- Kasha and Varnishkas
- Meat Kreplach
- Challah
- Tzimmes
- Chicken Soup
Well, it all sounds good, right?
Well yeah, of course it does. But this list also contains some of the fattiest or calorie heavy foods I've ever had! As a little girl, I used to love meat Kreplach; or rather, meat dumplings. The trick was though, as it is with all Jewish cooking, to add some schmaltz, or chicken fat. Well, I recreated the taste of that without using much, or any, at all. As I was cooking, I noticed how just fact I was making these items made me feel nostalgic of my youth, and as I later found out, even my father's and great uncle's youth!
So below, please find my recipes for some traditional holiday foods, un-traditionally better for you.
Kasha and Varnishkas- Kasha, or buckwheat, with bow tie pasta. As a child, I cannot recall a holiday where this was NOT on the table. Thanks Mom, for teaching me what goes into this bad boy.
- 1 16 ounce box of Barilla Plus Farfalle Pasta, cooked al dente.
- 2 cups water
- 1/2-3/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 cup Kasha (like Wolff's brand)
- 1 medium yellow onion
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 5 tbsp smart balance light margarine
Toast the kasha in a non-stick skillet over med ium heat. Toss the kasha in the pan a few times. Pay attention to how this smells! The nuttiness will come out when it is ready.
I can not tell you how many times I have burnt Kasha. So, please, for your taste buds sake, don't let this happen!
In another saucepan, bring to a boil the water and salt. Once boiling, stir in the kasha. Cover tightly and lower the heat to low. Put your timer on for 20 minutes. Finally, lift the lid and fluff the Kasha with a fork.
Roughly chop the onion and garlic and saute them with about a tsp of smart balance. Saute until translucent.
Next, add all of the ingredients to the bow tie pasta. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and the remaining margarine. This is a great side dish or main dish. It serves about 12 healthy size portions, but more than likely, 16 side dishes.
The facts, per The Daily Plate
- Recipe Serves 12 people
- Amount per Serving
- Calories 329 Total Fat 4.83g Saturated Fat 1.79g Monounsaturated Fat 0.63g Cholesterol 6.25mg Sodium 75.42mg Potassium 73.33mg Total Carbohydrate 57.5g Dietary Fiber 5.58g Sugars 2g Protein 13.5g
Meat Kreplach- or Meat Dumplings!
My mother always warned me these were time consuming. I didn't find them to take that long. Enjoy!
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1/2 teaspoons Coarse Kosher Salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 cup of warm water
- 12 ounces of 93/7 lean ground beef
- 1 cups Chopped Onion
- 1 whole egg
- 1 tablespoons Minced Garlic in Water
For the dough:
Add flour, salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle of the bowl. Take slightly beaten egg and water, pour into well of flour/salt mixture. Knead until elastic.
Roll dough out thinly onto lightly floured pastry board. Dough should be thin, but not paper thin.
For the filling:
Saute the onion & garlic in non stick skillet with 1 tsp olive oil.
Brown the beef in same non stick skillet
Place onion mix, beef, and egg into food processor. Blend til combined.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Next, assemble your dumplings. cut squares that are about 2" by 2". Place a little filling (about a tsp) in each dumpling. Dampen the edges of the dough, and fold over like triangles. Now, take a fork, and lightly press the edges of the dumpling together.
Place dumplings in boiling water for about 18 minutes.
You can serve the Kreplach like this, but I prefer mind pan fried.
The fun facts, from Livestrong/The Daily Plate:
Nutrition Facts
Recipe Makes 24 dumplings.
Amount per Serving (1 dumpling)
Calories 40 Total Fat 1.38g Saturated Fat 0.5g Monounsaturated Fat 0.17g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.04g Cholesterol 22.92mg Sodium 23.13mg Potassium 5mg Total Carbohydrate 2.54g
Dietary Fiber 0.21g Sugars 0.08g Protein 3.79g
CARBS!
Challah!
This was my first attempt at making ANY type of bread. I adapted this recipe from my new favorite cookbook-the Hadassah Jewish Holiday Cookbook I referred to in an earlier post. This was delicious. Soft on the inside; golden brown on the outside. It was excellent alone, with chopped liver, and great the next day with a chicken sandwich. Enjoy!
- 1, .25 ounce packet of Active dry Yeast
- 1 teaspoons Sugar, Granulated
- 1/4 cups Tap Water
- 4.5 cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 teaspoons Coarse Kosher Salt
- 3 servings egg yolk
- 1 cups Tap Water
- 1/3 cups Big Bear 100% Pure Honey
- 2 tablespoons Smart Balance Omega Oil
- • About 15 Prunes, Sunsweet, Dried, Pitted
- • 1.5 cups Carrots, Chopped
- • 1 medium sized Sweetpotato
- • 4 ounces Beef Shortribs- no bone.
- • 1/2 cups Sugar, Granulated
- • 1 medium sized Yukon Gold Potato
- • 1 teaspoons Coarse Kosher Salt
- • 1/4 cups Light Brown Sugar
Slice carrots in round discs, about 1/2" thick.
Dice the sweet potato
Chop the beef short rib up into bite size pieces
Toss this all in a 13x9 pyrex.
Toss prunes into the mix
Add water until vegetables are just covered (about 1.5-2 cups)
Add sugars and salt. Mix well!
Take out after an hour; mix. If liquid has not absorbed, at this time, take a small bowl; add about 1 tbsp water and 1-2 tsp of cornstarch and whisk. Add cornstarch liquid to Tzimmes mixture.
Place back in oven for 60 more minutes, Uncovered!
Serve.
