L ifestyle /C ulture
Cut Down on Cooking Time
MAPLE-ROASTED ACORN
SQUASH | PAREVE OR DAIRY
F OO D
LINDA MOREL | JE FOOD COLUMNIST
“I WISH I COULD prepare
food faster,” says a friend.

She rarely cooked before the
pandemic. Instead, she ate in
restaurants or brought takeout
food home.

But once the pandemic
began in March 2020, she
realized it was safer to eat at
home. With some trepidation,
she taught herself to cook.

Much to her surprise, she likes
cooking but is frustrated by
how long it takes to get food on
the table.

“I just spend too much time
in the kitchen,” she says.

While cooking is often a
juggling act, it doesn’t have to
eat up hours every day. Here
are several tips, some of which
I’ve learned from chefs, on how
to save time while creating
delicious food:
Layer cooking prep. Start
one dish and, as it simmers,
roasts or bakes, begin another
recipe. Break down recipes. Chop
vegetables or measure out
ingredients earlier in the day or
the night before. This reduces
the cooking time at the end.

Serve foods that are fast and
easy, such as tomato salad, with
recipes that take a lot of time,
such as coq au vin.

Cut up twice as much salad
as needed. Serve half the first
night. Layer the remaining
half between paper towels and
refrigerate the rest in a plastic
bag. Double recipes. Roast two
chickens or prepare two casse-
roles. Eat one, and freeze one.

Buy peeled garlic.

Selectively buy prepared
food. If you like the roasted
vegetables or winterberry salad
at a particular store, then serve
www.jewishexponent.com JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
VEGGIE-SMOTHERED SALMON | PAREVE
Serves 4
them with recipes you make at Serves 6
Nonstick vegetable spray
home. Recipe by Marcia Slaminsky
Start collecting recipes that
3 small acorn squash
call for five or fewer ingredi-
Kosher salt to taste
Nonstick vegetable spray
ents (not including salt and
6 teaspoons sweet butter,
nonstick spray) and no more
1½ pounds salmon fillet
optional than three fuss-free steps.

Kosher salt to taste
6 tablespoons maple syrup,
That’s the best time saver of all.

¼ teaspoon garlic powder
preferably Grade A Amber
HEIRLOOM TOMATO AND
FRESH HERB SALAD |
PAREVE Serves 4-6
3 medium-large heirloom
tomatoes in different
colors (red, green, orange
or yellow)
Extra-virgin olive oil for
drizzling Balsamic vinegar for drizzling
Kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons of any of
these fresh herbs: dill,
basil, parsley or cilantro,
chopped finely
Slice the tomatoes and
arrange them on an attractive
platter, overlapping different
colors. Drizzle them with the
oil and vinegar. Sprinkle them
with salt and one of the herbs.

Serve immediately.

Preheat your oven to 350
degrees F. Coat an ovenproof
pan, such as Pyrex, with
nonstick spray.

The hardest part of this
recipe is cutting the squash in
half. With a sturdy and sharp
chef’s knife, start cutting along
one of the squash’s vertical
indentations. The knife will not
glide through, so give its handle
a series of short pushes until the
squash is in two pieces.

With a spoon, remove the
seeds from the squash. Sprinkle
the cavities with salt. Place a
teaspoon of butter, if using,
inside each cavity. Drizzle a
tablespoon of maple syrup into
each cavity and on the sides of
the acorn squash.

Roast for 75 minutes,
or until the flesh is softened
when tested with a knife. Serve
immediately. 10 cherry tomatoes, cut in
half 2 celery stalks, peeled and
cut into pieces the size of
the cherry tomato halves
1 shallot, sliced and
separated into rings
Olive oil for drizzling
Preheat your oven to 375
degrees F. Coat a 7-inch-by-
11-inch ovenproof pan, such as
Pyrex, with nonstick spray.

Sprinkle both sides of the
salmon with the salt and garlic
powder. Place the fish in the
prepared pan, skin side down.

Arrange the tomatoes, celery
and onion over the top along
the sides of the salmon. Drizzle
it with olive oil and sprinkle it
with more salt.

Roast the fish for 35 minutes,
until the salmon is pink in the
center and the tomatoes are
softened. Serve immediately.

SUPER-FAST, SUPER-GOOD
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE |
DAIRY Serves 4
8-ounce container of heavy
or light cream
⅛ teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon sugar
5 tablespoons Nutella
Place the heavy cream in
a large mixing bowl. Add the
vanilla and sugar.

Using an electric mixer,
beat the ingredients at medium
speed until the cream starts
to thicken. Then beat it on
high speed, stopping every
minute or so to make sure the
cream doesn’t turn to butter.

The whipped cream is ready
when you stop the mixer, lift
the beaters and there are soft
peaks. Dot the surface with table-
spoons of Nutella, and gently
mix it with a rubber or silicone
spatula until the Nutella is
incorporated into the whipped
cream. Move it to an attractive
bowl, cover it with plastic wrap
and place it in the refrigerator
to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Serve it within 3 hours. l
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FEBRUARY 10, 2022
17