For the low-carb eater, Rosh Hashanah can be challenging. The traditional Jewish new year table is practically flooded in honey, piled high with apples and dates, and weighed down with heavy portions of kugel and challah. But if you can look past the sugars and starches – or use them very sparingly – you’ll find that the traditional symbolic foods offer marvelous options for big, festive, and healthy meals that won’t spike your blood sugar.
Salads
Arugula & Pomegranate Salad from ASweetLife
Pomegranate is the perfect traditional fruit to work into a low-carb menu: with its bright color and unique texture, just a little goes a long way. Combined with the peppery, slightly bitter flavor of arugula, you have an incredible combination of rich tastes – contrasting, yet complementary. The lemon gives it all the perfect touch of tanginess.
Carrot & Avocado Salad with Citrus Cumin Dressing from Sweet Pillar Food
Consider this a trendy take on the traditional carrot Tzimmes. Instead of a baked, sopping and sweet carrot casserole, roast your carrots to develop their natural sweetness, and pair them with rich avocado. Olive oil, lemon and cumin give the dish a beguiling and appropriate Near Eastern flavor.
Veggies
Green Goddess Fritters from KetoDietApp.com
Leek fritters are a classic Sephardic side dish, but they’re usually held together with breadcrumbs. This clever recipe combines leeks with spinach (another symbolic food) and zucchini into perfect little patties.
Low-Carb Roasted Beet Hummus from Fit Men Cook
Beets are another semi-carby Rosh Hashanah classic that deserve to make an appearance at your meal. Deep purple beets are roasted and blended with tahini and olive oil, for a perfect dip that can be served with other symbolic foods: try raw celery or even homemade carrot chips.
Braised Leeks with Beet Vinaigrette from Andrew Zimmern
Adventuring television personality Zimmern puts together two traditional ingredients in one gorgeous dish; just hold the brown sugar.
Braised Celery from Sprinkles and Sprouts
Promote celery with this preparation that lightly softens and seasons the veggie, but keeps it brightly colored and mostly crisp. Butter and veggie stock create a luscious sauce.
Roasted Garlic from Simply Recipes
Every Rosh Hashanah feast needs a head of something. Garlic has its share of carbs, but just a clove or two is enough to flavor a whole dinner plate. Use this technique to get your head of garlic soft and toasty and just lightly caramelized, emphasizing the inherent sweetness within.
Entrees
Savory Slow Cooker Brisket from Tori Avery
Even brisket is unsafe from the holiday sugar onslaught! But this is an easy problem to correct. Tori’s braised brisket is tender, attractive and nicely spiced.
Ottolenghi’s Roast Chicken with Za’atar and Sumac from Panning the Globe
If you don’t have brisket, you’ll probably have chicken, and if you choose this recipe, you’re set. Panning the Globe adopts a recipe from Jerusalem-born chef Yotam Ottolenghi for simple but flavorful chicken thighs roasted with Israeli spices and sliced lemon, topped with pine nuts.
Whole Fish from Gimme Some Oven
Most families may stick to the basics, but there’s no denying the central role that whole fish – with the head still attached, natch – has played in Rosh Hashanah gatherings over the centuries. If you’re up for it, Gimme Some Oven offers a terrific guide on how best to pick and prepare whole fish such as branzino and red snapper.
Starches
Spaghetti Squash Kugel from Food.com
You’ve got a lot of options for keto kugel – some others use shirataki noodles – but we like the looks of this simple spaghetti squash “mock noodle kugel,” flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg.
Keto Challah from Low Carb No Carb
Reproducing sweet, fluffy and beautiful challah is a project for advanced keto bakers. If you’re up to the challenge, try this recipe, which gets overwhelmingly good reviews.
Dessert
Keto Apple Bundt Cake with Apple Glaze from Keto Adapted
How could we totally ignore apples? This ingenious recipe uses brewed apple tea to instill carb-free apple flavor into an almond flour bundt cake with a coconut-based frosting.
Need more options? Celebrated keto chef Carolyn Ketchum put together a list of 20 Amazing Low-Carb Apple recipes for Rosh Hashanah, just for ASweetLife.
