The Shabbat dinner menu for Friday, November 6 is a five-course meat meal: couscous salad with roasted vegetables, sweet potato pumpkin soup without cream, chicken with olives and lemon, whole roasted cauliflower and tahini cookies. Three of the dishes are made on Thursday, which leaves only the chicken and the cauliflower for Friday.
The menu fits early November, when the evenings turn cool: a warm soup, chicken braised with olives from the new harvest, and two recipes from last week that belong on the table right now. Every dish works with a meat meal. None of them contains dairy, and the side and dessert are dairy-free.
What to make ahead
On Thursday
- Sweet potato pumpkin soup: cook it and keep it in the fridge. It tastes better the next day.
- Couscous salad: roast the vegetables and mix the salad. Add the herbs on Friday.
- Tahini cookies: bake and store in a closed tin.
On Friday
- Chicken with olives and lemon: about an hour and ten minutes, mostly in a covered pot over low heat.
- Whole roasted cauliflower: about an hour in the oven while the chicken cooks.
The menu, course by course
Starter: Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Sweet potato, red pepper and red onion roast in the oven and get tossed with couscous in an olive oil and lemon dressing. It's vegan and holds up well at room temperature, so it can wait on the table.
Get the full recipe: Couscous Salad with Roasted Vegetables
Soup: Creamy Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup Without Cream
The sweet potato and pumpkin roast before they go into the pot, and a spoonful of tahini stands in for the cream. It's vegan and keeps well in the fridge from Thursday.
Get the full recipe: Creamy Sweet Potato Pumpkin Soup Without Cream
Main: Chicken with Olives and Lemon, No Stock Needed
Chicken thighs with green olives and lemon brown and braise in one wide pot with onion, garlic and thyme, with no stock or bouillon powder. An hour and ten minutes, mostly hands-off.
Get the full recipe: Chicken with Olives and Lemon, No Stock Needed
Side: Whole Roasted Cauliflower, No Parboiling
A whole cauliflower goes into the oven raw, covered for 30 minutes and then uncovered to brown. Skip the tahini sauce or make it with water and lemon only, and it stays dairy-free next to the chicken.
Get the full recipe: Whole Roasted Cauliflower, No Parboiling
Dessert: 3-Ingredient Tahini Cookies
Tahini, sugar and flour, with no eggs and no butter, so the cookies are dairy-free and vegan. They keep for days in a closed tin, so bake them on Thursday.
Get the full recipe: 3-Ingredient Tahini Cookies
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make the whole Shabbat dinner ahead?
Almost. The soup, salad and cookies are made on Thursday. The chicken can also be cooked a day ahead and reheated over low heat with a little water. The cauliflower is best roasted on Friday.
Is this menu kosher for a meat meal?
Yes. The chicken is meat, and every other dish is dairy-free: the salad, soup and cookies are vegan, and the cauliflower is roasted with olive oil and spices. Serve it with a dairy-free tahini sauce.
How many people does this menu serve?
Four to six. The chicken, salad and cauliflower recipes each serve four, so double the chicken for six. The soup serves six, and the cookie recipe makes about 30.
What if I don't have time for all five dishes?
The chicken and the soup are the core. Swap the cauliflower for plain rice, and bake the cookies any day of the week, since they keep in a closed tin.
Comments
0