By now the message is clear. Stay healthy to keep your immune system in top working order. If Covid-19 strikes then you'll be in the best place to fight it off.

Should the virus hit during this second wave of the pandemic, high cholesterol is one of the pre-existing condiitions that can affect your outcome. The good news is that you can reduce your cholesterol by making small changes to your eating habits and lifestyle.

Many traditional Jewish dishes tend to be loaded with saturated fats which are not good on the cholesterol front. Friday night favourites like brisket and those sugar-laden Shabbat bakes will do nothing for your heart health. 

So where do you start to make healthy differences to a diet based on traditional Jewish cooking?

Here are some simple swap suggestions that you can make to help keep heart healthy.

Unhealthy vs healthy fats: 
Replace saturated fats like butter, hard margarine, coconut oil and palm oil with vegetable spreads and oils such as olive, rapeseed and soya. 
(Coconut oil actually contains more unhealthy saturated fat than butter and margarine.)

Cut down on fatty meat: 
Introduce ‘meat free Monday’ or at least one meat free day to your weekly routine, using soya mince/chunks to replace meat or chicken. Prepare your shepherd’s pie with soya mince and you could then top it with some real cheese. Or replace a couple of meat meals with fish twice a week. Pick an oil-rich fish like herring, which is great for the heart. If you go for chopped or pickled herring make sure it’s not packed with sugar. Skim the fat off your chicken soup or sometimes serve hearty vegetable and lentil soup instead on a Friday night.

Beef up with beans: 
Another way to cut down on red meat,is to simply reduce your portions. Aim for no more than 500g cooked red meat per week, and if you’re making cholent? Swap some of the meat for lentils, beans and vegetables, or make a meat-free vegan version. 

Perfectly parev cakes and desserts: 
Baking with non-dairy ingredients can actually be an advantage when it comes to heart health. Swap high-fat dairy products like butter and cream for soya or oat-based alternatives. It’s also a good idea to cut down on sugar – try sugar-free jelly – and to add a handful of heart healthy chopped nuts and seeds into your crumble topping for added health benefits.

Out of the frying pan: 
Instead of frying your schnitzel, latkes or fish fingers, use a low-fat rapeseed or olive oil spray and cook them in the oven instead. They’ll be just as tasty and much lower in saturated fat.

Kick off your new menu with this tasty veggie cottage pie. Comfort food that’s good for you – the new Jewish cuisine?

FInd more heart healthy recipes from Heart UK here.

Veggie cottage pie

A beany veggie twist to the classic that’s full of heart-warming goodness: low in saturated fat and salt, rich in fibre and plant proteins as well as providing 2 of your 5-a-day.

Serves 6
Total time: 1 hr 15mins
    
INGREDIENTS
For the mash
900g white or red potatoes, peeled, cut into 5cm size cubes
4-6 tbsp no-sugar, soya milk alternative 
15g coriander, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the filling
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
300g carrots, peeled & cut into 1cm dice
1 reduced salt stock cube, dissolved in 300ml boiling water
500ml carton tomato passata or 400g canned tomatoes
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
380g carton cooked kidney beans, drained & rinsed
500g fresh or frozen soya mince
Good pinch pepper

METHOD:

• For the mash: cook the prepared potatoes in boiling water until soft to the point of a knife, then drain and mash with the no sugars soya alternative to milk, coriander, and seasoning with pepper. Cover with a lid and put to one side.
• To make the filling: heat the oil in a medium size pan and cook the chopped onions, crushed garlic and diced carrots over a medium heat for 15 mins. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
• Stir in the stock, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, kidney beans and soya mince and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes.
• Season with pepper to taste then pour into a 31 x 24 cm ovenproof dish.
• Preheat the grill on a medium – hot setting.
• Pile the mash on top of the pie and drizzle with the oil and grill until the top is golden brown.