Enlightened Kosher Cooking by Nechama Cohen

rainbow baby

Thu, May 24 2007, 3:48 pm

Has anyone used this book to help them loss weight? Did it work? I was a bit confused when I was looking through it, firstly how many calories per day is it based on? Also I was not sure what the exchanges are all about? Also is vegetables free or are they included in the calories count for the day?

jewishdiabetes ↓

Sun, Feb 10 2008, 1:15 am

jewishmamathebest wrote:

Since we are getting closer to Pesach I would like to bring your attention to a number of points

this is not a cookbook adhering to any specific diet, rather a book that helps choose a healthy lifestyle to help prevent diabetes and other health related issues

however it is the only kosher "diet" cookbook world wide with an enourmous amount of info ond more than 150 recipes kosher for Pesach as is and almost all of the rest easily adaptable for pesach (that also means gluten free--another very big issue today and rapidly growing)

so if anyone has any questions to not hesitate to contact us

louche ↓

Mon, Feb 11 2008, 5:52 pm

I didn't like it at all--most of the recipes called for a lot of "artificial" ingredients- Unless a person has a serious medical condition that calls for no fat or no eggs or the like (Diabetes, for example), I prefer to stick to real foods and serve the "luxury" ones rarely and in small quantities. What's the point of making a low-cal tiramisu using fake mascarpone cheese, fake cream, fake eggs...chemicals belong in the chemistry lab, not on the table!

leomom ↓

Mon, Feb 11 2008, 6:30 pm

Louche, I think you are being unnecessarily critical. First of all (and least important), the title is a play on the very common use of the word "lite" to indiciate low-fat or low-calorie, etc. Of course it's not spelled "correctly" -- it's not meant to be.

I haven't cooked yet using this book, but I was given it as a gift and I plan to try many of the recipes. The book is beautiful. Most of the recipes are "real food." Where sugar would ordinarily be found, the author specifies sugar substitute. This is because she is catering to a readership that includes people with diabetes and those with other dietary concerns. I personally never use artificial sugar substitutes, so I would simply use real sugar or some kind of healthy sweetener.

All but one or two of the desserts are made from real ingredients. Why not simply skip the ones that don't appeal to you, or if the book isn't right for the way you cook, there's no obligation to buy it. But why post such negative comments here, especially when the author herself has posted in this thread?

There is much that is wonderful about this book -- it is, as she says, packed with useful information about nutrition, and there are tons of recipes of all kinds. The vegetable and fish dishes look fabulous!! I have plenty of ideas for Pesach. And lots of the recipes are simple and quick. Also, every recipe has a beautiful color photo. It's a stunning book.

amother

Tue, Feb 12 2008, 5:39 am

Quote:

louche wrote:
Also, you will excuse my saying so, ms. cohen, but it would have been a clever pun had you spelled the title "EnLIGHTened". Spelling it your way is just...misspelled.

bad day today??

My thoughts, exactly!

I like the cookbook!

↑ jewishdiabetes ↓

Sun, Feb 17 2008, 1:49 am

[quote="amother"][quote]louche wrote:
Also, you will excuse my saying so, ms. cohen, but it would have been a clever pun had you spelled the title "EnLIGHTened". Spelling it your way is just...misspelled.

Most people refer to me as nechama and it is nice to see so much interest in the book. We actually thought that EnLIGHTned would be boring and LITE has become an accepted way of the shorter version even on many products---anyway I like it and since I worked so hard on the book I guess it was my privilege to choose--who ever does try the book I hope you enjoy and do not hesitate to contact me with any questions--the goal is to help people live healthier lives combined with a Jewish lifestyle---you can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time
have a great week
nechama

