The Matzo Ball, Reinvented (With Almond Flour)

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 5 MIN TO PREPARE THE MIXTURE
PASSIVE PREP TIME: 1 HR TO REFRIGERATE THE MIXTURE

One of the hallmarks of the Passover seder is matzo ball soup. This traditional Ashkenazi food is almost always made from matzo meal. However, people who are celiac or gluten-sensitive, or who choose not to eat wheat, are not able to partake in this holiday indulgence. Additionally, although matzo is a big part of Passover and should be enjoyed on seder night, matzo balls are just one more dense, carbohydrate-heavy, fiber-less food to digest so late at night.

Traditional Matzo Balls Are Very Unhealthy

And then there are the additives: Nearly all Passover soup mixes contain salt, sugar, cottonseed oil and MSG, in addition to either matzo meal or potato starch. The sodium content in particular is sky-high, with as much as 590mg per teaspoon! Examples abound: 1,290mg/Tbsp, 350mg/Tbsp (1 matzo ball), 1,040mg/Tbsp (1 cup) and 1,770mg/Tbsp.

A Healthy Alternative Made From Almond Flour

The good news? You can easily make a delicious-tasting substitute for matzo balls using almond flour. These are simple, tasty and, with some added mint, rather refreshing.

Please note: The flour we use in this recipe is the Kirkland brand from Costco. There is a difference in consistency between brands. It also matters whether the product is almond flour or almond meal.

The Recipe

• 2 cups almond flour (not almond meal)

• 4 eggs

• 1/8 cup water (optional: use club soda for more fluffiness)

• 1/2 tsp dill weed

• 1/2 tsp dried mint leaves

• 1/2 tsp Himalayan salt

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

The Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with all ingredients except almond flour

2. Stir in almond flour

3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour

4. Wet your hands with a little bit of water

5. Shape batter into 1-inch balls

6. Add balls to a pot of cooking chicken soup about 20 minutes before the soup is done

7. Let simmer for 20 minutes

Initially, the flavor will feel unfamiliar. Let the experience sink in. It is liberating.

Indian-Inspired Turmeric Cauliflower Stew

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 20-25 MIN
SERVES: 6 (as a side dish)

Cauliflower is a supremely versatile vegetable. It can be roasted, steamed, riced or sautéed in spices. It can be used as a lower-calorie, more nutrient-dense substitute for a traditional pizza crust or mashed potatoes. And it can add color and character to your plate with its yellow, orange, green and purple variants.

When it’s in season, which runs from September through June in California, cauliflower regularly finds its way to our dinner plates.

Here’s a cozy, Indian-inspired turmeric cauliflower stew that will warm your insides as winter fades to spring. It works as both a side dish and a main course.

Ingredients

• 1 medium cauliflower (steamed)

• 1 medium red onion (chopped)

• 1 medium shallot

• 1 1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk

• 1 can (15 oz) of tomato sauce

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 teaspoon (Blackstrap) molasses

• 1 tablespoon turmeric

• 1/4 cup cilantro

• Olive oil to sautée

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, sautée red onions and shallots over medium heat

2. Add turmeric

3. Add coconut milk, tomato sauce and tomato paste, while stirring

4. Add molasses, while stirring

5. Add cooked cauliflower and remaining ingredients

6. Cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally

A couple of notes on ingredients:

Coconut Milk Coconut milk is a much cleaner and non-dairy substitute for heavy cream. It adds a rich, creamy texture. Use coconut milk that is canned and full-fat, with no added sugars. Although high in saturated fat, it also contains a strong array of nutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamin C.

Blackstrap Molasses Blackstrap molasses is the thick, dark and bitter syrup that remains after sugar cane is boiled several times to extract the sugar. While sugar is completely devoid of nutrients, blackstrap molasses contains nutrients like vitamin B6, magnesium, calcium, potassium, iron and selenium, among many others. Its bitter flavor pairs well with this savory dish.

Eat away!

Homemade Potato Chips

When I was a kid, my siblings and I didn’t eat junk food very often. But we did occasionally take a bag of Pringles or Doritos to school. I have to admit, they were tasty!

While store-bought potato chips are convenient, they are also full of empty calories, tons of salt and rancid oils.

Why not spend some time on a Sunday afternoon making homemade potato chips for the kids? All it takes is a mandolin or the slicing blade on a Cuisinart or KitchenAid food processor.

These delicious chips are very simple and nutritious, and you can mix and match your favorite varieties of potatoes. In this batch, we used Russet potatoes, Garnet sweet potatoes, Hannah sweet potatoes and Stokes Purple sweet potatoes. We also added olive oil, Himalayan salt and some onion powder.

