Soofganiyot - Chanukah Jelly Doughnuts

Israelis are being tempted with jelly doughnuts – soofganiyot, earlier and earlier. Years ago, soofganiyot were a Chanukah-only specialty.

Now they go on sale right after Rosh Hashanah. And here in Beer Sheva, they're looking bigger every year.

So I was pleasantly surprised to read that soofganiyot consumption in Israel is not really as bad as it appears. These statistics, on sales from last Chanukah (תשס"ת), are very encouraging:

There was a 4% decrease in overall sales of soofganiyot from the previous year

30 % of all soofganiyot sold were “mini” sized: 35-50 grams, rather than the usual 80 grams

5% of all soofganiyot sold were baked rather than fried

Hopefully, this trend towards fewer, smaller and healthier jelly doughnuts will continue this year.

What Should I Eat?

Legumes

Dried beans and peas (collectively called legumes) are a great source of low-fat protein. They’re high in vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber.

Best of all, they’re tasty, versatile and inexpensive. My favorite legumes are red lentils, which cook in about 20 minutes. (No need for pre-soaking.) A little sautéed onion, minced garlic or ginger, curry powder…. I’m already hungry!

Organic - What's It All About?

Organic food is “in”.

You don’t have to go to a health-food store anymore to find organically-grown fruits and vegetables. Even organic canned goods, grains, dairy products, cookies and crackers are now carried by many mainstream grocery stores. In Israel, larger supermarkets boast a טבע - “natural” aisle, with an array of organic beans, grains, flour, canned goods and sweets. Even our mid-size neighborhood store sells an assortment of organic vegetables in their produce department.

“Organic” refers to the way farmers grow and produce foods. Organic farmers feed their soil with compost or manure rather than chemical fertilizers. They use beneficial insects or traps rather than insecticides to reduce pests and disease. They’ll rotate their crops or use mulch to manage weeds, instead of using chemical herbicides.

Organic foods are free of pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. The idea is to reduce environmental damage and conserve natural resources. And to produce healthier food.

Is there a health benefit to eating organic food?

Although we can’t say for sure just how harmful they are, it stands to reason that pesticide and hormone-laden foods can’t be good for you.

Are organically-grown foods more nutritious? A few studies have shown higher vitamin, mineral and micro-nutrient content in some organic produce. But there’s no conclusive evidence that organic food is more nutritious than conventionally-grown food.

What do I think?

I prefer to buy organic when it’s in season and the quality is good. And when it's affordable. I won't buy droopy-looking carrots or berries flown in from South America – organic or not.

When organic isn't available, I buy conventionally-grown local produce. Because it's not easy to eat enough fruits and vegetables. And it's often impossible to find many nutritious ones that are organically-grown. Fruit is even harder to find. And prices can be outrageous. So my strategy is to start with organically-grown produce and fill-in with conventionally-grown.

Right now, I can buy organic potatoes, onions, carrots, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, avocado, fennel, herbs and citrus fruit. But I won’t pass up conventionally-grown broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, apples, strawberries and persimmons that are currently in season.

You can reduce pesticide residue, dirt and bacteria on conventionally-grown produce by thoroughly washing it and trimming the outer leaves of leafy greens. Peeling helps, but then you loose nutrients and fiber. Organically-grown fruit and vegetables should also be washed carefully.

My hunch is that organically-grown food will prove to be nutritionally advantageous. Meanwhile, I'll pass on pesticides and opt for environmentally-friendly organic whenever possible.

What Should I Eat?

Most of us hear a lot about what we shouldn’t eat.

“Cut back on red meat.” “Don’t drink sweetened soda.” “Eat fewer processed foods.” “Eat less sugar, fat and salt.” The list of “don’ts” just keeps growing.

Do you ever wonder what’s left that’s healthy and still tastes good? Would you like to know what you really should be eating?

Here’s the first in a periodic series of articles called “What Should I Eat?” Short tidbits about “normal” food that is good for you. Nothing exotic or expensive – I promise.