bashinda ↓

Sun, Feb 17 2008, 12:43 pm

the only real complaint I have is that I don't want to use the book because it's too gorgeous! I don't want to get it dirty! Also I have a bad habit of just using my regular cookbook but I have enjoyed the recipes I have used. Unlike another cookbook I had which was kosher and low fat the recipes have a lot of flavor to them. I tend to stay away from splenda so I either resubstitute back or simply skip those recipes. There's quite a lot of recipes (salads, dips, mains, sides) which don't require sugar or a sugar substitute)

penina

Mon, Mar 17 2008, 2:08 pm

I just bought the book because I was diagnosed with high cholesterol but I haven't used it that much. I'll probably use it more during Pesach. A few things I noticed right off the bat is that many of the ingredients use soup mix as the key flavor enhancer which I thought was unusual due to it's high salt content. Though it is optional, it is really the only spice listed sometimes. I wish she would have listed onion powder or garlic powder or other spices instead of soup mix which has ingredients that are not as healthy. Also, as someone else mentioned, the recipes can be somewhat of a potchke to make for a regular weeknight. I got the feeling that this cookbook (like many many other kosher cookbooks) is really intended to give women and idea of foods to cook for Shabbos and less so for the regular week.

The first recipe I'm goign to try is her mock potato leek soup that uses cauliflower insetad of potatoes.

shalhevet

Sat, Jun 14 2008, 4:11 pm

I just bought this and it looks great (some of the recipes are going to have to wait until after shemitta though, if you would know what some veggies cost now).

I made the cabbage and almond salad and cooked carrot salad for Shabbos and everyone really liked them.

To the Israelis: it is on sale now for only 80 shekels during Feldheims's book month instead of 120.

↑ bashinda ↓

Sun, Jun 15 2008, 12:00 pm

I started using it again recently and I do have one complaint. Well not a complaint but a tip. In many of the recipes soup powder is used. I think it would be nice if there was a second edition of the cookbook to put spicing information for people who might not be so knowledgable or comfortable to wing it on their own but don't want to use soup powder. I sometimes feel comfortable winging it but I don't like the MSG in the soup powders and I don't necessarily like the taste. For me in a healthy cookbook it just seemed weird that it was there.

For example you could keep the soup powder but put an alternate in brackets 1 tsp. chicken soup powder (or alternatively 1 clove garlic 1 tsp parsley etc etc)

↑ jewishdiabetes ↓

Tue, Jun 17 2008, 12:25 pm

BS'D
There are many people that prefer not using soup powders but just for you knowledge there are many msg free brands and those are the ones we recommend

Many people think that healthy cooking has to be tasteless and it is really not so---we recommend an array of spices and hope you look through the appendix and intro for more ideas

The next book is on the way and there will be many different things---in fact we are already accepting recipes and whoever submits will be credited--we also like challenges of favorite recipes that we try to "LITEn" up

please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions and/or suggestions--either at our forum at www.jewishdiabetes.org or to my email

↑ bashinda

Tue, Jun 17 2008, 12:33 pm

Thanks for responding to my post!

I'm amazed that there are soup powders without MSG. I've never seen them. And to me it's also a culinary issue. I really don't like soup powders. Even if I could find them without msg in them I probably wouldn't buy them. That's why I was suggesting having both the powder information and alternate spicing suggestions. In the meantime I'll wing it as I've done so far.

What is the theme of the second book? Hatzlacha Raba!

↑ jewishdiabetes

Tue, Jun 17 2008, 1:28 pm

bashinda wrote:

My pleasure in responding--always ready to help, especially if it is in reference to the book

I agree that spicing is the way to go and you will see throughout the book that we always call for fresh herbs and garlic etc---for those that enjoy spices--go for it---the more you experiment the better you will get at it

as to the next book let's leave some surprises

willow

Wed, Jun 18 2008, 7:13 am

I have the book but since I rarely use cookbooks I only glanced at it. Its a lovely cookbook but calls for a lot of soup powders, which to me doesn't mean real cooking.

jewishdiabetes doesn't even the msg ones have chemicals and sugars? The ones in the store that say msg free have those other ingredients.