Healthy Cooking Today

Rethinking wellness at the table.

From a Technicolor mango salad bursting with tropical flavor to a surprisingly lighter brownie torte, healthy cooking today is less about restriction than reinvention. Two well-known cookbook authors, vegan food writer Ellen Kanner and kosher cooking icon Susie Fishbein, are helping home cooks rethink wellness at the table.
Award-winning food writer Ellen Kanner, author of “Miami Vegan” (LCIX Editions) stopped eating meat at 12 “because I love cows,” she told me. “It was also an effective way to yank my parents’ chain. But I had to figure out what to eat, so I taught myself to cook. As I grew up and learned more about food, I transitioned from vegetarian to vegan. The three main reasons people choose a vegan diet are personal health, animal welfare and sustainability. But to stick with a vegan diet, you need what you eat to be not just nourishing but fun and fabulous. I hope ‘Miami Vegan’ gives you that.”
    As a fifth-generation Miamian and a new vegan, Kanner “fell hard” for the “technicolor, techniflavor fruits and vegetables of the tropics,” she writes. “Even in the blistering heat of summer, relief is as close as a mango. Anyone who thinks being plant-based is about deprivation clearly hasn’t tasted a sweet, sensual, sticky mango plucked fresh from the tree.”
    Kanner’s Fireworks Black Bean and Mango Salad from “Miami Vegan” was invented for a July 4th party, but the explosion of flavors makes it a perfect accompaniment any time of year, one which vegans and carnivores alike will appreciate. I caught Kanner demonstrating this easy preparation in a zoom presentation sponsored by Melissa’s Produce (and you can too. Search for Kanner on YouTube.)
     “I created this recipe a few years ago to bring to my friend’s annual Fourth of July party,” she said. The hostess needed a last-minute vegan dish for the party spread, “so with little warning, and using what I had in the kitchen, I came up with a winner. This salad combines tender, earthy-flavored black beans; sweet, juicy mango; tart lime; sweet and hot peppers; soft, fresh greens; and buttery toasted pepitas”—pumpkin seeds—“for healthy fats and a fun crunch. It’s a no-cook wonder that can sit out on a picnic table for hours without wilting. Oil-free fans, this is your moment. And even if you’re not oil-free, this is your salad. It’s naked – in a sexy way, I hope—it doesn’t have a real dressing. It doesn’t need it. The cumin, lime juice and mango create the flavor, and the mango also provides the right amount of moisture that holds everything together. These flavors, textures, and colors come together like a burst of fireworks.”
    Mango is the perfect foil for the fiery flavors and textures in the dish. “The mango is the second most popular fruit in the world,” noted Robert Schueller, Director of Public Relations for Melissa’s Produce—banana is the first —“although it’s only number 17 in the U.S. Although its peak is late spring through summer, the mango is available year-round. Not all mangoes taste the same, and color means nothing. What gives away that a mango is ripe is its smell and softness. If it gives a little, then you know it’s time to cut into it. And never refrigerate mangoes unless they become really soft.”
    In “Kosher by Design Lightens Up” (Artscroll, $35.99), the ebullient, wildly popular Susie Fishbein teams up with certified nutritional expert Bonnie Taub-Dix, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, to bring over 145 new recipes and dozens of tips and entertaining ideas to jumpstart your plan for a healthier, trimmer you.
    “Bonnie commented on every single recipe,” Fishbein told me, “pointing out areas that could be lightened up. She confirmed to me that the philosophy of this book was the right one—forget diets, learn what is good for your body, work change in slowly, and eat what you love.”
    Pass on the cottage cheese and Melba toast—this is “health food” with pizzazz! Steamed Veal Dumplings, Japanese Udon Noodle Soup, Mile-High Chinese Chicken Salad, Ratatouille Polenta Pie, Chicken Skewers with Ponzu Dipping Sauce, Grilled Reuben Sandwiches, Huevos Rancheros, Pumpkin Barley Risotto and oh, those desserts: Coconut-Lime Tart, Fudge Brownie Torte, Banana Chocolate Strudel, Pistachio-Cherry Biscotti…23 luscious desserts in all. And every recipe is photographed in that signature mouthwatering, Kosher by Design style by John Uher. Never did wholesome foods and healthy ingredients look so good!
    “This is not a diet cookbook,” Fishbein explained. “It’s not about numbers or nutritional analysis; it’s about becoming a more knowledgeable eater. Learning the virtues of various foods will lead you to use them in new and exciting ways.”
    For example, you already know about trans fats and MSG, but have you heard of resistant starch? The fiber found in certain carbohydrates like potatoes, barley, bananas and beans, when cooked and cooled, “resists” digestion and suppresses appetite! From allium (the immune system booster in garlic) to zeaxanthin (antioxidants for eye health), Fishbein explains how superfoods boost your health and keep you fit.
    “These nutritious recipes are easy to integrate into your everyday menus,” Fishbein noted. “Anyone looking to migrate into a better way of eating and living will find delicious options here.” Her recipe for Fudge Brownie Torte represents her goal for this cookbook, she writes. “If I was going to get my family, which includes four children, to live a healthier lifestyle for the long run, it had to be about more than steamed spinach and chicken without the skin. Practically, I needed a repertoire of healthy versions of things they would naturally crave and expect. What could be more apt than a brownie dessert? While not a health food, it is a realistic recipe that my kids and their friends will happily eat. By shaving off a lot of fat and sugar from my old standards, I’ve taken another step in the right direction.”

Fudge Brownie Torte

Yield: 12 servings

Nonstick cooking spray

2 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons butter or margarine

2 tablespoons chocolate syrup, like Bosco

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa powder (I like Droste)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1 egg white (from large egg)

2 tablespoons low fat or non-dairy sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon instant coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons warm water

Low-fat whipped cream

Strawberries, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In double boiler or metal bowl set over pot of simmering water, melt chocolate, sugar, butter or margarine, chocolate syrup, and oil. Stir until melted and smooth.

3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, whisk cocoa, flour, salt, and baking powder.

4. In bowl of stand mixer, beat eggs, egg white, sour cream, vanilla, and coffee until smooth. Add melted chocolate mixture. Combine. With machine running, add cocoa mixture in two parts. Mix until smooth and creamy. Scrape down sides as necessary.

5. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake 25 minutes. Do not overbake and don’t test with toothpick. Release sides of pan. Allow to cool. Top with whipped cream and strawberries.

Source: “Kosher by Design Lightens Up”
by Susie Fishbein

Fireworks Black Bean and Mango Salad

Yield: 4 servings

1 jalapeño, minced

1 red pepper, diced (about 1cup)

2 stalks celery, chopped fine (about 1 cup)

2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained or 4 cups cooked black beans

1 teaspoon cumin

Juice of 1/2 lime (about 1 tablespoon)

2 mangoes, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

3 to 4 cups fresh greens like spinach, arugula or frisee

1/4 cup toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for garnish, optional

1. In large bowl, gently mix together jalapeño, diced red pepper, and celery. Add black beans and combine well.

2. Add cumin and lime, and toss to coat.

3. Just before serving, add mangoes and cilantro to black beans. Season to taste. Place black beans and mango atop greens and serve at once, garnishing with toasted pepitas, if you like (and you will).

Source: “Miami Vegan” by Ellen Kanner

Jlife Food Editor Judy Bart Kancigor is the author of “Cooking Jewish” (Workman) and “The Perfect Passover Cookbook” (an e-book short from Workman), a columnist and feature writer for the Orange County Register and other publications and can be found on the web at www.cookingjewish.com.