An Apple a Day?

“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

Doesn’t this phrase sound rather passé now that more fashionable fruits are “in”? But it may be closer to the truth that we ever thought.

In a number of large studies, eating apples regularly had a positive effect on blood pressure, risk of heart disease and stroke. Research points to an array of antioxidants and pectin (a form of soluble fiber) in apples that have a positive effect on cholesterol metabolism. Cancer-fighting compounds have also been identified in apples.

There are endless varieties of apples. Though modern agriculture has limited the choice in many supermarkets to a few mainstays like Red and Golden Delicious and Granny Smith, keep an eye out for other varieties as well. Don’t let the designation of “eating” and “baking” get in the way of tasting different apples. You may find that a baking apple is your favorite eating apple. And if you’re lucky, local farmers may be growing heirloom or more unusual varieties native to your area.

Since much of an apple’s healthy phytochemicals are concentrated in its peel, eat whole unpeeled apples whenever you can. When you want a change, try baked apples, apple crisp, apple sauce and even apple juice. Look for unsweetened products that are made with whole apples.

Easy Food Math

Remember when protein was the most important part of a meal? You started with a big piece of beef or chicken. Then you added potatoes or rice. And maybe a salad of iceberg lettuce on the side.

Times have changed, and so have our concepts of healthy eating. The emphasis now is on colorful vegetables and whole grains, with protein foods playing a supporting rather than a leading role.

Here’s an easy way to get a healthy balance of food on your plate:

Divide your dinner plate into four sections.

One section gets a small serving of lean protein - meat, fish, poultry, eggs or legumes.

Fill another section with half a cup of a cooked whole grain, such as brown rice, quinoa, barley or whole-wheat pasta.

Now, fill the rest of your plate with vegetables. That’s right - half of your plate should have vegetables on it. One cooked vegetable and a salad of dark leafy greens. Or two cooked vegetables. Or a large mixed-vegetable salad. Lots of colors and variety.

Easy, isn’t it? B’teavon - enjoy!

Ten Steps to Healthy Eating

Nutrition is a hot topic.

And nutrition information is everywhere – newspapers, TV, billboards, the web. Even the food we buy comes packaged with nutritional claims.

The flood of information can make it hard to figure out what’s best to eat.

Here’s a plan for eating right. It’s based on what we know about nutrition and health. No magic formulas – just eating a variety of foods in moderate amounts.

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Aim for 5 to 10 servings a day and a variety of colors for a range of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants. Choose seasonal, locally-grown produce whenever possible.

2. Choose whole grains, not refined. You’ll get a lot more nutrients, including valuable fiber, from whole grains. Replacing refined grains with whole grains will also leave you feeling fuller and less likely to overeat.

3. Eliminate trans fat by avoiding products containing partially-hydrogenated vegetable fat. Olive oil is one of the healthiest fats, so use it in salads, cooking and for dipping bread. All fats are high in calories, so use them in moderation.

4. Eat less red meat. Choose fish, poultry and vegetable protein for most of your meals and save fattier meats like beef and lamb for Shabbat and holidays.

5. Sugars (including honey, brown sugar and maple syrup) are high in calories and low in nutrients. Start lowering your sugar intake by eliminating soft drinks and fruit-flavored beverages.

6. Choose low-fat dairy products to lower your intake of saturated fat. Low-fat dairy is a good source of calcium, especially for children and teens whose bones are developing.

7. Season your food with fresh herbs and spices and go easy on salt and high-sodium condiments like soy sauce, soup broth mix and ready-made sauces.

8. Eat healthy portions of food. Since portion-control can mean the difference between gaining and losing weight, measure your food to become familiar with recommended serving sizes.

9. Exercise!

10. Think about when, where and what you eat. Make a real effort to sit down, relax, eat slowly and enjoy your food.

What do you put in your coffee?

Here’s an ingredient list from a product that most of us are familiar with.

Can you guess what it is?

