The common theme in the #parshainspiredmenus dishes this week is fresh fruit and veggies, though not for the same reason. I'll explain. One thing that pops out and grabs attention when
reading this week's parsha is the colorful nature of the Kohanic garb - a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a fringed tunic, a headdress, and a sash. For example, the ephod is made of gold, of blue, purple, and crimson yarns; the breastplate has 4 rows of stones - carnelian, chrysolite, and emerald, turquoise, sapphire, and amethyst, a jacinth, an agate, and a crystal, and a beryl, a lapis lazuli, and a jasper. All of the materials would have been given from the possessions of the Israelites when they made gifts, as discussed in last week's parsha. When I think of the Israelites in the dessert I often imagine earth tones, or beiges, but this is a good reminder that color played an important part in dressing the Kohen. I feel this calls for a very colorful menu item. The food I could think of with the most jewel tones is fruit. So, I am
recommending a fruit tart for dessert. The recipe I've chosen is dairy though you can do some substitutions or you can just go with a dairy Shabbat dinner.
For the second menu item, I (once again) give credit to my youngest son (I may soon have to give him a byline credit!) for pointing out something interesting in the parsha. Many of the items used in the creation of these important ritual objects are specifically mentioned as being pure. "You shall make the robe of the ephod of pure blue," "On the breastpiece make braided chains of corded work in pure gold," "You shall make a frontlet of pure gold and engrave on it the seal inscription: “Holy to יהוה.”" Pure is mentioned 7 times in these desriptions - and that alone should catch our attention. In some of the verses, commentators note that "pure" clarifies that it is only one thing - meaning not blue mixed with purple, but rather just blue. Other commentators on other verses note that this is to show that the "pure" could be understood symbolically. It is clear of vices like greed, pride, selfishness and jealousy. This is one of those great moments that make Parsha Inspired Menus fun for a Shabbat dinner - I wonder what the people at our Shabbat table will think the "pure" signifies. Of course, choosing a food to represent "pure" is not as straightforward as seeing "almond blossoms" repeated so many times last week (when I made ALMOND chicken.)
Once we decided we wanted to focus on pure, we started thinking of what to do. I turned to my
friend Rebecca's daughter who was sitting next to me and I asked her what food she thought of when I said "pure." "Fruits?" she threw out. "Maybe veggies." "Something that's been pasturized?" our son said. Building off of veggies, Rebecca said , "Ooohh, maybe gazpacho" and we agreed that's a food that's very true to the pure flavors of the vegetables. But we weren't quite satisfied. "Is there any word play, maybe?" I asked. And then it all came together! Pure....puree....a soup of pureed vegetables....back to gazpacho, but now for TWO reasons. Done! (Rebecca gave me the gazpacho recipe she really likes, which is from the Moosewood Cookbook.)
Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!
For more ideas, check out #parshainspiredmenus from 2024 and 2023
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