Paula Shoyer Wants to Make Jewish Food a Little Healthier — Food Crush

Rosh Hashana (the celebration of Jewish New Year) begins at sundown on Sunday, September 9, and from now until then Paula Shoyer's phone is going to be ringing off the hook.

There's a reason Paula is in such high demand this time of year: She's a trusted authority on traditional and contemporary Jewish recipes and has written four cookbooks on the subject, including The Kosher Baker, The Holiday Kosher Baker, The New Passover Menu, and her latest, The Healthy Jewish Kitchen. Paula has made it her mission to take the calories out of comfort foods, and show that lighter takes on traditional favorites can still be delicious.

When we caught up with Paula, she had a brisket in the oven and was in the middle of cooking her second (out of three) complete holiday meals in the span of one week: "I cooked a whole Rosh Hashanah meal for an event yesterday in New Hampshire, came home, made another entire meal for a TV segment tomorrow, and now I actually have to cook for the holiday," she tells me. "It's non-stop holiday food around here — the good stuff."

We asked for some of Paula's best tips — and how she plans to celebrate the Jewish holiday season (aside from cooking around the clock).

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