Ellen Kanner

soulful vegan writer

  • About
  • Miami Vegan – New Cookbook!
  • CONSULTATION
  • PUBLICATIONS
  • RESOURCES
  • RECIPES
  • Video
  • Shop
  • Appearances
  • BLOG
  • CONTACT
  • $0.00
You are here: Home / Fav People Fav Recipe / My Favorite People, My Favorite Recipes: Adeena Sussman

My Favorite People, My Favorite Recipes: Adeena Sussman

December 2, 2019 by Ellen Kanner Leave a Comment

Adeena Sussman knows what you want to eat. Tapping into others’ gastronomic yearnings is her superpower.  She’s done it with numerous co-authors including Chrissy Teigen, with whom Sussman partnered for Teigen’s bestselling cookbooks Cravings and Cravings: Hungry For More. In Sababa, Sussman’s first solo effort, the food passions are her own.  Sababa is Israeli slang meaning everything’s wonderful, and after you’ve had a look and a taste, you’ll agree.

More than just a cookbook, Sababa is a celebration of Israeli cuisine.  What sets Sababa apart from books by Yotam Ottolenghi and Michael Solomonov is the way Sussman captures the region’s sunny flavors and spirit for the home cook.

Recipes are clear, simple and doable for the most part, relying on bright flavors like garlic, lemon, sumac, olive oil, and Israeli condiments like pomegranate molasses and zhoug— an herb-intense chili sauce that’s good on everything. Sussman provides recipes, but they’re sold commercially, too. Yes, Sababa includes a recipe for hummus — two, actually — but along with the tahini and chickpeas comes a delicious backstory about how to achieve hummus that’s hakosem (Hebrew for magical).  Not all recipes are vegan, but plenty are, and not in a Hey-you-won’t-believe-this-is-vegan way, it’s just how they’re made, like her freekah and vegetable soup.

Sussman was born in California, but Tel Aviv has become her true home — it’s where she lives with her husband and it’s where she shops.  Sababa is her love song to the shuks, the local markets where she shops daily, as much for the community as the wares.  As she writes, “I shop the shuk for produce the way some scour racks for clothes, poring over a table of greens for the frilliest kale, the chard with the loveliest shade of green, the spinach with the most beautiful tapered blossoms. I end up with arms so full that I get home and start cleaning and separating leaves from stems, eager to cook down the bounty so the rest can fit, albeit tightly, in the fridge.”  Swoon.  Greens.  Sussman knows what I want to eat, that’s for sure, and how I want to shop and cook —  preferably with her.  Until that happens, Sababa is the next best thing.

Freekeh Vegetable Soup

From SABABA by ADEENA SUSSMAN, published by AVERY, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2019 by ADEENA SUSSMAN Freekah is wheat, but not all wheat is freekah. Freekah is green wheat kernels dried then smoked, so the nubbly grains naturally reverberate with some sexy, smoky low notes and make this winter warm-up anything but a ho-hum bowl of soup. Need more reason to love it? The Israelis pronounce it freaky.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Total Time 55 minutes mins

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup freekeh cracked or whole
  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1 medium kohlrabi rind and tough outer membranes peeled off, diced
  • 2 medium carrots diced
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus more for seasoning
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 8 cups vegetable or chicken broth plus more if needed
  • 2 medium zucchini diced
  • 1 Parmesan rind or 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast optional
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh za’atar or oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or more to taste
  • Chopped fresh herbs za’atar, parsley, chives, or scallions, for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Place the freekeh in a medium bowl, cover with cold water, and set aside.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large (4- or 5-quart) saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, 8 minutes.
  • Add the kohlrabi and carrots and cook, stirring, until the vegetables begin to soften, 5 minutes; season generously with salt and black pepper.
  • Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute.
  • Drain the freekeh, rinse it with cold water, and add it to the pot.
  • Add the broth, zucchini, Parmesan rind if using, za’atar, salt, and the cayenne. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the soup is thickened, 25 to 30 minutes (or a few minutes longer if you’re using whole freekeh instead of cracked freekeh).
  • Remove the Parmesan rind, season with more salt and black pepper to taste, divide among bowls, garnish with herbs, and drizzle with olive oil.

dividerEK


dividerEKThank you for reading my vegan stories and plant-based recipes. I sincerely love to connect with listeners and would like to hear your feedback, takeaways, “ah-ha!” moments, etc in the comments.

Connect with me for discounts, exclusive tips, and other freebies:
• Join my NEWSLETTER for exclusive content & offers
• Join my social networks on LINKEDIN, TWITTER and FACEBOOK

Want to learn more?
Explore more of my VEGAN RECIPES, and my COOK BOOKS.
Do you want a happier life, a greener plate, and a delicious world? Then sign up for VEG THERAPY.



Filed Under: Fav People Fav Recipe, LIGHT MEALS, soups Tagged With: Adeena Sussman, Freekeh Vegetable Soup, Sababa

« Modern Msickquatash — Limas, Squash and Caramelized Leeks
Feeding the Hungry Ghost – Holiday Special! »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

VEGAN EXTRAS

  • SHARE YOUR VEGAN STORY
  • RESOURCES
  • MY FAVORITE PEOPLE, MY FAVORITE RECIPES

RECOMMENDED VEGAN READS

Recent Posts

  • Improved Irish Soda Bread
  • The Hunt is Over — Broccoli Rising Now and Forever
  • Plantbased Brunch — Wake up to Delicious Plantbased Possibilities 
  • Get Happy! Get Plants!
  • Coconut Mignardises

EXPLORE VEGAN RECIPES…

  • Beans and Rice the most important dish in the world
    The Most Important Dish in the World
  • Pappa Al Pomodoro: A New Life for Old Bread | Conscious Cookery Day 6
  • My Favorite People, My Favorite Recipes: Chef Silvana Salcido Esparza
  • MY FAVORITE PEOPLE, MY FAVORITE RECIPES: Carolina Molea 
  • Cheer up: Soothing Soup for Taxing Times

Archives

Some posts might contain affiliate links of books that I love. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links.

~ Search Site ~

RSS Newsletter

  • Broccoli Rising and a MiamI Vegan in Turkiye May 19, 2025
  • Broccoli Rising, Miami Vegan, and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt 1 May 12, 2025
  • Broccoli Rising and All Over Creation May 5, 2025
  • Broccoli Rising and the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread April 28, 2025
  • Broccoli Rising and 21 Earth Day Actions that Mean the World April 21, 2025

~ Signup for my Newsletter~

~ Follow on Instagram ~

This error message is only visible to WordPress admins

Error: No feed with the ID 1 found.

Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed.

© 2025 ELLEN KANNER