Healthy Shabbat Recipes

Mapley Pecan Pie

A Simple & Natural Dessert.

1. 4 eggs
2. 1/2 cup sucanat, turbinado or other healthier sugar
3. 1 1/2 cup maple syrup
4. 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5. 1 1/2 cup pecans
6. extra whole pecans
7. 1 Uncooked Pie Shell

This receipe couldn't be easier. Dump ingredients 1-4 in a food processor and process till well combined (a minute or two)  Add the 1 1/2 cups of  pecans and mix again till pecans are broken up. Pour into the unbaked pie shell and top the pie with whole pecans. Arrange neatly in  a pattern.  Bake at 350 for 55 min. Let cool completely before serving. (Chilled works too)

Healthy & Natural Chocolate Truffles

A few weeks ago I made the Chocolate Truffles from Levana Cooks Dairy-Free! They were incredible, but I wanted to make something a bit healthier that I could enjoy regularly.  I found this recipe at a raw food website and have tweaked it till I got it "just right" (for me anyway -- go ahead and tweak it yourself!)

This has been a regular at my shabbos table, and a  hit with my guests for several weeks now. Enjoy!

1/2 cup smooth raw cashew butter
1/2 cup  dark unsweetened cocoa powder (I recommend Ghirardell) 
1/4 cup maple syrup
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
1 tsp. good-quality, pure vanilla extract (or can try other extracts like mint or raspberry)
1 tsp. tamari soy sauce (trust me on this one)
1/2  tbsp instant coffee or 1 tbsp instant coffee substitute (optional, add for mocha truffles)

Optional Ingredients for Rolling: Confectioner's Sugar, Extra Cocoa Powder, Chopped Nuts, Sprinkles etc...

Dump all ingredients into a food processor in the order listed above. Process till well blended (about 3 minutes), stopping and scraping the sides down when necessary.

While soft, divide mixture into 12-15 equal parts and roll into balls with your hands.  Roll the balls in Confectioner's Sugar, Extra Cocoa Powder, Chopped Nuts or Sprinkles if desired.

I like to keep these balls on a plate in the freezer.  You can also keep them in the fridge.  At room temperature, they will be soft and go down too quickly for you to savor!

Who wants to know how to make gluten-free, sugar-free hamentashen?

I do! I do!

Everyone go and say thank you to the author at Gluten Free Bay!

Here is her recipe for gluten-free, sugar-free hamentashen.

Thank you! Thank you! I hope you have the BEST PURIM EVER!

http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/2007/02/mission-possible-gluten-free-sugar-free.html

And here is a more recent post with more recipes and shaloch manos ideas

http://glutenfreebay.blogspot.com/2008/03/gluten-free-purim-hamantaschen-recipes.html

No Bake Pot-De-Creme (Or Seriously Sinful Chocolate Pudding!)

This dessert is incredibly rich. It's perfect for shabbat because you can prepare it in advance.

You'll need:

2 cups rice/soy/almond milk
3 eggs
6 tablespoons of sugar
pinch of salt
3 cups of semi sweet chocolate (Splurge a little and use a few pareve Schmerling's chocolate bar with 72% cocca instead of chocoate chips to boost the flavor and nutritional value)
6 tablespoons of liqueur of your choice. I like to use coffee, chocolate or mint.
12 cups to spoon the chocolate into and room in your fridge for them.

Directions:

Heat the pareve milk in a small pan until it comes to a boil.

Meanwhile...

In a blender or food processor combine the egg, sugar, a pinch of salt, chocolate and liquer.  Run the processor and grind the ingredients together as much as possible. 

Pour the boiling milk into the blender or food processor in a slow stream.  The hot milk will cook the egg and melt the chocolate.  Processor blend for a minute or two until smooth.

Spoon the chocolate into the cups and chill.   Serve chilled.

 

The Simplest Chocolate Mousse Ever

One time we had some of my husbands colleagues over for dinner. As I was clearing the dinner dishes, the subject of vegetarian cooking came up. I explained how once I learned how to use tofu properly, it made cooking much easier. A few minutes later, I served dessert. The husband took one bite and said, "Mmmm....I bet you can't make this with tofu." You should have seen his face when I replied "I most certainly did!"

You'll need:

1 Package of soft silken tofu (mori-nu)
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate (splurge a little and use a few pareve Schmerling's chocolate bar with 72% cocca instead of chocoate chips to boost the flavor and nutritional value)
1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Directions:

Whip the tofu until soft and liquidy in a blender. Melt the chocolate and mix it quickly into the tofu. Add the vanilla at this point. Chill and serve. Put it in a grahm cracker crust for a chocolate pie. Garnish with sprinkles to make your kids smile.

Truly Healthy Kosher Jello

I feel guilty about the last entry. This blog is supposed to feature HEALTHY shabbat dishes and..well...that just barely qualified. So I want to post a dessert that even my macrobiotics teacher could be proud of!

