“L’Shanah Tovah U’Metukah” — for a good and sweet year — is the traditional toast offered as family members and guests share symbolic sweet foods, like crisp apples dipped in bowls of honey, to begin Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year (The two-day holiday begins at sundown on Friday, Sept. 11).
For ideas on starting the year with healthy fare, we turned to “Good and Sweet — A New Way to Bake with Naturally Sweet Ingredients,” a cookbook by Brian Levy, who sweetens his desserts with dried fruit instead of sugar. As the finale to our holiday dinner, we will be preparing his plums baked with a crunchy, date-sweetened, cinnamon-scented filling.
Fruit or sweet vegetables are so central to the Rosh Hashanah celebration that some families feature them in every course. My mother always made traditional Ashkenazi tzimmes, a slow-simmered Eastern European stew of beef, prunes, sweet potatoes, and white potatoes. Today, we are opting for a lighter, plant-based tzimmes of parsnips and dates.
On our holiday menu we feature fruit-forward appetizers, such as Janet Mendel’s Spanish marinated carrot salad with raisins and pine nuts, and a savory-sweet roasted eggplant cooked with whole grapes. We’re also planning to make a summer fruit salad of tomatoes, strawberries and plums — a stunning starter that’s sweet enough to be dessert.
Stuffed Plums with Crunchy Cinnamon-scented Filling
This dessert is from “Good and Sweet” by Brian Levy. To make the stuffing, I used crumbs from whole wheat pita bread with melted butter and chopped dates, spooned it into halved plums and baked them until tender. We find them delicious either warm or cold, with Greek yogurt; the author also recommends frozen yogurt or vanilla ice cream.
Yield: 6 to 12 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups whole wheat bread crumbs
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon date sugar (made by finely chopping pieces of pitted dates in a food processor)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 ripe but somewhat firm plums
DIRECTIONS
1. Position a rack in middle of oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Line a 13- x 18-inch half-sheet pan with parchment paper.
2. To make the “graham cracker” topping: In a medium bowl mix bread crumbs, date sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Pour melted butter and vanilla over dry ingredients and mix well with flexible spatula.
3. Halve plums and scoop pits out with a spoon. Arrange plum halves cut side up in prepared pan. Lightly press about 2 tablespoons topping onto each piece.
4. Bake until plums are tender and topping is golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes. Serve immediately with yogurt.
Parsnip and Fruit Tzimmes with Pecans
When I was growing up, tzimmes of potatoes, sweet potatoes and prunes were always a favorite in our home The following innovative version of tzimmes is based on a recipe in Micah Siva’s book, “Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine.” To vary the flavor, Micah recommends using dried figs and walnuts.
Yield: 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut in 2- x 1/2-inch slices
2 medium carrots, cut in 2- x 1/2-inch pieces
2 medium parsnips, cut in 2- x 1/2-inch pieces
6 green onions, cut in 2-inch pieces, or 1/2 cup chopped sweet onions
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 cup raisins or pitted dates, roughly chopped
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped
2/3 cup apple juice
3/4 cup vegetable broth, preferably low sodium
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup vegan butter, cubed
Flaky salt (optional garnish)
DIRECTIONS
1, Combine the sweet potato, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, raisins and pecans in a large baking dish or Dutch oven.
2, In a small bowl, whisk the apple juice, broth, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon, orange zest, salt and pepper and pour it over the vegetable mixture. Top with the butter cubes.
3. Cover and bake for 1 hour. Uncover and bake 15 more minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve sprinkled with flaky salt.
Spanish Marinated Carrot Salad with Raisins and Pine Nuts
This delicately sweet side dish from Janet Mendel’s book, “Flavors of al-Andalus — The Culinary Legacy of Spain,” is perfect for Rosh Hashanah, when carrots and fruit are popular. With roasted pine nuts, caraway seeds, onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil, sherry vinegar and fresh mint, it’s very different from the mayonnaise-dressed carrot salad of my childhood.
Yield: 4 to 6 salad or side-dish servings
INGREDIENTS
1 pound orange or purple carrots, or some of each kept separate, peeled and thinly sliced (see note)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon pine nuts or slivered almonds
1 tablespoon chopped onions or spring onions
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds or ground cumin
1 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
DIRECTIONS
1. Cook the carrots in boiling salted water until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold running water and rinse again. Transfer to a large bowl.
