Healthful dishes for the pre-Passover week

Cheryl Forberg’s healthy dishes: Spicy chicken wrap, ginger edamame, quinoa salad with pistachios and healthy meatloaf.

By FAYE LEVY, YAKIR LEVY
Cheryl Forberg signs copy of her book ‘A Small Guide to Losing Big’ in Los Angeles. (photo credit: YAKIR LEVY)
Cheryl Forberg signs copy of her book ‘A Small Guide to Losing Big’ in Los Angeles.
(photo credit: YAKIR LEVY)
With Passover around the corner, it’s a busy week for many of us, so it’s particularly useful to have some simple formulas for whipping up wholesome meals in the midst of the frenzy of cleaning and shopping. Since there are likely to be several substantial dinners during the holiday, it’s a good idea to prepare fairly light dishes for the week’s menus.
Chef and dietitian Cheryl Forberg, author of the new book A Small Guide to Losing Big, presented such dishes at a recent luncheon at Melissa’s Produce. They were not only healthful, they were developed by Forberg – the nutritionist for NBC’s The Biggest Loser – to help people lose weight.
Forberg’s curried chicken wrap is filled with a pleasantly spicy chicken salad with dried cherries and cashews. (See recipe.) For a protein- rich vegetarian entree, she uses edamame, or green soy beans, which come frozen and are a delicious addition to soups, salads, stews and side dishes. Her edamame with tomatoes, ginger, sautéed onions and soy sauce makes a tasty main course or accompaniment for fish, chicken or meat. (See recipe.)
Meatloaf may not come to mind when you’re planning light menus, but Forberg’s meatloaf has a special addition – cooked quinoa – that makes it not only healthful but also moist, even when made with very lean meat.
When you get hungry between meals, have a snack. “Snacking...is integral to a healthy diet,” wrote Forberg. “Keep lots of healthful snacks available, so when you open the refrigerator you can only make the right choices... A healthful snack should be comprised of both protein and carbohydrate, and hover at around 150 calories.”
As a satisfying snack, Forberg recommends low-fat or reduced-fat cheese sticks, which are a quick and easy way to get protein, along with an apple or pear. For heartier snacks, you might like a small turkey sandwich made with one slice of whole-grain bread spread with mustard, 30 grams (1 ounce) lean sliced turkey, a tomato slice and a quarter avocado. When you want something a bit fancier, wrap three asparagus spears in about 15 grams (½ ounce) of smoked salmon. Another piece of advice: Along with each snack, drink a glass of water or a cup of green tea.
Even desserts can be quick and healthful. We found ideas for making such treats at the Natural Products Expo West, which took place in Anaheim, California, in March.
At the booth of Straus Family Creamery, Janet Fletcher, author of the just-published Yogurt – Sweet and Savory Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, prepared Indian yogurt pudding, or shrikhand. This classic pudding needs no cooking and happens to be one of our favorite Indian desserts. To make it, Fletcher whisks extra-thick yogurt with sugar and spices, including saffron, and tops the dessert with toasted coconut, almonds and pistachios. (See recipe.)
For a dessert that’s vegan, raw and very quick to make, Tess Masters, author of The Blender Girl, demonstrated how to make a caramel sauce at the booth of Celtic sea salt. She simply blended almond milk with maple syrup, dates and cashews, and flavored the sauce with sea salt. Served over diced apples and walnuts, it makes a healthful, tasty pareve dessert. (See recipe.)
Faye Levy is the author of 30 Low-Fat Meals in 30 Minutes.
Gingered edamame with tomatoes
“While this was intended as a side dish, the edamame is such a great protein source that I often enjoy this as an entree on Meatless Mondays,” wrote Forberg. The original recipe called for canned fire-roasted tomatoes but you can use any kind of canned tomatoes you have, or use roasted fresh tomatoes.
Makes 6 servings
■ 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or olive oil
■ 1 cup finely chopped onion
■ 2 Tbsp. peeled and finely chopped fresh ginger
■ 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
■ A 400-gr. (14-ounce) can tomatoes
■ 2 Tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
■ ¼ cup vegetable or chicken broth
■ 2 cups shelled edamame
■ 3 Tbsp. chopped cilantro (fresh coriander), for garnish
Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add ginger and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute; do not brown garlic. Add tomatoes, soy sauce, broth and edamame. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, or until edamame are just cooked.
Divide among 6 serving plates. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro.
Curried chicken salad
You can serve this salad wrapped in a whole-grain tortilla or spooned into a pita or an artichoke. It will be even quicker to make if you use leftover roasted or grilled chicken.
