Please help, diabetic at my Shavuos table

amother

Brown

Sun, May 03 2015, 10:33 am

I am having guests for Shavuos, one of whom is diabetic...I am looking for any simple recipes to make, or substitutions for real sugar for my regular recipes?
I don't want to make my guest feel left out, but don't know where to start? I already asked, but I was told "don't worry, I'll just eat whatever I can at the table..." Not good enough for me!
Thanks

Amarante

Sun, May 03 2015, 10:48 am

Do you want to make a separate plate for the person or completely rework your menu. I ask because in terms of what a diabetic can eat, generally simpler foods - I.e. protein (fish) and whole grains work well. I was looking for recipes and found this one that should work for a diabetic as well as be nice for other people at the table. You could roast some vegetables - again for everyone and then do a few other dishes that might not be so diabetic friendly.

Dessert is more difficult. You could do a nice baked apple with nuts and almond paste in the center.

The notes are not my notes but I thought the back story of the Italian BT was very nice so I kept it in my notes. Is the diabetic also on a very strict weight reduction diet?

Baked Sea Bass with Artichokes, Mozzarella, and Old Bay Seasoning
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Recipe By:
Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

1 3/4 to 2 pounds sea bass, skinned and deboned, rinsed, dried, and cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch-cubes (see note)
2 cans (14 ounces each) artichoke hearts packed in water, well drained and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (juice of about 1 fresh lime)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste
2 1/2 to 3 teaspoons Old Bay Seasoning, or to taste
2 1/2 cups shredded part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded provolone cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

Toss the fish and artichokes with the melted butter and lime juice in a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Sprinkle with kosher salt and a good layer of Old Bay Seasoning. Bake until fish is done (it should flake easily with a fork and be opaque all the way through), 12 to 18 minutes.

Remove from oven. Turn the broiler on high. Top the fish and artichokes evenly with mozzarella and provolone. Broil the casserole until the cheese is melted and just lightly browned in spots, 3 to 5 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

Notes:

Note: If you need a substitute for sea bass, a good option is sablefish.

Before I became Jewish, I loved a restaurant seafood dish featuring crabmeat, scallops, cheese, and Old Bay Seasoning. I loved this dish so much one time I ate two orders of it at one sitting. After becoming Jewish, that shellfish-laden dish was off the table (good thing I got that second order the last time). I thought I could replicate its flavor and texture with kosher ingredients, and the lovely Italian fish and artichoke recipe seemed like the place to start. The key flavor is Old Bay Seasoning; that secret blend of herbs and spices is popular in the Chesapeake Bay region for seasoning seafood, especially steamed crabs—so at first it felt wrong using it in a kosher recipe. Then I discovered in Joan Nathan’s book Jewish Cooking in America that Old Bay Seasoning was actually the brainchild of a German-Jewish refugee who had come to Baltimore. And I confirmed that the spice blend is now certified kosher.

For my dish (recipe here), I cut mild fish—I use sea bass, but you can also use sablefish—into chunks to replicate the scallops and toss that with chopped artichokes, which give a slight resemblance to crab’s consistency. Some butter, lime juice, and Old Bay round out the flavor. In the oven, a topping of mozzarella and provolone melts into a luscious white blanket that brings it all together.

Although unusual for Shavuot, the dish matches the holiday’s use of dairy and symbolic white food. Beyond that, with the Old Bay, I like to think it represents the ingenuity of Jewish migrants remaking their lives in new places, reminiscent of the ingenuity and perseverance of the Jews who escaped Egypt. And more personally, the recipe marries my past with my present, my Italian heritage with my Jewish one—on a holiday celebrating commitment, values, and community—a community that embraces Jews by choice and what each of us brings to the table.

But dairy really is the star of the holiday in the United States, and the go-to dishes, especially among Ashkenazi Jews, often are cheese blintzes and cheesecakes. For me, there’s one dish that holds special symbolism that I love to feature: my recipe for baked sea bass with artichokes, mozzarella, and Old Bay Seasoning. The recipe originated from a straightforward Italian and Italian-Jewish dish of mild fish baked with artichokes, lemon, and herbs. But I saw potential for reinvention.

