Easy On Hand Shabbat Meal

Observing the Sabbath day means preparing ahead of time for meals. Easier said than done, I know. Try as we might sometimes plans fall through and the week gets away from us. Sabbath can be fast approaching with no leftovers in the fridge and nothing in the oven. What do you do then? I present a simple meal.

You may already know this as a crudité platter or cheese tray or perhaps simply an appetizer board. It's also perfect picnic food. You may come to know this as the meal that saves the day. The only prep time is opening jars and slicing a few things, which is strictly optional. Essentially going through the cupboards and serving up what is on hand. Or if you're pressed for time after work on Friday, swinging into the grocery store and grabbing a few things that don't need to be sliced and sauted.

What you will need:

Pickles
Olives - I used kalamata and garlic stuffed
Veggies - fresh or pickled
Grape leafs
Almonds and other nuts
Crackers
Cheese
Dried fruit

Have you noticed a pattern here? All of these things have a very long shelf life, so you can keep them on hand thus always having a backup plan for a Shabbat meal. Since none of these things requires cooking you could use this as a Saturday lunch if leftovers weren't plentiful from the night before. This meal is also the best go-to for power outages and emergency type situations. 

Keeping the core of this meal on hand in the cupboard at all times is such a time saver and stress reliever. And you can supplement it with any fresh vegetables or leftovers you have. Apples and carrots can both stay good for months in the fridge so I usually have those too. Cheese also has a surprisingly long shelf-life when it is sealed in the package. Kosher certified goat cheese is easy to find and typically good for at least a couple of months. The same for cheddar which can also be kept frozen.

This tray includes:

Hummus (they sell canned hummus, but I haven't tried it.)

Goat cheese

Roasted red peppers

Crackers

Stuffed grape leaves (try a squeeze of lemon to liven up canned ones)

Carrot sticks

Cherry tomatoes

Pickles

Olives

Almonds

Apple slices

Dried cranberries

Dried figs

Fresh plumbs

Dried pineapple

Brazil nuts

This can obviously be adjusted to suit your tastes or whatever you have at the time. Since there's so many options everyone will like at least a few things.

Other ideas would be:

Sliced cheddar cheese

Canned artichokes

Tapenade

Pesto

Rustic bread or a baguette

Escabeche or pickled vegetables

Pita or pita chips

Brie cheese

Sliced pears

Broccoli or cauliflower florets

Baby carrots

Lunchbox peppers

Chutney

Salsa

Cashews

Nut butters

Snap peas

Grapes

Stock up on a few of these non perishables the next time you're grocery shopping so that you and your family can have a delicious Shabbat meal no matter how crazy the week gets.

More on this topic:
The No Stress Guide to Sabbath Meal Prep
Sabbath Friendly Oatmeal Recipe
Biblically Clean Make Ahead Salads