be ready to go when I got back. I quickly peeled and chopped veggies and created a vegetable soup. Next up was to put together the beef chili and let that start simmering.

 I decided that instead of making pasta or rice to go with the chili - we would be eating it on grilled flatbreads. (I found the recipe in a great new cookbook -  "Fresh & Easy Kosher Cooking.) So I mixed up the dough for the flatbreads - it took less than 5 minutes - and set it to rise.

At 5:30 my hubby walked in the door and headed out to run with my friend. Just under an hour later I returned and after catching my breath I went to finish up the flatbreads. The dough had plenty of time to rise and I worked fast to get them onto my Griddler to grill them so we could eat!! A few minutes later all 6 flatbreads had taken a turn on my "grill" and we were ready to eat. The flatbreads were PERFECT and finished to every last drop!

This recipe came from the Fresh and Easy Kosher Cooking cookbook...I have modified the amount of flour and the selection of spices. Enjoy!

Grilled Flatbread

1 tsp sugar
2 3/4 tsp dry yeast
1 cup warm water
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
Dried oregano
Granulated garlic

Oil for brushing

Place sugar and yeast in a bowl and then add the water. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes to allow the yeast to proof. Add the flour, salt and some sprinklings of oregano and garlic. Mix well. Allow to rise for at least one hour.

Heat Griddler (or grill pan or any indoor grilling thingy) to high. Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Flatten out each piece as best as you can. (The recipe calls for rolling it out - but being that I was in a hurry and my rolling pin is way higher than I can reach - I just opted to flatten it to the best of my ability.) Brush both sides with oil and place on the grill. Grill for a few minutes on each side - happy eating!!

Pineapple Salsa

Wow! It has been ages since I have posted a "recipe". I have certainly thought about posting many times, and I have even sat in front of my computer to type...but each time something got in my way. So today I will post a recipe that I had planned on writing about two weeks ago.

While deciding what to make for dinner I noticed a lonely pineapple sitting in my spare fridge in  my garage. (I had bought the pineapple because I was certain I would cut it up and eat it - but of course it got totally forgotten about. This happens to things in everyone's refrigerators - right??) So I decided that the pineapple would be lonely no more and would star in that night's dinner. (Luckily only a tiny part of the pineapple needed to be cut off and discarded from its long life in my fridge.) I quickly cut that pineapple up into little pieces, added some fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, diced a red pepper and a red onion - added some seasoning and presto - pineapple salsa!  I placed the salsa in the fridge so the flavors could mingle (looks like people don't have a monopoly on the mingling) and headed to the fish store where I purchased super fresh salmon.  I baked the salmon with very light seasoning and then served it with the salsa - delicious!   Who knew that healthy food could be soooo easy AND delicious!!

Pineapple Salsa

Pineapple

Red bell pepper

Red onion

Italian flat leaf parsley

Rice vinegar

Lime juice

Garlic

Salt

A tiny bit of cumin

Dice up the pineapple, red pepper, onion and parsley and place in a bowl. Season with rice vinegar, lime juice, garlic, salt and a little bit of cumin. Place in the refrigerator to allow the flavors to blend. Serve with chicken, fish or anything that makes you happy!