Hint: It’s found in kosher kitchens, restaurants, synagogues and on airlines.

Ingredients:

Partially hydrogenated vegetable oil (coconut, canola, and/or palm kernel), corn syrup solids, sugar, sodium caseinate (a milk derivative), dipotassium phosphate, monoglycerides, natural flavor, salt, silicon dioxide, sodium tripolyphosphate, vitamin E acetate, DATEM, lutein, artificial color, soy lecithin. May Contain Soy Products.

Take a guess. Does it sound like something good for you? Does it even sound like food?

If there’s one product, besides margarine, that I’d like to banish from kosher kitchens, synagogues, restaurants and airline meals, it’s non-dairy creamer.

Whether it’s a powder or liquid, it’s likely to contain trans fat in the form of partially hydrogenated oil. Besides fat, you’ll find a long list of synthetic ingredients. I challenge you to pronounce them, let alone understand what they are!

Does it really taste good or is it just a matter of whitening and thickening your coffee? In my opinion, its only contribution is an off-tasting, oily mouth feel.

What are the alternatives to this main-stay of kosher coffee drinkers?

Keeping it parve gives you these options: Drink your coffee black or use an alternative vegetarian creamer such as a soy, rice or almond beverage.

Most soy beverages and creamers (such as Silk Soy products) have a kosher dairy label. A little investigation often reveals that they are actually dairy-free, but produced on dairy equipment. In this case, you may not use them with, but only after eating a meat meal. (Please consult your Rabbi for further details.) Soy drinks and creamers come in a variety of flavors and fat content.

If you enjoy real cream in your coffee with a dairy meal, consider the alternatives. Full-fat cream may be more natural than non-dairy creamer, but it’s high in calories and saturated fat. Try low-fat or non-fat milk instead. If you insist on a creamy taste, use a small amount of whole milk.
Another creamy option is evaporated milk. It comes in cans and is available in full-fat, low-fat and fat-free varieties. They are all lower in fat than cream.

With all of these options, you can rid your kitchen of non-dairy creamer, enjoy your coffee and take a positive step for better health.

Thoughts on Thanksgiving

Among our extended family, we were the only ones who kept kosher. So my mother always cooked Thanksgiving dinner. A houseful of cousins set up board games, we ran around outside and my mother cooked up a storm.

We don’t celebrate Thanksgiving any more. Years ago I decided that I wouldn’t cook turkey, or any other elaborate meal, on the day before Erev Shabbat. And Thanksgiving in America is always on Thursday. Now that we live in Israel, we don’t relate to the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving like we used to anyway. We have a barbeque on Yom Ha’atzmaut and celebrate our thanksgiving on Sukkot.

Then November rolls around and I get a little nostalgic for the smells of roast turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie. Sweet potatoes are abundant and delicious. The chestnuts we brought back from Italy would be perfect in a stuffing. And I've got one can of pumpkin from our last trip to the US.

We jokingly call it “Shabbat Thanksgiving”, although the date is dependent on when family and friends can come. My friend in Tel Aviv is cooking turkey dinner for her family in December.

We'll eat turkey breast and sweet potatoes. A pilaf of brown and wild rice sounds good. I’ll make a salad of baby greens, fresh pears, walnuts and dried cranberries. (I’ve never seen fresh ones in Israel.) If I'm lucky, I may find fresh brussel sprouts this year. I know they're grown in Israel now, but I've only seen them a few times here in Beer Sheva. Pumpkin pie for dessert, and of course fresh baked challah and a good Israeli wine.

Here’s my pumpkin pie recipe. I use Tnuva’s lower-sugar refrigerated soy milk. If your soy milk is sweet, use less sugar in the recipe. For the crust, I use the “No-Roll Whole-Wheat Pie Crust” recipe from my book.

If canned pumpkin isn’t available, use winter squash (d’laat or delorit). It won’t taste like pumpkin, but will still be delicious. Bake or microwave the squash, peel it, remove the seeds and drain off any liquid. Puree it in a food processor and measure a scant two cups for this recipe.

