I like food. I know what you’re thinking – we all like food. It’s true, it’s a love that I share with a lot of people. It’s just that today, I can’t stop thinking about it. Perhaps it’s because today is a fast day, and the more that I don’t have food, the more I think about it.
Today, the 17th of Tamuz (in the Hebrew calander), is the day that the walls of Jerusalem were breached before the destruction of the Second Temple. It’s a minor fast day that leads the way to a three week period of mourning, culminating on the 9th of Av, the day the Temple was destroyed. It’s really hard for me to think about being sad when all I can do is think about food.
All these different recipes are going through my head. I need to figure out what we will break the fast on tonight. We usually have some sort of soup, and spaghetti, but I’m feeling a bit more adventurous today. I think I’ll make vegetable stew with dumplings. It’s a great hearty recipe that works well after a fast – it has plenty of liquid to re-hydrate the body, and the dumplings and vegetables are nice and filling. Just perfect.
- Yield: 10
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1h 30 min
Vegetable Stew with Dumplings
Perfect to break the fast.
Ingredients
- Stew
- olive oil - 2 tablespoons
- onion - 1 large, chopped
- carrots - 3, chopped
- celery stalks - 2, chopped
- kishuim - 2, chopped (aka zucchini)
- cauliflower - 1 1/2 cups, chopped
- peas - 1 cup
- string beans - 1 cup
- water - 3-4 cups
- vegetable bouillon - 3 1/2 tablespoons
- flour - 1/2 cup
- Dumplings
- flour - 2 cups
- baking powder - 1 1/2 tablespoons
- oil - 3 tablespoons
- salt - 1 teaspoon
- dill - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- water - 3/4 cup
Instructions
Stew:
- Heat oil in a pot with a cover.
- Add onions, carrots and celery and cook until onions are translucent.
- Add zucchini and cauliflower and cook for 3 minutes longer.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and let simmer until stew thickens.
Dumplings:
- Mix together all the ingredients.
- Drop teaspoonfuls of batter into the stew.
- Cover pot and let cook for 15-20 minutes longer (until dumplings are cooked through).
- Eat.
Allergens
You might think talking about and making food is not all that bright on a fast day. For some people, it may not be. I don’t eat while I cook. I never have. So for me, it’s perfectly normal. It actually takes my mind off of the hunger part of food and lets me get to the enjoyment part of it. I know, I’m not normal.
Here’s wishing that the Temple is brought back to its glory and we won’t have to fast again next year!
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That looks delicious! We also broke our fast on vegetable soup – but no dumplings, I made ww bread instead.
Your photo is making me hungry again, though 🙂