Rivka

We’ve had our fun. We’ve made dozens of cookies, we’ve carved many a roast, we’ve downed cocktails and punches. With a new year comes hopes, promises, detoxes, and water. It can look drab, cold, and bleak out there: winter, in every sense of the word.

Luckily, we have Rivka, an avid cook and food blogger with almost half a dozen wins up her sleeve. Her recipes are exactly what we’re looking for this year; they are satisfying and flavorful, healthy food at its finest. Shot through with color, amped up with spice, these are dishes we’ll make week after week, for breakfast (Granola with Tahini), lunch (Yam, Zucchini, and Chickpea Salad), and dinner (Mujaddara with Spiced Yogurt, pictured above). Rivka makes us excited to eat healthy, inspired, ready to spend some quality time with our vegetables without feeling deprived. 

And, happily, Rivka’s weaknesses are chocolate, cookies, and braised hunks of meat. (We’re so on the same page.) She satisfies our sweet tooth with her Cocoa Pear Crisps, her Maple Yogurt Pound Cake, her Chocolate-Dunked Pistachio Shortbread -- all while making us feel healthful, virtuous. Thanks to Rivka, we’ll be kicking off our new year right -- no complaints (or bacon) in sight.  

Read our profile Q&A with Rivka below, and check out her beautiful blog here.

• What's the strangest food you've ever eaten?
  stinky tofu
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• What do you cook when home alone?
  shakshuka (eggs baked in tomato); spinach, feta, and tomato panini; polenta; soba with vegetables; kimchi fried rice
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• Your most treasured kitchen possession:
  a tie between my kitchenaid and my not-at-all-expensive Forschner chef's knife
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• The ideal number of guests for a dinner party is:
  7