We made ours in a dehydrator at 145°F for 2-3 hours, which meant that we placed the raw chips on a dehydrator rack.

But you could bake them in an oven as well, using a baking rack and some parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 400°F and bake for 20 minutes or until crispy, turning them over about halfway through.

While there are several healthy store-bought options, (Boulder® Canyon Kettle Cooked Potato Chips made with Avocado Oil is one option), the best and most fun option of all is to make your own.

Tell us how yours come out!

Quick Wild Salmon Salad Dinner

This week, I am featuring healthy, home-cooked meals that can be prepared quickly and efficiently, from easy-to-source ingredients.

One of the most challenging aspects about parenting is feeding your family meals that are delicious and nutritiously nourishing, while also being quick. That means no refined white flour pasta, preservative-laden sauces or packaged side dishes. That would be the easy way out.

Eating clean often takes time, planning and lots of made-from-scratch ingredients. But it need not be a burden if your kitchen and pantry are prepared and stocked, ahead of time, for the most common vegetables and other essentials.

I am reminded of a quote by Louis Pasteur:

“Chance favors the prepared mind.”

This works in cooking as well as in business or personal matters.

My kids have come to expect restaurant-style cooking every night. But sometime the wife needs a break. Here’s a meal that she prepared in about 10 minutes. It was a hit, too!

• Canned wild salmon with mayonnaise, paprika and chopped yellow onion

• Romaine lettuce and chopped red onion with olive oil and vinegar

• Sliced candy stripe beets (we almost always have some steamed beets on hand)

• Watermelon radish slices (this one is a favorite of our 7-year-old)

We purchased the wild salmon, organic olive oil and organic apple cider vinegar from Costco (all Kirkland). Everything else was purchased at the Larchmont Village farmer’s market in Los Angeles, from vendors including Underwood Farms and Sunrise Farms.

What are some quick and healthy meals that you’ve prepared for your family lately? Where did you buy the raw materials?

Dried Persimmon Chips: Snacks for the Kids

What The Heck Is A Persimmon?

When you live in Los Angeles, you become spoiled by the enormous selection of fruits. There is hardly any fruit that is not grown in California in some capacity. Some, like the pomegranate, achieve wide exposure due to corporate marketing campaigns. Others remain artisan or exotic, quietly tucked away from the mainstream.

A persimmon is neither artisan nor exotic. But its unfamiliarity within the general population makes it enigmatic. To the uninitiated, it either resembles a plump tomato but with the wrong color; or it has the crunch of an apple but the taste of cinnamon and honey.

One you’ve tried one, though, you will be smitten. Just ask the Japanese. They made it their national fruit!

Two Common Varieties: Fuyu vs. Hachiya

To add further confusion, there are two common varieties of persimmon, Fuyu and Hachiya. Unlike, say, apples, these persimmon varieties are vastly different from one other:

Fuyu Persimmon

Resembles a cross between a tomato and a tiny pumpkin. When it is ripe, the texture is firm and crisp, like an apple. This variety is non-astringent.

Hachiya Persimmon

Resembles a heart. It is not edible until it is very, very soft and jelly-like. The high tannin content in the unripe Hachiya gives it a harshly leathery, astringent taste. The sensation is similar to an unripe green banana or a very dry wine.

Even people who work in the grocery business may be unfamiliar with the Hachiya.

To illustrate:

I recently grabbed a handful of very soft and ripe Hachiya persimmons at Whole Foods. The woman at the checkout stopped me and remarked, “Oh no! Those are rotten. Let me get you some firm ones!” I responded, “No, you really don’t want to do that! They’re supposed to be soft.”

Nutritional Powerhouses: Persimmons Are High In Vitamin C, Iron, And Other Nutrients

Nutritionally, persimmons are high in vitamin C and contain iron, calcium, potassium and manganese. They are also a reliable source of antioxidants such as vitamin-A, β-carotene, lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin and cryptoxanthin, which may play a role in certain aging processes.

Aside from Whole Foods and some specialty markets, the best place to find persimmons is at farmer’s markets around the LA area. The growing season runs from mid-October to late December, although I am still seeing (and buying) them into January this year.

How To Eat Them: Dried Persimmons

In addition to eating them fresh, dried persimmons also have several great uses:

• As a dried snack for the kids to pack in their school lunches

• In a salad, tossed into little pieces like dried cranberries

• As an addition to a homemade trail mix

We like to use the pumpkin-colored Fuyu persimmons for this, as their drier, firmer texture makes them an ideal candidate for dehydration (or low-temperature oven drying). Hachiya persimmons are too astringent until they are very ripe, so these are best used in other recipes like a jam, pudding or smoothie.

