by Levana Kirschenbaum

Whenever there is an opportunity to save cooking or prepping time and still eat well with minimal or no loss of nutrition, I am the first to take it. Every so often, I play devil’s advocate, bring home the latest manufactured creations and let them face off against my own from-scratch ones, just to make sure I’m not missing any valuable shortcuts. Invariably, it goes downhill as soon as I open the container. Just one taste and I realize I’ve wasted my time and money.

What are the benefits of eating, say, a salad with homemade dressing or a fish or chicken properly and briefly sauteed in a skillet or oven roasted? The answer is infuriatingly simple: It looks good and inviting, it tastes good, it feels good, it is leaner and it’s ready in no time.

Manufacturers perceive correctly–as it turns out–that we won’t take the time to read the whole megilla, otherwise known as labels. Good thing, too, because if we did, we would certainly not buy the products, laden with all sorts of unpronounceable bad-bad-bad-for you additives, preservatives, and what not. Take those low-carb foods, the diet darlings du jour, that leave me confused and not an ounce thinner. That’s because they’ve merely replaced the carbs with sugar and emollients, most often making them more caloric and inifinitely less tasty. Take low-carb peanut butter. It tastes revolting and has thirty more–not less-calories per serving. I recently found a low-carb cookie, which listed its nutrition information as “serving size: 1/2 cookie, 180 calories.” Promise!

The message in all this is to prepare your own food and enjoy what you eat. How in the world are we expected to enjoy a diet, let alone stick to it, if we are fed canned meal replacements, or meals which arrive in a sealed bag, as if we were maximum-security inmates? Eat what you love and learn to love other foods you may have been neglecting. And try to eat the lighter version of your favorites. Examples: thinly sliced medium-rare London broil for steak lovers; grilled chicken for barbecue lovers; bison burgers instead of hamburger patties; perfect black chocolate for chocolate lovers, and so on. That’s what has informed this week’s Shabat menu. If you’re in serious weight-loss mode, you can skip dessert. But I prefer to reward your efforts, treat yourself to one perfect chocolate truffle. Talk about just desserts!

Get the recipes for:

Roasted Tilapia with Harissa

Minted Escarole Pea Soup

Marinated Tomato and Tofu Salad

London Broil in Olive Sauce

Chocolate Truffles