For years, I have put so much pressure on myself to create a feast on Shabbat. In my Intro to Judaism class, I learned that it is the most important holiday of the year. In theory, it's a beautiful thing, to be able to celebrate this most precious of holidays every week. In our crazy busy modern world, the truth is that Fridays are HARD. It's the end of the week and everyone's exhausted, including me.

Towards the end of last year, I was finding that I wasn't really enjoying cooking the Shabbat meal anymore. By the time the beautiful meal was on the table, I was so tired that I couldn't connect with my husband. Shabbat is also about pausing and truly connecting with your loved ones. That's hard to do when you're setting impossible-to-achieve standards for yourself.

So I'm trying something new this year: Prioritizing connection, simplicity and rest on Shabbat. I'll be sharing some of the tools in my Shabbat toolkit here, and I'd be so grateful if you could share yours with me. Whether you remember to light candles once a month, or are a recovering Shabbat enthusiast like me 🙋🏻.

This week I am sharing one of my secret weapons: A quick 3-step jeweled rice.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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JEWELED RICE
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 cup almonds, roasted and chopped
1 cup Basmati rice
zest of 1 lemon
1/3 cup dried apricots, chopped
2 cups finely chopped arugula (or herbs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper

nstructions:⠀⠀⠀⠀
Cook rice in a rice cooker. When rice is ready, toss the rest of the ingredients in and gently fluff. Put it on a pretty plate and serve with a rotisserie chicken from the store, challah and some wine. BOOM 💥. Shabbat Shalom. ⠀

*Note: Instagram follower and friend @omgyummy shared a fantastic suggestion for non-sad rotisserie chicken!! Pull apart chicken, place on a pretty plate, sprinkle some za'atar or any spice blend you love, squeeze lemon juice on top and drizzle with olive oil. Thank you!!

Head here to visit our Modern Heirlooms web shop, where I've thoughtfully co-created ritual objects with my favorite artisans (in limited runs) to help you elevate your sacred rituals. 

I truly believe that cuisine is the most accessible gateway into learning more about our rich heritages. In addition to food, there are so many ways to celebrate, honor, and even reclaim, our time-honored traditions. I believe ritual objects really help anchor us in these moments-- especially around the table.