The Rosh Hashana Meal

“The food is outstanding!” said my brother Steve, which just has to be the nicest thing he has ever said to me.

I made the lemon-chicken dish with both thighs and breasts. The breasts came out a little dry even though the sauce was good. If you are going to bake chicken, definitely stick with thighs. Even though it is technically dark meat it really doesn’t have a lot more fat. Just make sure to take the skin off.

Corn salad. We usually have a Claremont salad on the holidays, a cousin to cole slaw that has cabbage, apple cider vinegar, five or six different spices and Equal. I am very bored with this dish so I said I’d make a corn salad.

“Is the corn fresh?” my brother asked. He has an aversion to canned vegetables.

“What do you mean ‘fresh?” I retorted.

“Did you make corn on the cob and take the corn off?”

I said, “Don’t worry, it is not canned.” My brother Steve seriously never has a clue how long it takes to cook, especially holiday meals. This used to really bother me but I must be mellowing in my old age.

I took two packages of Green Giant frozen corn and let it defrost naturally over a few hours in a colander. I had a Seven Seas dry Italian dressing package and followed the directions to make it. Instead of using regular vinegar, I used ¼ cup each of Apple Cider and Raspberry Blush vinegar. It was a little too vinegary, so I added a couple of sugar packets too. I also used between one and two tablespoons of olive oil. Since we were transporting the salad to the Upper East Side from Forest Hills, I did not add the dressing to the salad til we got there lest the corn get soggy. I also added a couple of fresh mushrooms but you can add whatever you like (tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers come to mind). The salad got rave reviews.

Mashed Cauliflower. This is a dish I originally discovered on one of my many attempts at a low-carb diet. I once tried to make it with Frozen Cauliflower (one of those steamers packets) but it was GROSS! Just buy a head of cauliflower, add it to boiling water for ten minutes and use some type of mixer with a bit of margarine, olive oil or skim milk to mash it. I have a smoothie maker that works very well for pureeing. I also add a tablespoon of minced garlic that helps bring out the flavor.

Baked Sweet potato chips. Peel and cut four to six sweet potatoes and spray with an Olive Oil misto. I microwaved about a quarter of a cup of margarine with some garlic and poured that on top. I bought a crinkle cutter that makes the fries look cute too. Any extra potatoes can be frozen (they are sitting beside the frozen lemon chicken).

Chocolate cake. I cheated a little with this. Instead of making it from scratch, I bought a Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake mix and made it low fat. Six egg whites, one egg, ¼ of apple sauce and ¼ of oil. It came out very light and fluffy. I bought a separate chocolate frosting that came with some sprinkles on top (it is called “confetti.” I normally wouldnt've done this but my four-month old niece Lea niece loves colors. Too bad she was sleeping when dessert came.)

Here’s a tip: if you have portion control problems like I do and do not want to buy a whole bag of chocolate chips or sprinkles, you can go to a yogurt store and buy small sides for about 75 cents. Unfortunately, I bought a side of chocolate chips and a side of carob chips and ended up eating both before I got to bake them into the cake…If anyone else has this problem please let me know so I do not feel like a crazy person that lacks self-control!