When family is in town it is always very important that we all get together.  And obviously for any Jewish family, it MUST revolve around food. Well instead of trying to make brunch reservations for 9 people on a Sunday at 11:00am in the city of Chicago that is just infiltrated with the summer tourists and hundreds of thousands of concert goers for Lollapolooza, I offered to cook.  Above are just a few of the pictures of my spread of food, but these were the two recipes I was most proud of. Here is the whole menu:

Bagels, Lox, Cream Cheese

Noodle Kugel

Eggs Cups (Egg White with Veggies, Eggs with turkey sausage and cheese)

Granola, Yogurt, Berries

Coffee Cake

Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

Fruit Platter

Egg Cups (Veggies with Eggs Whites)

1 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 small red bell pepper, diced

1 small zuchinni, diced

2 large handfuls fresh spinach

14 egg whites

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

Salt and Pepper

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Coat a muffin tin with cooking spray. Heat pan over medium heat, add olive oil, onion, and pepper, cook stirring until soft and the onions are translucent. Add the zuchinni and continue to cook until soft. Add spinach and stir all until spinach is wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place egg white, ricotta, salt and pepper into blender until frothy, just about 30 seconds.  Place cooked veggies into the bottom of the muffin tin and then pour egg white mixture to fill the remainder of the space. Place in oven and bake until firm about 35 minutes. Let cool and enjoy at room temperature.

Almond, Cherry and Dark Chocolate Granola

The base of this recipe is from Power Foods, from the editors of whole living magazine.

3 cups of old fashioned oats

1/2 cup whole almonds, roughly chopped

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 large egg whites

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine oats, almonds, sunflower seeds and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together egg whites and salt until frothy. Add agave and oil, whisk to combine. Stir into oat mixture until combined. Spread mixture in an even layer on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, remove from oven and stir. Return to oven for 10 more minutes. Stir again. Turn oven off and leave pan inside for 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cherries and chocolate.