Celebrate Canada Day Kosher-Style!

Happy Canada Day everyone!

If you’re entertaining friends, or are a guest asked to bring something to nosh on, we’ve have ideas for food you can share whilst keeping everything kosher and remain in the holiday spirit. And while the Toronto forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms on July 1 (of course), don’t let the rain dampen your fun. Parties can be moved indoors, big tents can be pitched, and anyway, we’re all washable.

On Canada Day, Go Parve

Parve (also spelled pareve) is that wonderful subset of kosher foods that can be served with meat or dairy. It gets along with everyone, sort of like Canada!

Fruits are always a hit at any celebration, and nothing beats watermelon as far as I’m concerned. In addition to being delicious, it’s also one of the most nutritious fruits around. You can get it in Ontario; some grocers even import them from Mexico and the US and there are farmers who can grow them in the relatively short season. In fact, I found a website that featured giant watermelons—weighing in over 200 pounds!—that have been grown right here in Ontario.

Me, I love the fact that it melons in general and watermelon in particular quenches thirst and staves off that hungry feeling you get while the chops are still on the grill. Plus, it’s chock-full of Vitamin C and Vitamin A. It’s full of fiber, which is necessary for those of us who just had a couple of servings of matzo ball soup we cooked up after discovering some leftover matzo meal in the cupboard. It also has higher amounts of the antioxidant lycopene than tomatoes carry. The water from watermelon also relieves muscle soreness.

Eat some watermelon when you have a cold and you will feel better. I’m not dissing chicken soup or anything but let’s face it, after sweating through a serving of Bube’s soup, you need some cool hydration and watermelon is the perfect choice. (Grapes work well, too.)

I like to start fruit salad with scoops of watermelon and adding red table grapes to add color and maybe some apple slices to absorb all that water. (Watermelon is 92% water.) It’s a juicy, delicious treat that’s easy to pack and take along. You can even eat the rind (but avoid the skin), which Natural News reports can improve your libido.

Parve Fries for a Barbecue

Are you going to a barbecue? Make the side dish everyone loves: fries.

Fries can be made from just about anything that’s in your fridge or cupboard. In addition to potatoes and sweet potatoes, fries can be made with:

• Carrots
• Green chili peppers
• Zucchini (which can be cut like chips)
• Asparagus
• Plantains

If you’re trying to cut down on the fried stuff, bake them in the oven.

Of course, you can make fries with cheese (mozzarella is a favorite), but then you can’t eat them with meat. You can eat them with fish, though.

Here’s a recipe I found for matoke (plaintain) fries, from KaluhisKitchen.com. Give them a try!

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