Hazon Food Conference 2018 Recap and Zoodles with No-Cook Tomato Sauce

Earlier this month, I headed up to northwestern Connecticut for Hazon Food Conference (aka adult summer camp for Jewish foodies), at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village.

It’s pretty nice up at Isabella Freedman.

Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center has its own working farm, complete with goats. These little guys get milked at 7 a.m. every morning, and if you’re up early enough, you can get fresh goat milk for your coffee. I was dubious, but it was actually pretty tasty, nice and creamy without much of that unlovely barnyard aroma.

I knew a lot of great people in the Jewish food world would be speaking, but beyond that I didn’t really know what to expect. It was my first time attending, and though I knew a lot of people I’d interacted with on social media would be there, I didn’t really know anyone. Would I spend the whole four days sitting by myself?

It turns out I had nothing to worry about. Everyone was so friendly and supportive, and by the second day I’d settled into my own little group. I was honestly overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for me and my little blog, much of it from people WAY more established in the Jewish food scene. I returned feeling simultaneously exhausted (I barely slept the whole time) and energized by all the positive energy and ideas and advice.

I made so many great connections, and I’m excited to see where the relationships I formed at Hazon Food Conference will take me over the coming year. I still owe a bunch of people emails, so if you’re one of them, I haven’t forgotten about you!

Susan Barocas dishing up her medieval Sephardic chickpeas (with pomegranate seeds and cloves!) at the Outdoor Food Festival.

Michael Twitty speaking about his African American Jewish identity through food. PSA: his awesome book, The Cooking Gene, is now out in paperback!

There were people from so many different areas of the Jewish food world—chefs, writers, bloggers, food justice and sustainability activists, farmers, educators, and more—doing so many inspiring things. Attendees came from all over the country (and a few from even further afield) and pretty much all points on the religious spectrum, but despite it all there was such an incredible sense of community. As someone who often feels uncomfortable and out of place in Jewish communal spaces, for one reason or another, this was a novel and refreshing experience for me.

There were so many fascinating sessions, it was a struggle choosing which ones to attend. I learned about everything from Black Jewish identity to social media to baking with heritage grains to antibiotic resistance, and so much more.

Shannon Sarna‘s savory rugelach, in pizza, harissa, and cream cheese-herb flavors

Handmade dill soda (that may or may not have been enhanced by a shot of gin…) courtesy of Jeffrey Yoskowitz at the Outdoor Food Festival. He had about five different homemade syrups, and I made multiple trips back to try at least four of them. I think dill was the coolest, but my raspberry-lemon thyme combo was pretty tasty too.

Einkorn is a heritage wheat that’s lower in gluten and higher in nutrients than modern varieties—and this closer to the varieties of wheat consumed in biblical times. It’s crumblier and has less

Needless to say, there was plenty of great food, from Michael Twitty’s black-eyed pea hummus to Shannon Sarna’s savory rugelach, Adeena Sussman’s tahini cabbage salad and Paula Shoyer’s mango slaw to Susan Barocas’s medieval Sephardic chickpeas.

There’s so much more I could say, but to be honest I’m still catching up on work and sleep post-conference, so I’m going to keep this brief. But anyway, it’s a fantastic event that I highly recommend you consider attending next year, if you are a fan of this blog.

There are so many Hazon Food Conference-inspired dishes I could’ve made to go with this post (and I’m sure there’ll be more to come), but today I’m going with my spin on Liz Rueven’s zoodles with no-cook tomato sauce, one of three fantastic salads she made at her session on farm-to-table summer cooking. If you’re curious to see the original recipe, you can find it—along with her plum salad with cardamom dressing, another hit from the conference—in this article in Hadassah magazine about her work running kosher farm-to-table blog Kosher Like Me and her work with her local farmers market.

If you want to see more from Hazon Food Conference, check out my Instagram Stories Highlights. I’ll also be doing a special Hazon-themed newsletter this week, so if you want to see it, sign up now!

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Zoodles with No-Cook Tomato Sauce

5-6 medium zucchini, equal to about 7 cups zoodles
4-5 large tomatoes
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
12 basil leaves, lightly chopped or torn, optional. Reserve some for garnish.
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and ground pepper to taste
½ cup pistachios, shelled

Trim ends of the zucchini and spiralize into zoodles. Place zoodles in a large bowl.

Roughly chop the tomatoes and mix with garlic, basil if using, olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl.

Dress the zoodles with the tomato sauce and toss lightly until well combined. Garnish with pistachios and reserved basil, if using.

This salad is even better when it has time to rest. Add toppings just before serving.