Do you dip apples and challah in honey for a sweet new calendar year? Maybe it’s time to start.
As Jews, we get to celebrate New Years twice! Whether you kick off the year in the fall, during the High Holy Days, or via the traditional calendar in January — or both — each comes with the opportunity to reflect, reset and embrace the possibilities.
Many cultures mark the secular New Year with foods believed to bring luck, prosperity and abundance. Here are some great recipes, meant to help you start the year with good fortune, positive intention and healthy eating.
Lenny and Adaeze Rosenberg are owners of New York Bagel Deli and Bakery in Santa Monica, where they focus on international treats and flavors, especially leaning into Lenny’s Jewish background and Adaeze’s Nigerian roots.
“To start the year, we sink our teeth into the moist, delectable and creamy red velvet kola nut cupcake,” the Rosenbergs, author of “It’s a Sweet World” cookbook, told The Journal. The kola nuts [signifies] new life, new blessings and abundance in double digits.”
They added, “We also take an extra step and dip the Nigerian inspired cupcake in honey to honor Rosh Hashanah; cheers to a sweet New Year.”
Yields 28 2½-ounce cupcakes.
Cupcakes
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cocoa powder
½ tsp Kola nut power/Tiger nut powder
1 ½ cups vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
4 whole large eggs
½ ounce (1 tablespoon) red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Pour flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and kola nuts powder into a mixing bowl.
Mix 2nd speed (low) for 2 minutes, until batter is smooth.
Add oil, buttermilk, eggs, red food color and vanilla into the mixing bowl.
Scrap down mix with a plastic scraper.
Mix for 2 minutes, until the batter is smooth.
Dish 4-ounce scoops into a cupcake baking pan.
Bake for 12 minutes. Once cool, frost with cream cheese icing (recipe below).
Cream Cheese Icing
1 cup cream cheese
4 cups powdered sugar
Splash of vanilla
Pour all ingredients into a mixing bowl.
Mix at second speed (low) for 30 seconds. Keep mixing until creamy smooth.
One of Dawn Lerman’s favorite holiday traditions growing up was the New Year’s Day menu her 450-pound dad came up with.
“The consummate ad man, he believed in every promise he sold … even at the dinner table,” Dawn Lerman, a nutritionist and the author of “My Fat Dad: A Memoir of Food, Love and Family, With Recipes,” told The Journal. “New Year’s food to him was about messaging as much as nourishment,”
Greens symbolize money and prosperity. Beans and lentils symbolize wealth and growth. Fish symbolizes abundance and forward motion. Apples meant sweetness for the year ahead.
“The menu wasn’t just dinner; it was slogans served family-style, a belief that if you ate the promise, maybe it would stick,” she said. “Now, as a nutritionist, I still make those same dishes every January; I’ve just found a way to make them a little lighter, but just as inspirational.”
The photos, taken by Lerman’s daughter, Sofia Vaccaro, includes Vaccaro’s own twist on these family favorites.
“She creates community at her college, bringing people to the Shabbat table as a way of connection and friendship,” Lerman said.
Symbolizing wealth and growth, this stew is packed with plant-based protein, fiber and antioxidants to enhance your mood and focus for the new year.
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp smoked paprika
1 bay leaf
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed
1½ cups butternut squash, peeled and cubed
4 cups vegetable broth or water
Salt and pepper
1 lemon
¼ cup pomegranate seeds
Heat olive oil in a pot over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook slowly until deeply golden and caramelized. Stir in garlic, cumin, paprika and bay leaf. Add lentils, squash and liquid. Bring to a simmer, and cook for 25–30 minutes, until lentils and squash are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste and finish with lemon juice. Spoon into a serving bowl and scatter with pomegranate seeds.
A traditional New Year dish symbolizing abundance and forward motion, this salmon dish is packed with omega-3 fatty acids, protein and fiber. It is also delicious and fool-proof.
1½ pounds salmon fillet, cut into portions
1 zucchini, sliced
1 fennel bulb or bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, sliced
Fresh dill or parsley
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Place salmon and vegetables on large sheets of parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil, and then season with salt and pepper. Top with lemon slices and herbs. Fold parchment into sealed packets and place on a baking sheet.
Bake for 15–18 minutes, until the salmon is just cooked through.
This recipe has all the New Year sweetness, renewal and comfort – minus the sugar and carbs.
3 eggs
¼ cup honey
¼ cup liquid monk fruit sweetener
½ cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
2½ cups almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp salt
3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a loaf or round cake pan.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, honey, monk fruit, coconut oil and vanilla until smooth. In a separate bowl, combine almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Fold dry ingredients into wet, then gently fold in the apples.
Pour into the pan and bake for 40–45 minutes, until set and lightly golden. Cool before slicing.
Happy New Year!
