Jewish Holidays | Kosher Meal Planning & Substitutions
By now, you should be getting to know me and my foody philosophy. Keeping kosher is a key driver for how I think about meal planning, but it’s not the only factor. My approach can help you make meal decisions, for a weeknight meal for two, Shabbat dinner or dinner party for eight, or a big party for twenty or more.
By now, you should be getting to know me and my foody philosophy. Keeping kosher is a key driver for how I think about meal planning, but it’s not the only factor. My approach can help you make meal decisions, for a weeknight meal for two, Shabbat dinner or dinner party for eight, or a big party for twenty or more.
Ingredients
Use the best ingredients you can find and afford.
In-season produce will always be less expensive and taste better. High quality extra virgin olive oil is worth the extra cost. Buy spices in smaller quantities; use them before they get stale. All your ingredients, such as mustard, vinegar, flour, canned beans, and even salt, should be the best tasting that you can find, which doesn’t always mean more expensive. Buy lemons to squeeze instead of bottled juice, whose flavor is boosted by citric acid, which is fine, but not as delicious as fresh juice. Freshly grind your pepper. And, yes, there is a difference between European or Amish butter and bulk store brand.
Time
Think about how much time you have. Recipes aren’t hard or easy. To me, a recipe is only “hard” if it can fail, like a cake that can fall. With few exceptions, most recipes aren’t hard; some just take longer. Even recipes with multiple steps, that require sub-recipes, can be easy to execute if you have the time.
One guideline: the more people you are cooking for, the simpler your menu should be.
Keep it simple for Thanksgiving; save complicated dishes for a smaller gathering. Another rule of thumb: if you’re making one very time-consuming dish, keep the rest of the menu simple.
The Kosher Twist
While some people think that keeping kosher makes cooking more complicated; I find that it makes some decisions easier. Once you decide whether you’re making a meat or dairy meal, the rest falls into place. Start with your protein. Or maybe you want to use your good china, which is meat. And it’s perfectly okay to plan dinner around dessert.
Substitutions
There are two reasons to make substitutions in recipes as it relates to kashrut – to make a non-kosher recipe kosher or to convert a dairy recipe to parve.
Use the best ingredients you can find and afford.
In-season produce will always be less expensive and taste better. High quality extra virgin olive oil is worth the extra cost. Buy spices in smaller quantities; use them before they get stale. All your ingredients, such as mustard, vinegar, flour, canned beans, and even salt, should be the best tasting that you can find, which doesn’t always mean more expensive. Buy lemons to squeeze instead of bottled juice, whose flavor is boosted by citric acid, which is fine, but not as delicious as fresh juice. Freshly grind your pepper. And, yes, there is a difference between European or Amish butter and bulk store brand.
Time
Think about how much time you have. Recipes aren’t hard or easy. To me, a recipe is only “hard” if it can fail, like a cake that can fall. With few exceptions, most recipes aren’t hard; some just take longer. Even recipes with multiple steps, that require sub-recipes, can be easy to execute if you have the time.
One guideline: the more people you are cooking for, the simpler your menu should be.
Keep it simple for Thanksgiving; save complicated dishes for a smaller gathering. Another rule of thumb: if you’re making one very time-consuming dish, keep the rest of the menu simple.
The Kosher Twist
While some people think that keeping kosher makes cooking more complicated; I find that it makes some decisions easier. Once you decide whether you’re making a meat or dairy meal, the rest falls into place. Start with your protein. Or maybe you want to use your good china, which is meat. And it’s perfectly okay to plan dinner around dessert.
Substitutions
There are two reasons to make substitutions in recipes as it relates to kashrut – to make a non-kosher recipe kosher or to convert a dairy recipe to parve.
Kosher rules assign all foods into one of three categories: meat, dairy, or parve.
Meat is any product derived from a kosher land animal, like beef, lamb, or poultry.
Dairy products are derived from milk – cheese, cream, butter.
Parve foods are plant-based – grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and their derivatives like oils and nut butters.
Meat and dairy cannot be combined – ever – not in the same dish, like traditional lasagna, and not eaten at the same meal.
Parve ingredients can be combined with anything.
And the explanation is complicated, but fish is also parve and can be eaten with dairy, like lox and cream cheese.
Meat is any product derived from a kosher land animal, like beef, lamb, or poultry.
Dairy products are derived from milk – cheese, cream, butter.
Parve foods are plant-based – grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and their derivatives like oils and nut butters.
Meat and dairy cannot be combined – ever – not in the same dish, like traditional lasagna, and not eaten at the same meal.
Parve ingredients can be combined with anything.
And the explanation is complicated, but fish is also parve and can be eaten with dairy, like lox and cream cheese.
For recipes that contain an inherently non-kosher ingredient, like pork or shellfish, there are often kosher variations of the non-kosher products.
To replace bacon, use turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon, or, my personal favorite, Jack’s Facon, which is made exactly like bacon, but with beef. All summer I look forward to my FLTs – Facon, homemade mayonnaise, crispy lettuce, and those glorious ripe beefsteak tomatoes between two slices of sturdy sourdough. I’m swooning just thinking about it.
Like the imitation crab sticks used in sushi, there are kosher imitation seafood products made from Alaskan pollack. I use them too, to make seafood cocktail and crab cakes.
To replace bacon, use turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon, or, my personal favorite, Jack’s Facon, which is made exactly like bacon, but with beef. All summer I look forward to my FLTs – Facon, homemade mayonnaise, crispy lettuce, and those glorious ripe beefsteak tomatoes between two slices of sturdy sourdough. I’m swooning just thinking about it.
Like the imitation crab sticks used in sushi, there are kosher imitation seafood products made from Alaskan pollack. I use them too, to make seafood cocktail and crab cakes.
For recipes that contain milk or cream and meat, there are “milks” available that substitute beautifully in some recipes. Almond, soy, rice, and coconut milks can make a creamy soup to start a meat meal.
For some meals, it’s easier to substitute for the meat than the dairy. Jackfruit is a great example. It's a large, rough-skinned fruit whose mild-flavored flesh has a texture surprisingly close to shredded meat or chicken. It works perfectly in Buffalo Dip instead of chicken. There is just no good substitute for all the dairy in this dip.
For some meals, it’s easier to substitute for the meat than the dairy. Jackfruit is a great example. It's a large, rough-skinned fruit whose mild-flavored flesh has a texture surprisingly close to shredded meat or chicken. It works perfectly in Buffalo Dip instead of chicken. There is just no good substitute for all the dairy in this dip.
Converting dairy desserts to parve ones seems to throw a lot of good cooks off and leads them into the non-dairy pit of doom. I never use “non-dairy” creamer or margarine, which are highly processed, and both have a distinctive plastic mouth feel. But here’s the thing – there’s no need. Butter cookies, baklava, crème brûlée – are all luscious butter or cream-based desserts that don’t deserve the indignity of being twisted into sad parve versions of themselves. If you want cheesecake for dessert; make fish for dinner.
There are plenty of naturally parve desserts to end a meat meal with elegance and bright flavor. Fruit is your best parve friend. Pies, strudels, crisps, and crumbles are often easier to make than their dairy dessert cousins and require almost no substitutions to remain parve. If a recipe calls for butter or margarine – in these desserts, canola oil will work just fine.
There are plenty of naturally parve desserts to end a meat meal with elegance and bright flavor. Fruit is your best parve friend. Pies, strudels, crisps, and crumbles are often easier to make than their dairy dessert cousins and require almost no substitutions to remain parve. If a recipe calls for butter or margarine – in these desserts, canola oil will work just fine.