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Hanukkah: The Battle for Beauty
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Delicious, easy to prepare and rich with olive oil.
Here are healthy recipes that are both delicious, easy to prepare and are excellent to serve during our Eight Day Festival.
Add variety! Traditional latkes can be prepared with more than just potatoes! Try latkes from Sephardic and Yemenite traditions, as well, made from leeks and carrots, zucchini, sweet potatoes and apples. These offer way more vitamins and antioxidants than humble potatoes!
Try making Yemenite Zambia’s!
When we celebrate Hanukah, Shabbos and every day, rejoice with super healthy life-enhancing recipes that improve our health, elevate our energy levels and increase our joy.
Celebrate the miracle of the olive oil that miraculously burned for eight days by enjoying these olive oil rich dips, dressings, salads, salmon and soup.
Most of these Hanukah recipes include olive oil to help us recall the oil that miraculously brightened the darkness for eight days
(for Salads, Grains and Garlic Bread)
Simple to assemble and then sprinkle generously on salads, grains and bread.
Mix all the ingredients and spoon onto sliced whole wheat muffins or rolls. Warm in the oven for about 18 minutes on a low temperature.
* Make your own Zaatar from 1 Tb. thyme, 1 Tb sesame seeds, 2 Tb. oregano, 1 tsp. cumin
*Onion powder is an amazing, sweet, healthy addition to salad dressing, a great alternative to adding sugar.
More Advanced Olive Dressing
Dice onion into small pieces. Mash 3-5 cloves of fresh garlic. Slice leaves of fresh basil, parsley and/or dill. Add to olive oil.
This dressing can be served fresh or baked in the oven, 320 degrees F, for 20 minutes.
plus many variations
Grate the potatoes and onion; mix with the eggs, flour, salt and pepper.
You can fry these in oil (hot, but not smoking!) and fry until golden brown on one side, then turn over and fry a few more minutes on the other side. Drain on paper towels. OR you avoid frying by baking latkes in the oven.
Coat a baking tray with a bit of olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes. 320 degrees F.
Serve with applesauce.
Why applesauce? Perhaps this tradition started as a parve option for those who didn’t want to top them with sour cream!
All of the latkes below can also be baked in the oven.
Mix all ingredients, shape into patties and fry in a small amount of olive oil or bake in the oven.
Grate apples and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Fry for a very short time and drain on paper towels. Or bake in the oven!
(Aka Keftes de Prasas)
Drain the cooked leeks and blend them in a food processor. Then mix with the other ingredients.
Form small, flat patties and drop into a ½ of oil over medium heat. Fry until crispy and slightly brown on each side.* Or bake in the oven.
Drain on paper towels and serve warm.
Mix all ingredients, shape into patties, fry or bake!
These are really pretty!
A bit of flour can be added if the ingredients aren’t sticking together enough.
Mix the ingredients together and fry in a small amount of oil, or bake in the oven.
Place flour in a large bowl and create a well in the middle to pour in the warm water, yeast and sugar. Let the yeast grow for10 minutes. Then add the rest of the water, and the salt.
Mix well and let the dough grow for about 40 to 50 minutes. Then gently punch down and let it rise again for another 30 minutes.
While it is rising, heat about one inch of oil in a large pan.
Stretch small (ping pong size) balls of dough into rectangles and carefully lower into the oil.
Fry for about a minute or two on each side. Then scoop Zalabia out of the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
Low calorie French Fries!!
Slice into thin circles 1 kilo of kohlrabi (about 4 -6 kohlrabi’s)
Arrange slices on an oiled oven tray.
Sprinkle with olive oil, ½ to 1 tsp. of sea salt, pinch of black pepper, and 1 tsp. of garlic powder.
Bake 30 minutes in 340 degree oven.
Super yum!!
Huge hearty soup for a winter Hanukkah gathering!
For thicker soup, add:
Add 2-4 Tbs. of olive oil for richer taste
For smaller soup, half the ingredients: I.e., 2 carrots, ½ zucchini, ½ sweet potato, ½ butternut squash, 2-4 stalks of celery, 1 onion, 2 garlic cloves, 4 mushrooms, bag of spinach…
Directions:
Rinse and drain well the barley and red lentils. Then start simmering them in eight to ten cups of water. Lentils and barley expand tremendously, so periodically check if you need to add more water.
While the lentils and barley are cooking, wash, peel and slice carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, celery, onion and garlic. Then add and simmer together for about forty minutes.
Then slice and add mushrooms and spinach and spices. Add olive oil.
Simmer for another 20 - 30 minutes.
Serve with oven-baked vegetable latkes, garlic bread and fresh salad.
Add chopped walnuts, cashews, almonds. Add pumpkin and sunflower seeds (optional but fun, tasty and energy power boost.)
Grate all root vegetables, mix together in a bowl. Add chopped nuts and seeds to mixture. Decorate generously with chopped parsley and sliced cherry tomatoes.
Mix salad with Olive Oil Dressing.
Enjoy!!
Wash and cut lettuce to smaller pieces. Slice or shred carrots and beet. Add all ingredients to large bowl. Add sliced tomatoes, peppers and onion.
Mix all ingredients together with Olive Oil Dressing.
Beautiful and Festive and Healthy!!
Salad:
Slice and dice to square size pieces and place in a large bowl
Dressing:
Blend dressing ingredients and then pour on to the salad ingredients. Serve immediate or let marinate. Either way is great!
Blend until a creamy dip.
*Generous amounts of fresh parsley, coriander, watercress, and/or dill can be substituted for fresh kale. It’s all really good!
2 heads of garlic (or more!)
Separate and peel garlic cloves. Place in a small baking dish.
Add ½ cup of olive oil (or more)
1 Tb. of soy sauce
1 Tb. of honey or silan (date honey)
½ tsp. of freshly ground black pepper
Bake on low temp until cloves are soft. About ½ hour.
Slice cabbage into very thin strands. Place in a large bowl.
Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Marinate for at least one hour. This recipe reduces in size tremendously. If you need a larger salad, add another sliced cabbage.
Dressing:
Place salmon fillets in a baking dish. Mix dressing ingredients and pour on fish fillets. Decorate with chopped fresh dill and/or parsley.
Bake for about 20 – 30 minutes at 350 degrees or Fahrenheit (~180 Centigrade)
½ cup of sunflower seeds, almonds, sesame seeds, or pumpkin seeds
Dressing:
Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl.
Decorate with sliced baby peppers (optional, but lovely!)
10-13 peeled hard-boiled eggs (boiled for about 10 minutes). Cool off and peel, then chop.
Add chopped celery (about six stalks)
Mix with ½ cup of olive oil
1 Tb. apple cider vinegar and/or lemon juice
½ tsp. sea salt (to taste)
½ tsp. black pepper
Mix all ingredients.
Decorate with a sprig of parsley, chopped chives, and a sprinkle of sweet red pepper powder.
In memory of my father, Avraham ben Yitzchak Isaac, z”l