Here is one that I just love. A jello you won't feel guilty about serving! From Cooking The Whole Foods Way by Christina Pirello. )

You'll need:

- 3 cups of apple juice (or you can get creative and use other fruit juices but apple juice is a good neutral base if you want to feature the flavor of another fruit)
- 3 tablespoons of Agar-Agar Flakes (Don't freak on me -- you can find this at any health food store. Eden makes a kosher one, as well as other companies)
- 1 pinch of sea salt (it brings out the flavor of fruit -- try a pinch on watermelon sometime!)
- 1-2 cups seasonal fruiit

Bring juice, salt and agar to a boil over low heat. If you boil too quickly, the agar will simply sink to the bottom of the pan and refuse to dissolve. Simmer for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until agar completely disappears. Arrange fruit on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch casserole. When kanten is ready, pour gently over fruit and place in the fridge. If you are using softer fruits, like berries, cherries, melon or peaches, you do not need to cook the fruit in the kanten mixture, but if using hard fruit like apples or pears, you will need to cook them in with the agar and juice mixture, so that they become soft. You can serve the kanten like this, but I always whip it in the food processor for a smoother texture and nicer presentation.

I always make more than one flavor, in different colors (strawberry, blueberry, peach etc) and I layer them in nice glasses with my Tofu Whipped Cream for a beautiful presentation.

Tofu Whipped Cream:

2 packages silken tofu
3/4 cup maple syrup or agave nectar
1/4 tsp teaspoon seasalt
1 tbsp good quality vanilla
2 tablespoons almond butter

Whip in blender, chill in fridge to firm up

"I Can't Believe It's Pareve" Tiramisu

When I was pregnant with my son I had cravings for cappuccino and tiramisu.  However, I was living in Rochester, NY where Chalav Yisroel products were not available.  So I went to work to figure out how to make a satisfying pareve tiramisu.  I finally did it by adapting a recipe for pareve cannoli cream from the book, Amazing Soy: A complete guide to buying and cooking this nutritional powerhouse, with 240 recipes. 

Warning: This recipe is only *somewhat* healthy. I think the nutritional value of the tofu is canceled out by the amount of sugar and white flour in this recipe.  But sometimes...you just gotta give in to your cravings!

Of course, you will need ladyfingers (about 2 dozen)  -- if you can find them kosher. I found that the grocery store in Toronto and Rochester had them on occasion I always stocked up when they did.  (I kept them in the freezer) I've never made them from scratch, but here is a pareve recipe for them if you want to: http://www.heavenlytiramisu.com/rcp-322.htm Or...I suppose you could subsitute a simple spongecake. Experiment at your own risk :)

One more thing. Some of the flavors in this version are not totally 'traditional' to triamisu -- but I just love it. Please tell tell me what you think by leaving a comment!

To make the cream you'll need:

- 1.5 packages of siliken mori-nu tofu in the aseptic package. (Throw the other 1/2 pack in a smoothie!)
- 1/2 a package of plain tofutti cream cheese
- 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice (no cheating. Put that bottle away!)
- 1 tsp grated orange zest (optional, but gives it a nice zing)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Whirl that all together in a food processor. Then add 3/4 cup of  coffee-flavored chocolate chips and pulse a few times till they are ground up a little (Regluar chocolate chips will do if you don't have coffee-flavored ones. This is not traditional, but a yummy addition!) 

Now transfer the cream to a container and refrigerate for 2 hours to let the flavors blend.

Now it's time to layer your tiramisu:

For the Base You'll need:

1/2 cup of cool espresso or strong coffee
3 tablespoons of brown or turbinado sugar
4 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder

Whisk or shake this till throughly combined.

Line an 8x8 inch square glass pan with 12 ladyfingers, shingled to cover the whole surface. Pour half of the coffee mixture over the cookies, then cover with half of the tofu cream mixture. Repeat the procedure and then cover and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Before serving, sprinke the top with a little more unsweetened cocoa.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Aduki Mocha Brownies

Bean Brownies?

Don't knock 'em till ya tried 'em!

I have recently decided to kick sugar AND go gluten-free for a while, and I needed a shabbos dessert so I wouldn't feet too deprived.  This does the trick for me. Don't try to pass these off to your kids as regular brownies -- it won't work -- but it does satisfy my sweet craving in a healthy protien-filled way!

Many people make these brownies with black or white beans.  In Japan and china they use sweetened aduki bean puree in many desserts -- so I figured it would work better than others -- and it does!

1 CAN RINSED & DRAINED  Audki BEANS (Eden is the only company I know of that has canned aduki beans)
3 eggs
3 tbs oil
4  tbs cocca powder (I recommend Ghirardelli)
2 tbs instant coffee
A pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup almond butter - adds richness!
½- ¾ C.  Agave Nectar or Honey

Blend everything  in a food processor  Pour into a greased 8x8 pan. Add chocolate chips and/or nuts if desired
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. Put in fridge to chill and serve chilled. It's much better cold.