Actress Yael Grobglas believes food is magical. She tells her almost five-year-old daughter that “food is witchcraft in the best possible way,” Grobglas told the Journal. “It can heal you, it can make you happy, it can bring people together.”

Grobglas, who played the series regular dual-roles of ‘Petra’ and ‘Anezka’ on “Jane the Virgin,” recurred as the villain, Psi, on “Supergirl” and recently started an arc on the new “Matlock,” was born in France and grew up in Israel.

“I feel like I always got that French love of food mixed with the Israeli love of food,” she said. Her mother is Austrian and father is French. “The combination of those two things, the taste and the pleasure of it at the same time as the community aspect of it, for me was magic.”

Some of Grobglas’ happiest memories involve holidays and food.

“You all sit at the table together, you sing songs and you eat,” she said. “And the kids run around under the table and between everybody’s legs, [while] the parents try to keep some sort of adult conversation going.”

Grobglas, who also starred in Hallmark Channel’s “Hanukkah on Rye” in 2022, was destined to love food. Her mother and father are wonderful cooks, so she had the best home-cooked meals growing up. When she moved out on her own, Grobglas knew she had to learn how to cook, so she could continue to eat good food.

“Luckily I’m pretty creative,” she said. “I cannot follow a recipe to save my life [but] I have so many cookbooks … I’ll look through them for inspiration.”

Grobglas will get a general idea of what she wants to cook and then get creative. For every meal, she likes to have a protein, a carbohydrate and a vegetable or two. They are pescatarian, so it’ll usually be a fish, and then she decides what will go with it.

“Grilled whole branzino with lemons from my lemon tree … and full of herbs from my garden is a really fun one,” she said.

Grobglas doesn’t just think about the flavors, she pays attention to the color.

“If you’re going with a branzino, for example, that’s like a light fish, [so] I might not necessarily go for potatoes because it’s also another light color,” she said. “You want to maybe [make] a sweet potato or maybe grilled vegetables, like tomatoes and red peppers, to balance out the colors.”

She added, “I feel like I’m making art.”

One of Grobglas’ favorites is her mom’s signature dish: lentil salad with apples and red onion. The recipe is below.

“There is some magical something that happens in the combination of the sweet and the sour, the balsamic and the lentils,” she said. “It actually gets better when it sits overnight, because the apples and everything really soak up the good stuff.”

When asked how her training as an actor influenced her creativity in the kitchen, Grobglas said it made her trust herself, and the creative process, more.

“If you make mistakes, it’s like you botch a take, it’s fine; you do another one,” she said. “You make mistakes, that’s how you learn. It’s okay, you get better.”

On “Matlock,” Grobglas plays a jury consultant aka human lie detector. Grobglas called the role creatively fulfilling and a lot of fun.

Grobglas previously worked with “Matlock” showrunner Jennie Snyder Urman on “Jane the Virgin,” which Urman created.

“When [Jennie] started making “Matlock,” she said that she had a role in mind for me, and, when I found out what it was, I was like, ‘Yes, perfect. I love this,’” Grobglas said. “It was incredible to work together again. [Plus], it’s got Kathy Bates and the entire amazing cast; the moment I met them, I felt like I was at home.”

While she has no food scenes in “Matlock,” Grobglas said the craft (food) services was incredible.

“Usually on set … somebody from one of the departments, usually it’s like hair and makeup or wardrobe, sneaks in an espresso machine or something, and then production will have a few pods and you have to go beg a producer for [one],” she said. “It’s a whole thing to get the ‘good’ coffee.”

When she arrived on “Matlock,” and asked who had the machine, they pointed Grobglas to craft services. She questioned the instructions, but they weren’t wrong.

“They had all the best kinds of coffees, high-end teas, incredible snacks, wonderful food: so many options and healthy; I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” she said. “My family came to visit me twice, and the only reason I think they really came to visit me was the craft services.”

Follow @YaelGrobglas  on Instagram and watch her arc on “Matlock” on CBS; her character arrives on episode three.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Watch the interview:

Lentil Salad with Apples and Red Onion

2 cups green or black lentils, rinsed

6 cups water (for cooking the lentils)

½ red onion, finely chopped

1 to 1½ preferably green apples but red is fine too, cored and finely diced

4 to 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Salt, to taste

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. Cook the lentils: In a medium saucepan, combine the rinsed lentils with 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are tender but not falling apart. Drain the lentils and transfer them to a large bowl to cool.

2. Prepare the red onion: Finely chop half of a red onion. For a milder flavor, soak the chopped onion in a bowl of ice water for about 10 minutes, then drain and pat dry.

3. Dice the apple: Core and finely dice the apple into small pieces.

4. Combine and dress: Add the cooked lentils, red onion, and diced apple to the bowl. Drizzle with 4 to 5 tablespoons of olive oil and 5 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Toss gently to combine, making sure the salad is evenly dressed. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5. Serve: Let the salad sit for a few minutes to allow the flavors to meld. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled.

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.