2. Heat oil in a small skillet, add pine nuts and roast lightly, about 2 minutes; remove; add onions and garlic and saute about 2 minutes. Stir in caraway and raisins.
3. Add mixture to carrots, along with pine nuts, vinegar, salt and pepper, Toss to combine. Cover and marinate for 1 to 24 hours. Stir in mint just before serving.
Note: If you’re using orange and purple carrots, cook them separately so the purple carrots won’t affect the color of the orange ones.
Eggplant with Red Grapes
This two-fruit side dish is made with long Chinese eggplants, which are sweeter, contain fewer seeds, have a much thinner skin than globe eggplants and do not need to be peeled. Red grapes and pine nuts make the dish festive. It is based on a recipe by Dennis Linden of Melissa’s Produce.
Yield: 2 or 3 servings
INGREDIENTS
2 large Chinese eggplants (about 1 pound), quartered lengthwise, cut into 1 ½ -inch pieces
3 or 4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large red onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 to 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar, or more to taste
3/4 cup of red seedless grapes, whole
3 tablespoons pine nuts
DIRECTIONS
1, Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put eggplant pieces on a foil-lined tray, drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
2, Roast eggplant for 7 minutes. Stir and roast for 7 more minutes. Remove to a plate.
3. Add onion, garlic, and 1 tablespoon olive oil to tray. Roast for 5 minutes.
4. Return eggplant to tray of onion mixture. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and grapes. Roast 5 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning; add more vinegar if desired.
5. Serve topped with pine nuts.
Roasted Sweet Root Vegetables with Green Tahini
Drizzling green tahini sauce over roasted sweet vegetables is a delightful way to serve them. This recipe is from the Wellness Babes — Julie DelaBarre, Ragan Wallake and Brianna Brown Keen.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 pound carrots, any size, peeled
1 pound sweet potatoes, any color
1/2 to 1 pound potatoes of different colors (optional)
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and quartered
1 pound red onion, peeled and slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, to coat vegetables
1 pound cooked red and/or golden beets
8 garlic cloves, peeled
Herb Tahini Dressing:
1-inch piece fresh ginger, cut in small cubes
3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup Italian parsley or green onion
2 tablespoons fresh mint or fresh dill
Juice of 2 lemons
Salt to taste
1/2 cup tahini (room temperature)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup cold water plus 2 tablespoons more if needed
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees (or 400 if using an air fryer toaster oven or convection oven).
2. Cut carrots, sweet potatoes and potatoes in bite-sized chunks. Spread vegetables on a large baking sheet (lined with parchment or foil if desired). Add fennel and onion slices. Drizzle generously with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn pieces over. Add beets and garlic cloves and roast mixture for 10 more minutes or until vegetables are tender.
4. Make dressing: In a small food processor, combine ginger and garlic. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add parsley, mint, lemon juice, and salt, and blend.
5. Add tahini and olive oil. Blend to combine. The mixture will thicken.
6. Slowly stream in 1/4 cup cold water while blending. Add 2 tablespoons more water if needed, until dressing is smooth and creamy. Taste and add salt and/or lemon juice if needed.
7. To serve, drizzle sauce generously over roasted vegetables. (Note: You can keep the sauce in the refrigerator for 5 days.)
Late Summer Fruit Salad
Although many consider cucumbers and tomatoes as vegetables, they have seeds and therefore are fruits, and taste good in fruit salad with peaches and plums. The recipe is from “The Power Five, A Cookbook: Essential Foods for Optimum Health” by Dr. Michael Crupain. The salad is ideal for those who crave sweet and savory foods, and makes a welcome starter or side for Rosh Hashanah.
Yield: 4 servings
INGREDIENTS
1 white or yellow peach
1 nectarine
1 plum or pluot
12 to 16 baby oval tomatoes, sliced, or 3 heirloom tomatoes, quartered
1 mini cucumber, cut in bite-size pieces
Pinch of salt
6 to 8 small strawberries, whole or halved, or larger berries in slices
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons mint leaves, chopped
DIRECTIONS
1. Cut peach, nectarine and plum in bite-size pieces.
2. In a serving bowl combine them with tomatoes and cucumber and season with salt to taste.
3. Just before serving add strawberries, olive oil and mint and toss.
Faye Levy is the author of “1,000 Jewish Recipes.”