How To Make Dried Persimmons

1. Wash well (as you will be using the skin too; organic is best for this).

2. Slice thin using either a mandolin (manually) or a CuisineArt (we use a PowerBlend Duet). You can choose the thickness that you want for your slices. On the manual mandolin, we set ours to 1.3mm.

3. Lay out the slices on a wire mesh rack in a single layer.

4. Dehydrate at 145°F for 1 hour, then lower to 115°F for 6-8 hours (or until dry). If using an oven, set at the lowest temperature setting and leave the door ajar if you can. Depending on the oven, you will need to check the texture until the fruit feels dry to the touch.

5. Store in an airtight container like a Mason jar for up to 6 months.

Almond Flour Chicken Schnitzel

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 15 MIN

PASSIVE PREP TIME: 12-15 MIN

Making Healthier Chicken Schnitzel

Chicken schnitzel is a favorite food in Jewish households. It is quick to cook. Kids love eating it. And it is satisfying and filling – especially when you need a quick meal on the table.

When I was a teenager, all the bar mitzvahs I attended served the kids a piece of schnitzel. What kid can pass up the hard crunch of a piece of schnitzel, with that corn flake crumb outer shell?

Unfortunately, schnitzel is not the healthiest food: the corn flake crumbs are high in sugar and empty calories, while the chicken is fried in vegetable oils that are high in inflammatory Omega-6 fatty acids.

There is an alternative.

Why Make Chicken Schnitzel with Almond Flour?

Using almond flour in place of corn flake crumbs, you can easily upgrade from the conventional schnitzel recipe to a healthy and fully nutritious version. This homemade coating is gluten free, paleo and keto-friendly. It is also delicious and much lighter than the conventional coating.

To keep the meat moist and tender, coat the chicken in arrowroot starch in place of cornstarch.

Rather than frying it in oil, it is baked in the oven. By baking instead of frying, you get a much healthier meal while preserving the same delicious flavor.

The mint and dill weed that seasons the breading imparts a delicate and refreshing flavor while infusing the kitchen with an inviting aroma.

Ingredients

• 2 precut boneless chicken breasts (or schnitzel cuts)

• 1 egg (beaten)

• 1 tablespoon arrowroot starch (for Passover, replace with potato starch)

• 1 cup almond flour

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1/2 tsp dill weed

• 1/2 tsp dried mint leaves

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1 small lemon cut into wedges

How To Make Almond Flour Chicken Schnitzel

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper and grease with a bit of avocado oil

3. Prepare the chicken breasts by slicing it lengthwise with a sharp knife

4. Lightly coat each piece of chicken with arrowroot starch

5. Dip each piece in the beaten egg, then coat with the almond flour mixture

6. Place the breaded schnitzel pieces on the baking sheet

7. Bake at 350°F for 12-15 minutes or until slightly crisp

8. Remove from the oven and serve with sliced lemon wedges

The Benefits Of Eating Healthy Schnitzel

This is a very quick recipe that can be whipped up on a busy weeknight. The kids can participate too. As an added bonus, make extra and chop it up into bite-sized pieces to throw into the kids’ lunchboxes the next day.

Sugar Baby Pumpkin Soup

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 35-40 MIN

A Family Tradition of Pumpkins

When I was in second grade, my home economics class made pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving. I brought home a six-inch-long loaf, shared it with my family and a decades-long tradition was born. Without fail, since 1981, my mother and both sisters have continued baking this recipe every November and December. I cannot forget the image of melted chocolate chips running all over our fingers as we gobbled down the first steaming slices prior to our Thanksgiving guests arriving. To this day, no Thanksgiving is complete without the scintillating aroma of cloves, cinnamon and allspice wafting throughout my parents house while the loaves bake.

Unlike other members of the hard squash family, such as red kuri, butternut or acorn, a pumpkin does not have a particularly assertive flavor. Interestingly, the festive holiday-like flavors come from the spices mixed into it, a mix known as “pumpkin spice”. You can find the recipe here.

Pumpkins: Their Nutritional Benefits

At first glance, pumpkins might appear to be merely a fun seasonal food. But dig a little deeper and you will realize how much nutritional value and culinary diversity a pumpkin packs. Both the pumpkin puree and the pumpkin seeds are edible and can be cooked into a huge assortment of recipes. Although it is tempting to purchase canned pumpkin purée, baking your own fresh pumpkin is always healthier. We purchase our pumpkins from Underwood Farms (based in Moorpark).

Besides the traditional pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice lattes that fill our Instagram feeds and dominate newsprint this time of year, pumpkin can be added to a host of delicious recipes. This includes soups, savory dishes, smoothies, homemade ice cream and pancakes. It is definitely not a one-trick-pony. And don’t forget about the roasted seeds!

