by Levana Kirschenbaum

I was never overweight, but for about five years, I lugged around a pesky 10 pounds, I couldn’t shake off. Ten unwanted pounds was too much to look my best, but too little to do anything radical about it. So I decided to do the equivalent of dropping the daily penny in the piggy bank. Painlessly and effortlessly, I took out no more than 50 calories a day (half a glass of juice or milk, a third of a glass of wine, two crackers, half a slice of bread, etc.). Along the same lines, I moved most of my eating to the middle of the day, eating early dinners and making sure to eat late meals only when absolutely necessary. And if I suspected those meals would be irresistible, I made room for them by eating extra light that day. Not eating late as a rule, and considering the kitchen closed after 7 pm, except for a cup of tea and a piece of fruit, was the single greatest change I made in my diet to this day.

So how to  reconcile all these good resolutions with Shabat entertaining? The secret is eating the right combinations. Everyone in my house loves Harvey and Marilyn Diamond’s book “Fit for Life.” While we find it somewhat Spartan and don’t stick to it rigorously, we subscribe to that principle. So eat fruit by itself, morning being the best time, between meals being great, too, but never for dessert. And also, never mix protein with starch. The proverbial meat-and-potatoes diet is thrown right out the window, totally unlamented. That doesn’t mean stop eating starches completely. Just choose the right ones and don’t eat them with meat, fish, cheese or eggs. So in any given day, you will have plenty of fruit for breakfast, followed by yogurt or cereal. Lunch can be a whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, etc..) with lots of veggies. For dinner, eat all the protein you want with as many veggies and salads as you wish. And don’t skip dessert–just be moderate. Sound too good to be true? It really works. And you’ll enjoy it all along the way.

With that in mind, I’ve come up with a Shabat menu that is fits the bill. As you’ll see, it’s anything but bland, is easy to prepare and wins rave reviews each time. Click on these recipes for a surprisingly lean Shabat dinner.

Black Sea Bass en Papillote with Miso Sauce

Miso, Shitake and Swiss Chard Soup

Tricolor Ribbon Salad with Shallot-Cider Dressing

Tea and Ginger Roasted Cornish Hens

Chocolate Cake