3 Course Rosh Hashanah Meal

Apple Cauliflower Salad

This is a re-imagined version of the traditional Rosh Hashanah apple dipped in honey. Because writing a recipe for apple dipped in honey isn’t exactly ground breaking. Apple is eaten as it’s sweetness is meant to symbolise the wish for a sweet new year. Whizzing the cauliflower in the food processor to a rice-like consistency,  makes it a great option as an alternative to rice. So I fed this ‘rice’ to a couple of friends of mine (including one that didn’t even like cauliflower), and it was a HUGE hit.

Cauliflower is one of those amazingly deceptive superfoods. High in vitamin C and K, but with a relatively demure taste, cauliflower creates the perfect foundation to this sweet and savoury house. The apples and celery provide a wonderfully crunchy, fresh and light zing to the buttery leek and caramel chew of the dates. The dill is a subtle but necessary herb that is heralded for it’s anti-bacterial and free radical fighting properties.

Ingredients

4 cups cauliflower 1 cup leek - diced 2 tbsp oil 1 red apple - cut into thin slices 1 cup celery - diced 4 dates pitted - diced 1/4 cup dill - diced

Salad dressing

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp red wine vinegar 2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp lemon juice salt to taste freshly grounded pepper

Place the raw cauliflower into a food processor and process until it resembles rice.

Heat the oil on medium in a large saucepan and add the leeks. Stir and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add the cauliflower and cook stirring for around 5 minutes, making sure the cauliflower remains coarse and not cooked through too much.

Remove from heat and place into a large bowl to let it cool down.

Add the rest of the salad ingredients and top with the dressing short before serving.

Pomegranate Glazed Salmon

A pomegranate is said to have 613 seeds, Which is the number of Mitzvot (commandments or good deeds) that is said to be in the Torah. The pomegranate is eaten as an exhibition of hope that one can fulfil all of the torah’s good deeds during the year. Rosh Hashanah literally means "head of the year" in Hebrew. Fish is also eaten because it is an ancient symbol of fertility and abundance.

I have chosen salmon here for it’s high content of Omega 3 fatty acids, amino acids, and a tonne of vitamins that might as well end in every letter of the alphabet. Salmon is great for your heart and getting your brain all juicy. The pomegranate glaze deepens and caramelises as the fish is cooked, creating a delicious sticky, velvety veil that makes you feel a million bucks.

Ingredients

4 pomegranates 1/4 cup honey 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice 4 boneless salmon fillets (skin on) oil 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper

Cut the pomegranates in half and squeeze the juice out with a citrus juicer.

Place the juice with the honey and lemon juice into a small heavy bottomed sauce pan and bring to simmer stirring frequently. Simmer until reduced to a quarter.

Let cool to room temperature.

Place the salmon fillets into a lidded container and pour over the pomegranate mixture. Seal with the lid and place into the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Place a little oil into a large pan and heat on high.

Remove the salmon from the fridge and the container, and sprinkle the salt and pepper over the skin side.

Place into the hot pan and sear the skin until browned nicely.

Turn down the heat to low, flip the fillet and pour the marinade over the top of the salmon.

Place a lid onto the pan and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of your salmon fillet.

Serve immediately.

Pomegranate Tart

Along with pomegranate, honey is also said to represent a sweet new year, and particularly special as Israel is often called the land of "milk and honey" in the Bible.

The pomegranate is one of the most anti-oxidant rich edibles in all of the fruit kingdom. They are an amazing fruit that is not only visually stunning with their little droplets of bright red health, but a powerful powerhouse of flavonoids and polyphonies which are protectants against heart disease and cancer. The gelatine I have used is ‘Great Lakes Unflavoured Grass-fed Gelatine’, which is Kosher and contains a tonne of protein, however is not Parve. So if looking for an alternative, you can use Agar Agar which is plant based. You can order the gelatine on-line through iHerb. Use my code to get a great discount:

Ingredients

Pre-heat oven to 150 C/350 F

Filling

3 pomegranates 2 tbsp grass fed gelatin 1/3 cup lemon juice 1/2 cup honey

Cut two of the three pomegranates in half and juice. Place into a saucepan with the lemon juice, honey and the seeds of the third pomegranate.

Heat on medium. There is no need to bring to a boil.

Once the mixture is warmed up sprinkle in the gelatin and stir thoroughly.

Let cool to room temperature.

In the meantime make the pie crust.

Pie Crust

1 1/2 cups almond meal 1/2 cup coconut flour 1 tbsp honey pinch of salt 1/4 cup nut butter 2 tbsp coconut oil 2 eggs

Combine all the ingredients for the pie crust and place into the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap for 1/2 hour.

Remove and press into the oiled pie dishes.

Bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool.

Fill with the cooled pomegranate jelly.

Place back into the refrigerator to set.

Serve with coconut cream.

Coconut Cream

1 can of coconut cream (I use Ayam which is 100% pure) 1 tsp honey 1/2 tsp pure vanilla essence Place can of coconut cream upside down in the fridge overnight.

Remove from refrigerator and drain out the water.

Place into a bowl with honey and vanilla essence, and whip until stiff peaks form.