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Vegan Matzah Lasagna with Cauliflower Ricotta

What’s maztah got to do with lasagna?
As Italian-American food became a mainstay of American Jews’ daily fare, it was only natural that we wanted to adapt some of our favorites to the festival of unleaved bread. It’s a classic mid-week Pesach dish, but without tofu, what does a vegan use in matzah lasagna? Cashews and cauliflower of course!

Matzah lasagna has always been a Passover staple in my family, but when I’m already relying on nuts over legumes for the bulk of the week, I needed something that would be a hearty, yet healthy meal. Although I’ve added legumes into my Pesach repertoire now that I live in Israel (and married a Mizrachi), I still like to challenge myself to create as many recipes as I can that don’t rely on legumes for when I’m hosting. However, I’ve made Pesach lasagna like this for so many years, I almost prefer it this way.

vegan matzah lasagna with cauliflower cashew ricotta in a glass baking dish

Enter Cauliflower

In case the unassuming cruciferous stalks haven’t stood in for enough in recent years, cauliflower cashew ricotta is one of my old favorites. The cauliflower adds a deeper flavor and a lofty texture to the cashews, which would otherwise be more akin to a thick, rich cream on their own. I prefer this combination over almonds since mixing the cashew cream into fluffy blended cauliflower better evokes the feeling of creamy cheese. Plus, we just need some variety sometimes, so since my other Passover staple is almond cheese, cashews it is!

As for the sauce, it’s a simple base for any veggies you like! You can add chopped mushrooms for a “meatier” sauce, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, you name it. I like to keep mine on the basic side and mix some chopped frozen spinach (drained) into the cauliflower. That leaves the sauce as a tangy and aromatic flavor base to soak into the matzah.

No Matzah? No Problem

If you’ve just had more than enough matzah for one year or are looking for a gluten free variation, it’s easy to replace the matzah with peeled and thinly sliced sweet potato or thinly sliced zucchini. Sometimes we even make lasagna like this in the middle of the year for a health change of pace.

vegan sweet potato noodle lasagna

Looking for more vegan Passover ideas like this? Buy my ebook, “A Very Vegan Passover”

Recipes

A Kale Salad To Celebrate Fall

Ah kale. With your rise in popularity, you’ve often become the butt of many vegan jokes. But no matter what others may say about you, you’re still one of my favorite greens to add to a salad. Hearty, but not too bitter, and with an outstanding ability to hold up under the weight of dressing, choosing a kale salad is often a great way to go when you’re entertaining.

I originally developed this particular gem for a Rosh Hashanah menu. Around the world, Jewish communities have added a ritual revolving around symbolic foods to help usher in a happy and prosperous New Year. The chosen ingredients might seem a little random at first glance. Carrots, leeks, black-eyed peas, cabbage, what do all of these have in common?

kale
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Recipes

Spinach Artichoke Blintzes: The Perfect Dip Gets A Brunch Update

vegan blintzes

I recently had the pleasure of creating a recipe for blintzes for a guest post on my friend Jonathan’s blog, Flavors of Diaspora. Blintzes may be upstaged by their better-known cousin, crepes. However, you’ll find that they’re an equally delicious option. After all, whoever said they wanted less pancake when they could have more?

In addition to veganizing a recipe that is typically based on both dairy and eggs, I decided to add a few updates of my own. Below, you can find an excerpt of the introduction I wrote for the recipe on Jonathan’s site:

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A Very Vegan Hanukkah with i24 News

I had the immense pleasure of being invited to share several of my reimagined Hanukkah recipes on Trending with Emily Frances over at i24 News.

I’ve devoted a lot of space on this blog to celebrating Hanukkah, a holiday the celebrates yet another averted disaster for the Jewish people. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays, especially given all of the fun involved in the celebration itself.

However, it’s no surprise that the “Festival of Lights” is celebrated at the darkest time of the year. Rather than zeroing in on tragedy behind the holiday, we instead choose to spread light, both physically and spiritually. After all, the more you share a flame, the more you can illuminate.

hanukkah at i24

Even if you don’t connect to the ritual candle lighting, it’s hard to deny the joy that comes from a bounty of fried foods. Fried potatoes, filled doughnuts (or sufganiyot in Hebrew), Moroccan sfenj, what more could you ask for from a holiday, except that the menu be free of animal products. In case you were worried it isn’t possible, here are a few of my go-to, vegan Hanukkah dishes.

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Recipes

The Ultimate Vegan Challah For Every Celebration

vegan challah

New and Improved Recipe Updated: February 2022!!

Since deciding to go vegan 7 1/2 years ago, I’ve been in search of a vegan challah recipe that can compete with my favorite eggy versions from my childhood. The kind I liked best was extra eggy, soft and cake-like challah with an extremely rich flavor and delicate crumb.  I could eat slice after slice, coated with the unsalted, pareve margarine my mom kept on hand for meat meals.  

