It is sometimes tricky to figure out what to serve during the Nine Days. But between parve and dairy, there are plenty of dishes out there. In fact, I see the restrictions as actually giving me a “framed canvas” within which to work. Here are a few of my favorite easy-to-cook and well-received recipes.
Fish Tacos
I find that the more involved my kids are in their dining experience, the more they eat. I love food where my kids can pick exactly what they want and assemble it themselves. For this recipe, you can use soft tacos or hard tacos; you could even use a burrito. If I’m making these for my kids, I eliminate the hot sauce.
Fish Tacos make me think of the beach. But even if I haven’t been able to round up the troops, get everyone and everything into a car, and drive for a couple of hours, I can sit in front of my air conditioner, pretending it’s the cool ocean breeze, and enjoy some fish tacos – sans the sand! (There are some benefits to staying home.) I find this kind of meal very festive. There’s a lot of passing and sharing and laughing (e.g., when the fish falls out of the taco!).
Tacos
8 soft or hard tacos or 24 small white corn tortillas
1 1/2 lbs tilapia (or fish of your choosing)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black ground pepper
1 T. olive oil
1 c. diced onions
Pre-heat oven to 350°. Place tilapia on baking paper. Mix cumin, salt and pepper and sprinkle over tilapia. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. (If you want browned edges, broil for last 5 minutes.) While fish bakes, sauté onions over a medium flame until translucent. Set aside.
Toppings
Diced tomatoes
Diced avocados
Shredded lettuce
Lime quarters (for squeezing right before eating)
1/2 c. shredded cabbage
1/2 c. salsa
1/2 c. black beans
Sauce
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 T. lime juice
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
Mix the sauce ingredients together and place in a bowl. Place all toppings in separate bowls. To assemble, put a piece of fish in the middle of the tortilla/taco and let each person choose their own toppings.
Homemade Pizza
When you say dairy in my house, it almost always means pizza. If my kids (and husband) could eat pizza every day, I’m pretty sure they would. And while I love ordering pizza, I don’t want to order a pie every day. When you make your own homemade pizza it costs you – are you sitting down? – 35 cents to make a pizza crust! What? Yes, you got it; it costs almost nothing to make your own pizza. And the time you spend together making the dough and putting on the toppings is quality time. It’s an inexpensive and super fun way to spend an afternoon – plus, the end product is delicious.
Well, the cynic in you says, humph, 35 cents, but what about the toppings? You can’t forget the toppings. The toppings will cost you a whopping three dollars. (The big ticket item is the cheese.) Other toppings can vary. I’m a huge fan of caramelized onions. If you happen to have a small pareve or dairy crock pot, you can chop up some onions, add a tablespoon of oil and salt and let the crock pot go all night on low. In the morning, you’ll have caramelized onions that can be used for just about everything.
So, it’s worth making your own pizza. And if you forgo letting the dough rise (see below), it takes about 40 minutes, from your decision to make the pizza to the time it comes out of the oven. That’s quicker than some delivery times.
While you are baking the pizza, prepare a salad. My kids eat olives like candy, so throw in some olives – or, better yet, let them throw in the olives. Studies show that when children participate in making the food, they are much more likely to eat that food. The olives might end up on fingers, but if in the end they actually end up in mouths, that’s a win!
My kids like sunflower seeds, so in they go, as well as craisins and mandarin oranges. Top it off with a dressing of their choice and voila, a yummy and easy salad! Then, bake some French fries alongside the pizza. (In my house, French fries and pizza go together.) You can buy the frozen kind and just throw them in the oven at the same time as the pizza. Or take 10 minutes to grab some red potatoes, rinse them, and slice them thin and small. Put them in a pan with about three tablespoons of oil, stir, and let them cook for as long as you’re in the kitchen. You now have a meal that is balanced and will be eaten.
Now, if you’re interested, here’s a breakdown of the cost of the pizza:
- Flour: I generally buy my flour in bulk – $8 for 25 pounds of flour. That means each cup costs 10 cents, and the five cups necessary for the pizza dough adds up to 50 cents.
- Sugar: I also buy my sugar in bulk – $3.98 for 10 pounds. So that’s about four cents for the sugar.
- Salt: A two-pound container of salt costs $1. Thus a teaspoon of salt is less than a penny.
- Yeast: Always buy your yeast in bulk. If you buy those little packets, you are wasting a lot of money. It’s $2.20 for a pound of yeast, which comes to six cents for four-and-a-half teaspoons. In case you don’t already buy your yeast in bulk, there’s a gemach in town. The woman who runs the yeast gemach is super sweet, and she’s doing it for precisely the reason that if you buy those little packets of yeast you are spending way too much money.
- Oil: A gallon of oil is $7.89. There are 256 tablespoons in a gallon, thus four tablespoons is about 10 cents.
- Tomato sauce: A jar of Barilla tomato sauce costs me one dollar on sale. That’s 33 cents for one cup.
- Mozzarella: A two-pound bag of grated chalav Yisrael cheese is $10. So, eight ounces for two pizzas would be $2.50.
Pizza
4 1/2 tsp. yeast
2 c. water
5 c. flour
3 T. sugar
4 T. oil
1 tsp salt
1 to 2 c. marinara sauce
8 to 16 oz. grated cheese
Toppings (optional)
Caramelized onions
Mushrooms
Pineapple
Mango
Sliced peppers
I used this recipe for two 9x13 pans, but it could have easily made four. I used the dough directly after mixing for the first pan. For the second pan, I let it rise a bit and it was easier to form.
Preheat oven to 425°. Spray pans with cooking spray. Put water in a bowl and add sugar and yeast. Add all ingredients and knead until mixed. (The original directions say to knead until “satiny.” I didn’t have that kind of time.) Divide the dough into four parts and roll out. (I use my hands for this and felt very Italian, although I did not throw the dough up into the air. But I could’ve!) Immediately spread with marinara sauce and bake. The directions say to let the dough rise for one hour and then put the marinara sauce and toppings on. This probably would have been better, but I was in a time crunch. We ate this pizza in record time, and I am not completely convinced you have to wait for your pizza dough to rise. It was denser than the second pan, which rose a little, but if you have no time, just go ahead and bake it without the rising. It worked out fine. Add any additional toppings at this point and bake for 30 minutes.
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I hope everyone has an easy and meaningful fast. May you enjoy your family and friends, and please send me any questions or comments. I love to hear if you ever make any of these recipes. Send to bshor@sweetandgoodcatering.com.
Bracha Shor is the owner and executive chef of Sweet and Good Catering. Sweet and Good Catering is now making “Perfectly Portioned Healthy Meals.” You can buy them from Bracha Shor, 7 Mile Market (ask for them in the deli section), or at Seasons.