Forberg makes the dressing with a mixture of yogurt and mayonnaise. To make the salad kosher, either substitute a little extra mayonnaise for the yogurt; or instead of the chicken, use cooked or canned salmon.
Makes 3 cups salad or 6 small wraps
Dressing:
■ ¼ cup mayonnaise
■ 1/3 cup plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt (if using fish) or 3 Tbsp. additional mayonnaise (if using chicken)
■ 2 Tbsp. mango chutney or other chutney
■ 1 tsp. lime or lemon juice
■ 1 tsp. curry powder
■ ½ tsp. ground cumin
■ ¼ tsp. ground coriander
Chicken salad:
■ 1 Tbsp. grapeseed or olive oil
■ ¾ cup diced yellow onion
■ 1 tsp. chopped garlic
■ 450 gr. (1 pound) boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in thin strips
■ ½ tsp. salt
■ ½ cup chopped dried tart cherries, currants or raisins
■ ¼ cup chopped cashews, toasted
■ 3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
For dressing: Combine ingredients in a medium bowl.
Heat oil in a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté about 4 minutes or until soft and just beginning to brown. Add garlic and cook 1 minute; do not brown. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes or until chicken is just cooked through. Remove from heat and season with salt. Let cool.
Add cooled chicken mixture to dressing. Add cherries, cashews and cilantro. Stir to combine.
Indian yogurt pudding with saffron, cardamom and toasted nuts (Shrikhand)
This dessert takes no skill to prepare, wrote Janet Fletcher, author of Yogurt. To make it, you need to allow several hours for draining the yogurt; even Greek yogurt is not thick enough.
Makes 4 servings
■ 3 cups Greek yogurt or homemade drained yogurt (not nonfat)
■ 2 Tbsp. milk
■ Pinch of saffron threads (about 10 threads)
■ ¼ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
■ Pinch of ground cardamom
■ Pinch of cinnamon
■ Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
■ 2 Tbsp. unsweetened shredded coconut
■ 2 Tbsp. sliced almonds
■ 2 Tbsp. raw pistachios
Put yogurt in a wide cheesecloth-lined sieve set over a bowl. Cover, refrigerate and let drain for several hours, until you have 2 cups of very thick yogurt. You can speed the process up a little by occasionally using a rubber spatula to lift and turn the yogurt.
Put milk and saffron in a small saucepan and place over low heat until milk is hot but not simmering. Cover and set aside to steep for 1 hour.
Put drained yogurt in a bowl with sugar, cardamom, cinnamon and nutmeg. Whisk well to dissolve sugar. Add saffron milk ½ teaspoon at a time, whisking it in and tasting as you go. You will probably need only about 1 teaspoon; the saffron flavor should be subtle and will bloom as the dessert chills. (Reserve any remaining saffron milk for cooking rice.) Cover yogurt and chill thoroughly for up to 1 day.
For topping: Preheat oven to 165ºC (325ºF). Place coconut, almonds and pistachios in three separate pie tins. Place in oven. Bake coconut until golden, about 4 minutes, stirring partway through so it toasts evenly; do not allow it to become dark brown or it will be bitter. Bake almonds until golden brown, stirring once so they cook evenly, about 5 minutes. Bake pistachios until fragrant, 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove each from oven as it is done and let cool. Coarsely chop pistachios. Combine the cooled ingredients in a small bowl.
To serve, divide pudding among 4 Martini glasses or other serving glasses. Garnish with topping, dividing it equally. Serve immediately.
Apples and walnuts with no-cook caramel sauce
For this easy vegan dessert, Masters makes the sauce with unsweetened almond milk; if your almond milk is sweetened, use less maple syrup.
She also serves this caramel sauce with baked apples. Before baking the apples, she cores them but leaves the bottom closed so she can fill them with sauce after they are baked.
Makes 2 servings
■ ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
■ ½ cup plus 1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup
■ ½ cup (80 gr. or 2.8 ounces) firmly packed chopped, pitted dates, soaked 30 minutes to 8 hours
■ 1/3 cup (47 gr. or 1.6 ounces) raw unsalted cashews, soaked 2 to 4 hours
■ 1 tsp. natural vanilla extract
■ ½ tsp. sea salt, or more to taste
■ 2 apples
■ ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, for garnish
To make the sauce, put the almond milk, maple syrup, dates, cashews, vanilla and sea salt in a blender. Blend on high for 2 to 3 minutes, until smooth and creamy. You may need to stop the machine periodically and scrape down the sides of the container. Taste, and add more sea salt if you like.
Dice the apples and divide them among dessert bowls. Top with the sauce and the walnuts.