Pumpkins are packed with vitamins and minerals. They are a very good source of potassium, magnesium and zinc in the diet. They also contain the powerful antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, as well as beta-carotene, which converts into copious amounts of vitamin A in your body and gives the pumpkin its signature orange color.

Why Make Pumpkin Soup?

Fast forward to 2019. Rather than baking that luscious pumpkin bread with refined flour and sugar, we have updated the tradition into a delicious pumpkin soup.

Why a soup? Soup is very hydrating. It is also easy to digest, so it is an excellent way to gets lots of vitamins and nutrients. And it makes your insides feel warm and comfortable on those cold winter days. Even in SoCal.

The Recipe

• 1 sugar baby pumpkin, baked in the oven on parchment paper at 350°F until soft

• 1 big Hannah sweet potato (or 2 medium-sized potatoes), peeled and diced

• 1 medium onion (preferably yellow)

• 8 cups water

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice

• 1/3 cup raw unfiltered honey

• Pinch of sea salt (plus more to taste)

The 6 Steps To Making Pumpkin Soup

1. In a large pan, sauté the onion in avocado oil until they are transparent.

2. To a large saucepan, add the onions and 4 cups of boiling water. Throw in the potato and let boil for 10 minutes.

3. Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds. Set the seeds aside to be roasted. Add the pumpkin to the saucepan. Add more water if needed to cover the pumpkin.

4. Toss in cinnamon, pumpkin spice and salt.

5. Boil for 5 minutes.

6. Remove from heat, let cool for a few minutes, then blend with a hand blender.

Making Soup With Other Squashes: Red Kuri, Butternut

For this recipe, we used a sugar baby pumpkin. It is smaller than a carving pumpkin and has a sweeter, less grainy and more pulpy interior. But this recipe works very well with a variety of hard-skinned squashes, not just pumpkin. We’ve also made this soup with red kuri and butternut squash. These squashes yield a nuttier flavor, which is quite delicious. The texture and warming sensation are the same.

RED KURI SQUASH (CENTER), BUTTERNUT SQUASH (RIGHT) AND DELICATA SQUASH (LEFt)

Kohlrabi Fries

A QUICK SNACK: KOHLRABI FRIES

A weak potato harvest in North America this winter has resulted in a shortage of potatoes used to make French fries. Luckily, there are a number of alternative ways to make fries, using kohlrabi, jicama or sweet potato. Unlike the refined starch of fries made from white potatoes, these vegetable fries are all complex starches; they are baked rather than fried; and they are more nutritionally dense.

It’s the perfect time to talk about kohlrabi, an exotic-looking cruciferous veggie, high in vitamin C and native to Germany – and a veggie that you may not yet know. Its dense fibrous bulbs are crisp and crunchy. The most common variety is green. However, there is also a purple variety sold by some farmer’s markets. It is a bit sweeter. We slice them into French fry-like wedges, dip in olive oil, season with paprika, garlic powder & sea salt and then bake.

To say that they are pure addictive bliss is an understatement!

INGREDIENTS

• 3 or 4 kohlrabi bulbs (stem, leaves and thick outer skin removed)

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 1 tsp sweet paprika

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• Dash of salt

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Preheat oven to 350°F

2. Slice kohlrabi into wedges or long thin strips

3. In a medium bowl, toss in the spices and mix well. Then add the kohlrabi, making sure to coat it well.

4. Place onto a baking rack with parchment paper and bake for 15-20 minutes or until soft and slightly darkened on the outside. Flip over halfway through.

Sautéd Shishito Peppers

A QUICK SNACK: HOW TO MAKE SHISHITO PEPPERS

Shishito peppers make an excellent appetizer and finger-food. They are very easy to prepare.

While Shishito peppers are technically hot peppers, they are about 100X milder than a jalapeño, measuring 50-200 Scoville heat units. From what others have told me, about 1 in every 10 Shishito peppers is hot and spicy. But so far we have not experienced any hot ones. They are also very high in vitamin C. You can find both the green and red versions in farmer’s markets and Asian supermarkets. Their vivid red hue just means that it is a more mature green pepper.

INGREDIENTS

Quantities are approximate, as they really don’t make that much difference.

• Shishito peppers 🌶🌶🌶

• Olive oil

• Lemon juice

• Dash of salt

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Wash and dry Shishito peppers. It is not necessary to remove the seeds or cut the peppers.

2. Sauté in olive oil fort 10 minutes or until the skin gets slightly browned.

3. Keep mixing around.

4. When they are almost ready, drizzle with a little salt, some lemon juice and serve immediately

5. Don't eat the stems or ends.