Healthy Hannukah!

Written by Jaclyn Tane   

With eight nights of presents, parties, fried foods, and gelt, Hanukkah can pose a few nutritional hurdles. Luckily, various family traditions offer lots of alternatives. For instance, my family has been making a delicious apple cinnamon kugel for years. I recently decided to tweak the recipe to make it slightly lower in calories and fat, and higher in fiber. It still has great flavor — even my super-picky boyfriend loved it. The recipe replaces traditional egg noodles with whole-wheat egg noodles, providing fiber and whole grains. Fresh apples, dried apricots, and raisins add vitamins A, C, E, plus potassium, iron, and beta-carotene to boot! Serve warm or at room temperature for a healthy Hanukkah breakfast, dessert, or snack.

Skinny Apple Cinnamon Noodle Kugel

Prep Time: Approx 15 minutes
Cook Time: Approx 45 minutes

Serves: 16

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Ronzoni Healthy Harvest whole wheat pasta blend (extra wide noodles)
• Non-fat cooking spray
• 1½ cups egg substitute (or 12 egg whites)
• 6 fresh apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (try McIntosh apples)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins, seedless
• 1½ cups Splenda or sugar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1¼ cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 tablespoons Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread, melted
• Extra cinnamon for sprinkling

Cooking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F.
2. Cook pasta until tender in boiling water. Drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Grease 9 ½ X 13 inch baking pan with non-fat cooking spray.
4. In very large bowl, combine cooked pasta noodles, egg substitute, apples, raisins, Splenda or sugar, lemon juice, apricots, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and Smart balance. Mix together very well.
5. Pour into pan.
6. Sprinkle extra cinnamon on kugel as desired.
7. Bake for 45 minutes, or until kugel is golden brown.
8. Let cool for 20 minutes, serve and enjoy!

Nutrition Content:
Per serving made with Splenda (piece about 2 X 3 ½ inches): 194 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 39 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 7 g protein, 93 mg sodium
Per serving made with sugar (piece about 2 X 3 ½ inches): 267 calories, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 58 g carbohydrate, 5g fiber,  7g protein,  92.5mg sodium