This beautiful spring week, families across New York, the nation, and the world will be gathering together in observance and celebration of the Passover and Easter holidays. As members of our own DASHA team begin menu-planning, grocery shopping, and making travel plans to see family, we thought that this would be a great opportunity to share some healthy recipe options for Seder and Easter dinner.
After all, in celebrating these holidays that have central themes of life and survival, doesn’t it make sense to serve healthy, vibrant meals? Celebrate the lives and health of your own family by making their favorite classics a little healthier! Whether you’ll be hunting Easter eggs or Afikoman this week, here are some recipes that your family (and your body) are sure to be thankful for!
1. Sweet Potato and Matzo Kugel We love this kugel recipe from vegetarian.about.com. Unlike traditional kugel recipes, this one does not contain eggs and is therefore cholesterol-free and lower in fat, but when eating this savory sweet perfection, we guarantee you won’t even notice!
Ingredients
- 6 small sweet potatoes, peeled and grated
- 3 apples, peeled and grated
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup matzo meal
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1 cup water
Preparation
- Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Use a food processor to grate the sweet potatoes and apples. Combine all ingredients together.
- Gently press into a baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes, or until lightly crisp on top.
2. Amazing Charoset Brittany Mullins of the “Eating Bird Food” blog shared her favorite charoset recipe, a less-sweet version made with apple sauce instead of honey and pomegranate juice instead of sweet wine, and we LOVED its tart deliciousness!
Ingredients
- 2 cups raisins
- 1 cup almonds (or pecans/walnuts)
- 4 oz dates (about 7), pitted
- 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 4 dried figs
- POM juice
Preparation
- Grind dry nuts in food processor, remove and set aside.
- Put the nuts, raisins, dates and figs into the food processor a little at a time and add the apple sauce and wine/juice as you grind to help keep it moving.
- Pulse until the mixture looks like a coarse paste. Remove the charoset from the processor and place it in a sealed container.
- Enjoy – spread onto matzoh and serve!
3. Fire and Spice Ham Most people think of the traditional glazed ham when they think of Easter dinner, so we’ve found an amazing preparation from Cooking Light with reduced amounts of sugar, oil, sodium, and fewer calories. This delicious (and a little spicy) version only has 188 calories per serving! Now that’s a main course you don’t have to feel guilty about!
Ingredients
- 1 (5 1/2- to 6-pound) 33%-less-sodium smoked, fully cooked ham half
- Cooking spray
- 1/2 cup red pepper jelly
- 1/2 cup pineapple preserves
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 425°.
- Trim fat and rind from ham half. Score outside of ham in a diamond pattern. Place ham on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Combine jelly and remaining ingredients, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Brush about one-third of jelly mixture over ham.
- Bake at 425° for 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325° (do not remove ham from oven); bake an additional 45 minutes, basting ham with jelly mixture every 15 minutes. Transfer ham to a serving platter; let stand 15 minutes before slicing.
4. Light and Delicious Easter Egg Cookies Celebrating Easter with your kids but hoping to avoid getting them hyped up on loads of sugar and chocolate? These Easter Egg Cookies from Cooking Light, made with fat-free milk and reduced amounts of butter, sugar, and eggs, are the perfect choice for a fun, light sweet that will also get your kids involved!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- Icing:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons fat-free milk
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Food coloring (optional)
Preparation
- 1. To prepare cookies, spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
- 2. Place granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla and egg. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
- 3. Place dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. Roll dough to a 1/4-inch thickness. Chill 1 hour.
- 4. Preheat oven to 375°.
- 5. Cut dough with a 2 1/4-inch egg-shaped cutter. Place cookies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes or until edges of cookies are browned. Cool cookies 1 minute on pan. Remove cookies from parchment; cool completely on a wire rack.
- 6. To prepare icing, combine powdered sugar, milk, and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla; stir until smooth. Add food coloring, if desired. Stir well. Spread or pipe icing onto cookies.
Happy Easter and Chag Same’ach!
DASHA wellness & spa is a luxury lifestyle brand and New York City-based wellness center created to offer a truly holistic approach to wellness. To learn more, visit dashawellness.com.