The photo shows whipped topping on the pie. It's probably cream, which is obviously not an option with a meat meal. Please don't be tempted to use parve whipped topping. It's high in either trans or saturated fat, and one of the few foods I suggest avoiding altogether. Just enjoy the pie as is!

Pumpkin Pie (Parve)

¾ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
1 ¼ cups soy milk
2 large eggs
Pastry for a single-crust 9” (23cm) pie crust

Prepare the pie crust and set it aside.

Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C).

Mix together the sugar, salt and spices in a large bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin, soy milk and eggs. Mix it up well, until it’s smooth. Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 F (180C) and continue baking for about 45 minutes, until the center of the pie is set. A knife inserted into the center should come out clean.

Let it cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before serving. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Serves 8

Healthy Snacks

When your children are hungry for a snack right now, what do you do? Chips, cookies, snack cakes, Bamba and candy may be convenient, but they’re not at all good for your children’s health.

Whether it’s after school or on Shabbat, there are much better alternatives to noshing on fatty, salty and sugar-laden packaged snacks. With a little planning, you can give your children delicious snacks that are good for them too.

Here are some snack ideas to get you started:

Air-popped or low-fat microwave popcorn
Brown rice cakes spread with natural peanut butter
Baked tortilla chips dipped into salsa or guacamole
Fresh seasonal fruit cut into “child-friendly” sticks or wedges
Dried fruit like raisins, apricots, peaches or pears
Hummus with carrot or celery sticks to dip with
Low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese with cut-up fruit
Low-fat string-cheese
Whole-wheat crackers or pita with hummus or low-fat cheese
Low-sugar, whole-grain cereal to eat from a small cup

Here's my granddaughter eating one of her favorite afternoon snacks, lightly-sweetened whipped yogurt (Daniella).

I’d like to hear about your children’s favorite healthy snacks. Please send me your ideas (use the “Post a Comment” space below) and I’ll share them with my readers.

Teaching Children to Eat Well

Hot lunches were served occasionally at my son’s day school, but most days he brought lunch from home. He got a healthy sandwich, fruit, home-made cookies and 100% fruit juice. Which of his friends always wanted to trade lunches with him? The boy whose lunch box was filled with potato chips, cold-cuts, candy, cakes and soft drinks!

I’m convinced that children really do appreciate real, wholesome food when they are exposed to it.


Children can learn to enjoy eating vegetables and whole grains. They’re eager to know about how food is grown and produced. We can teach them Jewish views on diet, health, agriculture and kashrut. And they can learn to eat in a relaxed, quiet environment.

Just as physical fitness was mandated in US schools in the 1960’s, we’ve got to work seriously towards nutritional fitness in our schools. The government may eventually step in with guidelines and financing.

In the meantime, there’s a tremendous amount we can do ourselves. Right now.

And Jewish schools are the perfect place to start.

Children learn by doing and feeling. By getting their hands into the dirt where food grows and their fingers into the pot of soup they help cook.

Every school should have a garden, where children can learn how to grow vegetables. A child who grows a green bean from seed is much more likely to taste it than if it arrives on his plate via a freezer bag. A garden is the perfect place for children to learn about brachot, trumah and ma’aser, shmittah and other mitzvot pertaining to food and agriculture.

We can teach children how to cook in school. Hands-on food preparation is a great way to learn about food, nutrition and kashrut. (Cooking also helps teach reading, math, science, creativity, teamwork, respect and patience.) Children are fascinated with food. And cooking it themselves is rewarding and educational.

Good eating habits should also be taught at school. In today’s world of “fast-food” and eating on-the-go, we can create a quiet relaxed environment at school that can serve as a model of enjoyable social eating.

Growing, cooking and eating food together – these are all important skills that can be taught in our schools.

With these skills, we can enable our children to have a healthy attitude towards food that will encourage good eating habits for a lifetime.