SorGold

Sun, May 03 2015, 10:51 am

You can ask your guest what sugar substitute he/she is used to using.
You can serve salads and vegetable side dishes and quinoa or wild rice. Fish as appetize4 and a main dish. Fruit for dessert.

imasinger

Sun, May 03 2015, 11:36 am

We have a friend who is diabetic (and has a bunch of other allergies) who has often joined us for YT meals.

He would be uncomfortable if I used sugar substitutes, because then, if for whatever reason he didn't want to (or couldn't) eat what I prepared, he'd feel terrible. And there are plenty of staples that work.

I almost always have plain baked salmon, kasha with sauteed onions or brown rice, salads, and other veggies on my YT/Shabbos table. And plain fresh fruit as one of the dessert options (he rarely takes dessert).

If he needs to use his insulin pump at some point, we give him a comfortable place/moment to take care of things.

Please check any special menu ideas with your guest before cooking. You may save both of you some embarrassment and heartache.

yenny

Sun, May 03 2015, 11:38 am

I can only speak for myself as a diabetic, but I would feel uncomfortable if someone made their menu around my needs. as sweet as it sounds(no pun intended ) I would rather just find something that's permitted.

But you can make lots of salads with no sweetener there are dairy ones with haloumi cheese.
Fish is great for shouvuos and for diabetics
Any meat dish without the yucky sweet stuff is great.
Stuffed mushrooms
Vegetable souffles
Sugar free blinzes, you can't tell a difference
Portabella mushroom stuffed with spinach and cheese

amother

Brown

Sun, May 03 2015, 11:47 am

Wow, such great responses! Thank you so much!
I definitely have enough to work with here... No, they do not needed to lose weight (actually, they could use a little more...) But they are pretty picky about foods as it is, so that's why I'd like to have an assortment on the table..
Excuse my ignorance but is gluten free pasta any better than regular pasta (carb-wise)?

ra_mom

Sun, May 03 2015, 8:49 pm

I too think that you should serve savory mains, salads and veggie dishes that are ok for the all to eat.
Serve fresh fruit (which has to be counted by diabetic) along with dessert or buy something small and special for him.

amother wrote:

Not necessarily.
And carbs are counted by diabetics and insulin is used accordingly. So there is no way to know what carbs your guest will be able to eat unless you specifically ask.
How about eggplant parm with toasted ground almonds as breading? Or make fettuccine alfredo and have some julienned zucchini "pasta" available for him with some extra sauce in case that is what he can have. Or just serve a regular pasta dish that he can skip and have other ok dishes available.

cbg

Sun, May 03 2015, 9:03 pm

I think your regular menu will be just fine, as long as there is a protein, salads and some veggies. Just be careful that there is a protein choice that does not contain a sweet sauce or a sauce with hidden sugars or starches. As far as concern dessert, your guest would probably appreciate fresh fruit. You may want to ask them to bring a dessert they can eat.

nylon

Fri, May 08 2015, 8:19 am

Gluten free pasta is actually worse than regular. Wheat has more protein in it. GF pasta is straight starch.

Every diabetic is different. Some can and will eat small portions of regular sweets. Diabetics do not all need to eliminate sugar completely--it just needs to be accounted for and they have an overall carb limit. Some do not like artificial sweeteners (my mother can only tolerate sweetener in coffee). Every diabetic has one item that spikes their BGL and you can't predict what it will be (for one person I know it is white rice, another it is russet potatoes...) Regular blintzes can be fine for many people because they are so high in protein from the eggs and the cheese and it offsets the sugar--which is not that high to begin with unless the person tops theirs with sugar like my kids do. They just couldn't eat 5 of them. You could have an unsweetened compote as the topping, or use sweetener in that.

Don't cook everything in sweet sauces, make sure to have a good protein and fresh veggies, have a starch that isn't super high fat like fettuccine alfredo, and add some fruit as an extra dessert.