Category Archives: Months

Purim: Vegan Ma’amoul Cookies + Food Resources to Help Ukraine

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Vegan Ma’moul

Before I share a Purim recipe, I want to offer a few ways that you can help in Ukraine through food. Hamantaschen for Ukraine  (“bakery solidarity for Ukraine”)  has a list of bakeries across the US, EU and UK that are selling hamantaschen with proceeds going to a Polish relief organization supporting Ukrainian refugees.  Bake for Ukraine has all of the tools for you to host a bake sale to provide funds to help Ukraine. Cook for Ukraine has raised a few hundred thousand dollars for Ukrainian relief through people’s DIY meals and bake sales. Last, World Central Kitchen has already provided over 2 million meals to people in Ukraine and surrounding countries like Poland, Moldova and Hungary. Click here to learn more about how you can support WCK. Continue reading →

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Purim Treat: Vegan Orange, Tahini, Olive Oil Cake

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Orange, tahini, olive oil vegan cake

The best thing I bought during the pandemic was a bright yellow Le Creuset loaf pan. The pan is so versatile and I’ve used it to make bread, cakes, truffles and polenta. I love giving people loaves of cake and bread as Covid gifts. And, with Purim starting in a few days, I think that in addition to hamantaschen, loaf cakes would be a delicious addition to mishloach manot this year. Loaf cakes are a simple, unassuming and easy. I also love using tahini and will find any opportunity to use it in a recipe. I adapted this recipe to make this light, moist, not overly sweet cake. Below the recipe I also included links to my other Purim recipes. Continue reading →

Sukkot: Roasted Apples and Yams with Barberries

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Roasted apple and yam with barberries

Like everything else, this is an unusual Sukkot. But due to my COVID routine, I have had the privilege for a deeper physical and sensory connection to the holiday’s harvest themes. It includes more time to tend to edible plants on my balcony and long hikes in woods filled with mushrooms and other edibles. And while the holiday celebrates an agricultural harvest, I like to more broadly think of it as a way to celebrate all of our food sources, whether foraged or grown on a farm. Last weekend, I went on a guided foraging trip just a few miles from my house. In a mere mile long walk, we found more than a dozen edibles, including black walnuts, shiso, sorrel, burr cucumbers, American persimmon, and turkey tail mushrooms. We nibbled little bits of each plant along the way but left everything there for birds and other creatures to enjoy. Continue reading →

Vegan Tahini Hamantaschen

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Vegan tahini hamantaschen

Purim Sameach! A quick post to share with you my new hamantaschen recipe-vegan tahini dough filled with pomegranate molasses-tahini-maple syrup-sesame seed mix. These are definitely not overly sweet and almost savory.

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Tu B’shevat Toasts

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Tu B’shevat toasts

Tu B’shevat–the new year celebration of trees and also known as the Jewish Earth Day–means eating lots of delicious fruits with edible interiors, edible exteriors, and edible everything at holiday seders.  For the holiday this year (which starts on Sunday evening), I created a DIY “toast toppings” to enjoy during that meal that includes most of the seven species of ancient Israel (wheat, barley, grapes, olives, figs, dates and pomegranates), along with other significant fruits-including carob–and a nut butter. Continue reading →

Simchat Torah: Stuffed Cabbage

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Simchat Torah Stuffed Cabbage

Serving stuffed cabbage is a common dish for Simchat Torah. The recipe I share with you is from a dear friend–like a family member–who lives in Tel Aviv. I have had countless Shabbat and holiday meals at her home. Whether in the kitchen or dining room, the tables are always inevitably overflowing with dishes that she painstakingly prepared over a few days after spending hours picking out and discussing with the shopkeeper about the most beautiful produce at her local tiny fruit and vegetable market. Mindful of my plant-based diet, she not only would worry that I have enough to eat, but also creatively updated some of her meat dishes to be vegan. I have had this incredible stuffed cabbage dish at her home many times and every time she excitedly and proudly presents it on a platter to guests. I humbly present  my best attempt to try to recreate her delicious recipe. Continue reading →

Sukkot: Poverty and Ecology (and Stuffed Spaghetti Squash)

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Sukkot Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Sukkot is one of my favorite holidays for the obvious reasons: a harvest festival, the ultimate farm-to-table holiday filled with delicious meals eaten outside. I offer my recipe this year–inspired by the abundance of delicious apples and squash at farmers markets–with the note that the holiday, especially after Hurricane Florence, is a time for us to reflect upon and examine our fragility and impermanence, ourselves, our food systems and the world around us. Continue reading →

Yom Kippur Break-fast: Scottish Pea and Mint Soup

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I had approached a recent 10 day summer holiday in Scotland with a bit of trepidation, expecting endless cold rain and being stuck in pubs eating chips for lack of any other food. Instead, it was unexpectedly filled with mostly sunshine and great vegan food. Except for having to eat a potato chip sandwich and cashews during a 17 mile hike, I found vegan food everywhere–even in a tiny town with only one pub. Another memorable hike was one with endless wild blackberry bushes; those berries not eaten instantly were picked and turned into jam that evening and enjoyed for the remainder of the trip on crackers. And, best of all, Glasgow was crowned with the glorious title of being the vegan capital of the UK.

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Rosh Hashana: Easy Baked Apples

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Baked apples for Rosh Hashana

I love visiting farmers markets wherever I am in the world to explore the diversity of local produce and foods, talk with farmers, and soak in the festive atmosphere. And, I am never disappointed in my regular jaunts to markets when visiting family in Chicago. During my recent visit, I found an incredible offering of apples I had never heard of grown by Nichol’s Farm. They had colorful bins arranged in two long parallel lines, fully stocked with apples arranged from the most tart to the sweetest.

I decided to experiment with many of these beautiful apple varieties by simply baking them with a touch of maple syrup and doused in cinnamon, with the intention of letting their flavors and textures be the centerpiece of the dish. The fruit alone would stand out for each of its deliciousness. And, what better (and super easy) dessert for Rosh Hashana? Continue reading →

Portugal and Simchat Torah

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Simchat Torah cookies

I had an unexpected detour in my travels last year and ended up in Portugal, a place I hadn’t planned to visit and certainly not during Jewish holidays. Portugal had initially been a refuge for Jews fleeing Spain during the Inquisition but it subsequently followed in Spain’s footsteps, expelling or forcing the conversion of its Jewish populations. It was surreal at times to return to the country which now has a Jewish population of 1500 people now, spread amongst a few cities and towns. I spent time in the stunning Algarve region on the southern coast, including the town of Faro, where previously there had been a Jewish population, though the cemetery and museum were closed when I tried to visit. On the other hand, there’s a small but vibrant community in Lisbon, where I spent Simchat Torah. It is a spectacular, dramatic mountainous coastal city filled with the most beautiful buildings whose exteriors are covered in the most colorful tiles. It is quickly becoming an international cultural and technology destination and I predict it to become “the next Berlin.” Continue reading →