Cabbage Wontons with Tzivia Cohen

Tzivia Cohen

North Woodmere, NY

A “Just Us” Shabbos Menu

On Friday nights, we always start with chicken soup, no matter the weather! Then we have some kind of chicken and potato kugel, along with roasted sweet potatoes. Sometimes I’ll also have another fresh vegetable side dish like string beans or cauliflower.

For Shabbos day, we start with eggs and salads. I always leave a potato kugel in my cholent — that’s a favorite here. And I almost always make deli roll. Dessert is usually store-bought sorbet or cake.

My Cooking Style

I tend to stick to simple and easy recipes, but I use lots of garnishes like fresh parsley or pomegranate seeds to elevate the presentation. Lately, I’ve been trying to swap in healthy ingredients, like monk fruit sugar instead of white sugar, and Earth Balance instead of margarine.

Tips & Tricks

• We (or, I should I say, my husband) do lots of grilling, even in the winter. The food always tastes better and it makes cleanup a breeze.
• I like to cook seasonally — rhubarb, lots of cranberry-pear crisps, and salads with roasted vegetables in the fall; grilled corn and fruity salads with peaches and strawberries in the summer.
• I love roasted red onions. Sprinkle with an acid like balsamic vinegar to keep the color bright.

How Do You Challah?

I don’t bake challah, so we usually pick it up from the local bakery. Sometimes I buy ready-to-bake challah dough and make a “shalom bayis topping” — half everything but the bagel spice for my son, and half sweet crumbs for my daughters!