Matzo and a healthy Passover meal

We don’t really need to look for health benefits in our spring holiday meals. But let’s do it anyway. 

I’m going to a Passover seder this week at the home of my friends Fred and Jenny and I’m in charge of matzo ball soup. So, naturally I want to write first about matzo balls. 

For anyone who’s managed to somehow escape this information, matzo is unleavened bread, made with just flour, salt and water. I’ve made matzo; it’s not especially difficult if you don’t mind working very quickly (one of the rules of matzo making is that the whole process of mixing the ingredients and baking them can’t take more than 18 minutes).

Matzo balls, logically, are made from matzo meal. Matzo meal, logically, is made from crushed matzos. Martha Stewart Living suggests (of course) that you make your own by crushing matzo up in your food processor. I personally feel that it’s silly not to use a decent packaged product when it’s available, because it will be more consistent than something handmade (I’m sorry if  you are now disappointed in me). 

I have a box of Streit’s matzo ball mix in my pantry that I plan to use; of course it does have some chemical ingredients but they’re pretty modest. There’s some monocalcium phosphate but that’s about all. 

 Mostly it’s just crushed matzo meal and some onion flavoring and salt. If you want, go ahead and make your own matzo meal, but I think you’re going to be sorry in the end. Matzo balls can either be delicate and fluffy or dense and heavy. In my personal opinion, the key to good matzo balls is to keep them small and to handle them lightly. 

There are no real health benefits to matzo balls, even though they have some eggs in them and eggs are healthy. The healthy part is the broth in which the balls are delivered. Everyone at this intersection between spring and winter can use a little bit of Jewish penicillin, as chicken soup is known. There are lots of theories on why chicken broth is so good for you, but certainly one reason is that slurping up some hot liquid is naturally soothing to your stuffy nose and sore throat. 

Also good for clearing your sinuses is the horseradish that plays a part in the seder ritual (one website I went to referred to it as “Jewish Dristan”).

Not a joke: Horseradish is actually considered a natural cure for sinus infections. You’re supposed to take a pinch of grated horseradish and hold it in your mouth until the (rather strong) taste dissipates. Then you can swallow it —and follow up with more if you don’t feel any relief (I couldn’t find any guidance online as to how quickly you should expect results).

As for the main course of the Passover meal, it turns out that beef brisket is one of the healthiest types of meat — as long as it’s corn-fed and not grass-fed. Of course, this information comes to us from the state of Texas, which has an economic interest in supporting corn-fed beef raised in feedlots. Choose to believe this or not, but the corn-fed beef brisket that you buy at the grocery store is believed to have high levels of a type of monosaturated fat that, like olive oil, can help reduce your cholesterol levels.

To wrap up your holiday meal, chances are that you’ll be served either a flourless chocolate cake or some  lovely meringue cookies. 

Either dessert calls for egg whites. Obviously, the meringue will be a little lower in calories and a little healthier because there isn’t any chocolate in it. Either way, it’s my opinion that the mistake many people make when creating an egg-white-based dessert is that they don’t beat the whites for long enough. There are some excellent online tutorials to help you egg-cel at making your egg whites firm and glossy.

No matter what holiday menu you choose, The Lakeville Journal wishes you a holiday season full of joy and enlightenment.