Hidden Benefits

Can you actually eat more, eat healthier and still lose weight? Does it sound too good to be true?

It's not a "miracle" diet or a weight-loss pill.

It's a matter of eating more vegetables and fruits. I often suggest starting a meal with a vegetable salad or soup. Research shows that this simple step curbs your appetite, so you end up eating fewer calories over all.

Earlier this year, a small but intriguing study found another way that vegetables can be used to reduce your total caloric intake.

Researchers added vegetable purees to main course casseroles and desserts. The purees added additional bulk to the food, while reducing the total amount of calories per serving.

Participants who ate the "manipulated" food ate 200 to 350 fewer calories per meal than those who ate the same food minus the vegetable puree. Their daily vegetable consumption also increased significantly. None of the research subjects were told about the added vegetables. They didn't notice a significant difference in taste or satiation when they were finished eating.

Should you cut calories by adding pureed zucchini and cauliflower to your favorite macaroni and cheese recipe? It's not a bad idea. It may even help get finicky youngsters (and adults!) to eat vegetables that they might otherwise spurn. (On the other hand, you'll want to introduce whole "real" vegetables to your children so they'll develop a liking for them at an early age.)

I suggest serving as many whole vegetables as possible, and adding vegetable purees when you think it might be helpful to your family's diet. If you're trying to lose weight, adding purees to casseroles, soups and desserts is certainly a good strategy.

It's easiest to add vegetable purees that will either appear "hidden" or will enhance your favorite foods. Spicy dishes like chili and hearty pasta casseroles take well to added vegetable purees. Tomato puree adds a rosy touch to macaroni and cheese (see my recipe), while cauliflower puree blends in with the color of the cheese sauce. Pureed squash, pumpkin, applesauce, bananas, carrots, zucchini and pineapple all work well in baked goods, especially cakes, quick breads and muffins using cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and other hearty spices.

Here's a delicious cupcake recipe chock full of vegetables and fruit:

Carrot Cupcakes (Parve)

1 can (8 oz/227 gm) juice-packed crushed pineapple*
1 cup grated carrots
½ cup pitted prunes
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 whole egg
1 egg white
½ cup sugar
¼ cup canola or light olive oil

Preheat the oven to 325F/165C. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

Drain the pineapple in a strainer and reserve ¼ cup of the juice. Heat this reserved juice until it's hot.

Using a food processor, grate the carrots and measure 1 cup. Remove them from the processor and set aside. Put the prunes and the hot pineapple juice in the processor and process until smooth.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.

Whisk together the egg, egg white, sugar and oil. Whisk in the prune puree. Add the dry ingredients and then the pineapple and carrots.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 20-30 minutes, until they spring back when lightly pressed. Let them sit in the pan for a few minutes, then cool completely on a cooling rack.

Makes 12

* I've never found crushed pineapple in Israel. (Even though Dole brand is sold here, they seem to just bring over slices and tidbits.) I use whatever is available, drain it and puree it in the food processor after I've grated the carrots.

Yom Ha'atzmaut Sameach!

Low-Lactose Fresh Milk Now in Israel

Are you lactose intolerant?

Fresh, lactose-free milk has been sold in the US for years. And now it's finally available in Israel. Tnuva's low-lactose 2% milk, packaged in their familiar liter cartons, is now in the dairy case of most stores. It contains only 1 gram of lactose per cup (200 ml), which makes it nearly lactose-free.

Until now, I've been buying lactase drops (from Canada) and treating every liter of milk that we buy. Since I'm extremely intolerant to lactose, I was a little hesitant to try "low-lactose" milk.  But I can drink it with no problem at all. And it tastes normal – not like the low-lactose 3% milk that's sold here in shelf-stable boxes.

This is a welcome treat for those of us who enjoy drinking and/or cooking with cow's milk, or don't particularly enjoy soy, rice or almond milk in our coffee. It's also another good source of calcium for those of us who might not be getting enough.

By the way, even if you're lactose intolerant, you may still be able to eat some dairy products, like yogurt and hard cheese. Start by eating just a little. Or try eating dairy products together with non-dairy foods. You'll have to try different dairy foods in various amounts to know what you can tolerate.

Tnuva lists a number of their dairy foods that are low in lactose. The follow contain no more than 1 gram of lactose per 100 ml/gm:

Diet Yoplait

Yoplait 360 (probiotic drink)

Pirius Bulgarit 5% (hard white cheese)

Emek 9% Cheese

Emek  cheese "fingers"

Shock 20% less sugar (chocolate milk)

Unless a company markets the fact that their products are low in lactose, it's hard to know if they might agree with you or not. I know, for instance, that I can easily digest Activia yogurt, while other yogurts sometimes cause bloating and discomfort. 

If you've shied away from dairy because you're lactose intolerant, this may just be the time for you to try the new low-lactose milk and some of the other low-lactose dairy products now being sold in Israel.  

After-Pesach Muffins

I'm a big muffin fan.

Muffins are an easy way to pack fruit, nuts and fiber into a few easy-to-make delicious bites. They make a quick snack and are perfect with fresh fruit and tea on Shabbat morning.

How did I end up with muffins after Passover this year? Normally we eat home-made granola for breakfast. But immediately after Pesach, that's a problem. I usually make granola in large quantities – enough to last a month or so, and who has time and energy to do that right after Passover?

So we bought a box of muesli to tide us over. Muesli is the unbaked version of granola, without sweetener and oil. Ours had rolled oats, wheat, bran and lots of raisins.  It was fine for a few days, until I was ready to make my own granola. Then I was left with almost a full box of muesli. Here's what I made:

Muesli Muffins (Dairy)

1¼ cups muesli

1¼ cups low-fat buttermilk

¾ cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup canola oil

1 egg

1/3 cup brown sugar

Combine the muesli and buttermilk in a bowl and set aside for 30 minutes.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 400 F (200 C) and line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

After the muesli has softened in the buttermilk for 30 minutes, add the oil, egg, brown sugar and flour mixture and gently mix everything together. Don't over mix.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. These do not rise much.

Remove to a baking rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins