The first few post-Pesach days are filled with the hurried rush to consume as much “chometz” as possible – and then the weight concerns begin. For some, the gut reaction (pun intended) is to stop eating – never a good idea. We all know that the best way to lose those extra pounds is by focusing on eating healthy.
This week we asked some of The Jewish Press staff to share with us some of their low-fat or low-calorie recipes. We hope you enjoy them.
Cauliflower Crust Pizza – Jodie Maoz
(makes 3 individual size pizzas)
This is a fun recipe to do with kids. Let them pick out the vegetables they want – try to give them a colorful array. Try to make it colorful. Since these are individual pizzas everyone can have their favorites. Let us know if you come up with any interesting pizza twists.
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower (or 1 lb bag frozen, thawed in refrigerator)
1 egg or egg white (per pizza)
½ cup shredded cheese (per pizza)
Vegetable toppings (per pizza)
Directions
Microwave cauliflower for 6 minutes (don’t add water)
Chop cauliflower (in food processor or with hand blender). Do NOT puree. There will be pieces.
Take 1 cup of the cauliflower, egg or egg white, ½ cup shredded cheese and mix well.
Put on cookie sheet already sprayed with olive oil
Don’t let the edges of crust mixture touch sides of pan as that will make the edges hard.
Bake at 450° degrees for 15-20 minutes. Edges should be golden brown
Remove from oven and put on sauce and then top with your favorite vegetables (mushrooms, peppers, olives, etc). Sprinkle with cheese and put back in oven just until cheese is melted.
Roasted Sweet Potatoes – Chumi Friedman
This recipe is so simple to prepare and it always a hit in our home.
Ingredients
3-4 large sweet potatoes
Sea salt
Olive oil
Directions
Pre-heat over to 400°
Cut sweet potatoes into medium size cubes and sprinkle on salt and add oil to taste.
Cover and bake for 40 minutes, then uncover and continue baking until crispy (or soft, depending on you like it).
Now, what could be more filling than a bowl of hot soup? Here are two great choices.
Easy Minestrone Soup – Chani
Ingredients
2 onions
4 sweet potatoes
2 pkgs minestrone soup mix
2 tsp salt
14 cups water
Directions
Sauté onions in oil; add rest of ingredients and cook for 1.5 hours. Then blend wit an immersion blender and enjoy.
Tomato Rice Soup – Dodie
Ingredients
2 large onions, chopped 4 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp flout 16 oz tomato juice 2 cups water 1 tsp sugar ½ cup uncooked rice salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Sauté onion in oil, add flour and quickly add tomato juice and water. Stir and then add sugar and rice. Cook on low heat until rice is fully cooked. If soup is too thick add more water.
Matbucha – Rita
This is a delicious salad that compliments meat or fish.
Ingredients
8 tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
4-5 red peppers
oil
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp garlic
¾ tsp black pepper
¾ tsp cumin
Directions
Grill peppers in oven on high heat. Cool, peel and cut into small pieces.
Pour desired amount of oil into pan and add cut up tomatoes, cooking over a low flame until they are soft. Add peppers and remaining ingredients and continue cooking. Do not cover and do not add water.
And now for dessert!
Low Fat Cheese Cake – Rita L.
Ingredients
12 ounces farmer cheese
2 eggs
2 tbsp flour
4 tbsp light sour cream or plain yogurt
10 tsp sugar (substitute sweetener or use ½ sugar & ½ sweetener)
1 tsp lemon extract
1 pack vanillin sugar
Directions
Put all ingredients in blender and mix. Pour into greased 7″ round pan or 8″ square. Bake at 350° degrees approx 1/2 hour, until light brown at the edges.