Although water challah exists in the US, it’s not nearly as popular, and can be quite difficult to find.  In fact despite reassurances from several friends, there was only one store in all of Manhattan that I knew would reliably have an accidentally vegan challah.  Given the scarcity of options, I spent many a Friday night dinner unable to participate in the cornerstone ritual of blessing and breaking bread at the start of a meal. This is less of an issue in Israel, as it is much easier to find egg-free challah here, and at most meals there’s also a pile of soft pitas sitting next to the braided loaves.

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Recipes

Truffled Vichyssoise with Video Demo!

Let me tell you something, it is HOT in Tel Aviv right now.  Not that I ever had any doubts that summers in Israel were anything less than scorching, but after a year in the climate-controlled comfort of suburban New Jersey, weeks of 90+ degree weather (Fahrenheit, or about 32C for the rest of the world) with more than 70% humidity can shock the system.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I still love the summer – days spent on the beach, cool drinks, warm nights, and everything that comes along with it –but it also means trying to find ways to beat the heat without 24/7 air conditioning.  This mostly involves well-placed fans, icy cold drinks, and meals that taste good cold. Enter vichyssoise.

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Travel

Tous végétal en Provence: Vegan Travels Through the South of France

provence

My arrival in the heart of Provence was accompanied by ravenous hunger.  Though the memory of my earlier socca lingered, vegan goodies proved to be scarce during the long journey to the farm.  As luck would have it, there was a railroad strike in progress – of which I was thankfully informed by the front desk staff at the hostel in Nice – and with each leg of my journey, I found myself scrambling to find the information assistants, show them my tickets while explaining (tout en français, I might add), where I was going.

After two trains and a bus, I arrived in the small Provençal town of Tarascon, where the farmer waited for me with his truck.  We drove through a picturesque countryside that was straight out of a Disney movie, before turning off of the fast-moving main road directly into the driveway of the farm.  The house was a stone cottage, renovated on the inside, with an exceptionally large garage.

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Travel

Essential French for the Traveling Vegan

When I first went to Europe at age 17, just after my high school graduation, I brought along a print out list of words in several different languages regarding the food I did and didn’t eat. Being that I had studied French for three years, and that I was on the trip with my French teacher, I wasn’t worried about describing my dietary needs while I was in France (every other country was a different story, especially Italy).

That handy list has been lost to time, but for those of you who are worried about traveling and eating in France, I’ve put together a short list of phrases that might be helpful when dining out. Please let me know if any of you have any specific phrases you would like to know, and for those of you who are native French speakers, feel free to correct any grammar mistakes I may have missed.

A note on pronunciation: I tried my best to represent the phonetics of this in a way that’s accessible to everyone. If anyone would prefer me to add IPA, I will be more than happy to do so (because IPA is the best).  Don’t worry too much about having perfect pronunciation, most people you encounter will appreciate your making an effort.  Most importantly, enjoy your journeys!

french sacre couer

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Travel

Le fabuleux destin d’une petite végan: Nice

As I glimpsed a sparkle from the brilliantly blue Mediterranean from the airplane window, my excitement began to bubble over.  This was it! I was really going to France!  While I hesitate to call myself a full-blown Francophile, given that my interests are mostly linguistic, I’ve always had a soft spot for “l’Hexagone”.

My decision to learn French was made nearly twenty years ago when I became friends with a girl in my kindergarten class whose family was Quebeçois.  During playdates at her house, they never hesitated to speak French to one another, though they would always pardon themselves due to my monolingualism, and translated for me if necessary.  Naturally, I decided that when I got older, I too would learn French, so I could share in the foreign language fun.  If I’d only known how much easier it would have been to begin a second language at five than at fourteen, I would have insisted my parents find me French lessons immediately (and I would have had many more built in opportunities to practice, unlike with my music lessons).

IMG_2742

As planned, however, I began studying French when I began high school, and I was fairly determined to become a proficient speaker, though this goal was still very much a dream by the time I graduated–even as a member of the French Honor Society.  I continued my French studies in university, where my first French professor increased my proficiency by leaps and bounds, and inspired me to pursue French as my minor.  All told, when I graduated, I had taken as many French classes, as I had linguistics classes, but I still felt uncomfortable with everyday speaking and understanding–hence the desire to spend an extended period of time in France.

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Travel

Rhymes With Bacon: Veganz Take Berlin

Rose and I at the East Side Gallery

Rose and I at the East Side Gallery

“Rhymes with bacon, which we don’t eat. Because we’re vegan…” sang Rose, as we stood on the train platform, eager to begin our evening.  We bristled with anticipation, and the warmth of a shared bottle of Prosecco–a welcome sensation in the brisk Berlin air that was chilling the train platform.  Tonight was to be my formal introduction into the world of the famed Berlin nightclubs that Rose adores.  Though it’s still not really my scene (despite my love of dancing), I was eager to traverse the dark corners of the nightclubs, as well as participate ever so slightly in the local drinking culture.

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