It's just possible that you'll be hosting vegetarians over the holiday. Why not take them into consideration when planning your menu?
By PHYLLIS GLAZERpumpkin stew 88(photo credit: )
Growing awareness of health and environment means that there's a good chance that at least one person at your holiday table this year will be vegetarian.
He or she may be lacto-ovo vegetarian (meaning the kind willing to eat dairy and eggs), or occasionally include fish in his or her diet. Or they might be vegans, who won't eat (or wear) anything with an animal origin.
Whatever your (or their) persuasion, it's a good idea to have some festive vegetarian dishes in your repertoire, especially those based on culinary customs that evolved throughout the ages.
For Rosh Hashana, for example, ancient culinary customs include the eating of symbolic foods, some considered to have mystical powers, others a subtle way of asking the Divine to fulfill our prayers. Still others were chosen because their names in Yiddish, Hebrew, Aramaic or even Ladino have connotations suitable to the contemplative yet hopeful nature of the holiday.
In addition to apples and honey, candidates may include foods with pomegranate seeds as one of the ingredients. According to legend (but not fact), pomegranates each hold 613 seeds, the number of mitzvot mentioned in the Torah.
Another choice might be tzimmis, a carrot-based stew, traditional for even non-vegetarian Ashkenazi Jews on Rosh Hashana. The choice of carrots comes from merren, the Yiddish word for carrots, which also means "more" or "increased." Sliced into coin-shaped pieces, carrots represent the desire for prosperity and good fortune for those we know and love.
And although my family background is Ashkenazi, my favorite culinary custom for Rosh Hashana is the North African "Blessings Tray" to begin the festival meal. It features seven edible items, with Aramaic names evoking puns on the desire that our enemies be "cut off," "removed" or "consumed" and an accompanying blessing. Candidates for these dishes (which make great appetizers) are little salads or dishes made of carrots, leeks, pumpkin, beets or dates. For the traditional fish or sheep's head (with the blessing "to be at the head and not at the tail"), a head of cabbage would also do.
One doesn't have to be an Aramaic scholar to create a Blessings Tray - even English puns will do. In my house, I fill a large bowl with unlikely items like eggs, peaches and spices, and invite guests to invent their own blessings, like a peachy year of fertility and spice.
ORANGE AND PURPLE VEGETABLES WITH SEVEN-SPICE PUMPKIN SAUCE
This is a perfect main dish for vegetarians, and a side dish for meat eaters. In addition to having at least one of the vegetables from the traditional Blessings Tray, the number seven in Judaism holds mystical significance.
NOTE: In this recipe, most of the vegetables are steamed before roasting, a process that is healthier and cuts down on roasting time. Make sure to save the spice-infused steaming water, since it serves as the basis for the sauce. The best and easiest way to prepare this recipe is with the aid of a bamboo steamer basket. Simple and inexpensive, it allows you to steam on several basket levels at the same time. Place the baskets on top of a similar-sized large pot to allow the vegetables to absorb the full-flavored broth. Bamboo steamer baskets are available in many places today, and the best ones to buy are those that have hard rather than woven strips inside. Look for the sets that include two baskets and a cover rather than one; if not, it's worth buying two sets for the extra basket.
Makes 4-6 servings7-Spice Steaming Broth:
4 8 cups water
4 1 carrot, broken into 3 pieces
4 2 celery stalks with some of the leaves
4 1 tsp. ground cumin
4 1â„2 tsp. turmeric
4 2 sticks cinnamon
4 2 bay leaves
4 3 allspice berries
4 4 stalks fresh coriander
or parsley
4 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
4 1â„4 tsp. black pepper
Vegetables:
4 500 gr. pumpkin
4 500 gr. butternut squash (dalorit)
4 500 gr. sweet potato
(1 large)
4 1 beet, washed and cut into eighths
4 4 medium carrots, thickly sliced
4 4 small purple onions, partially peeled and halved
4 3 zucchini squash, thickly sliced
4 8 peeled garlic cloves
Plus:
4 1â„4 cup olive oil
4 1â„4 cup white wine
4 1 large garlic clove, crushed
4 2 tsp. coriander seeds
4 Salt and pepper to taste
Broth: Fill a large pot with 8 cups of water and add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, cover and cook over medium-low heat while preparing the vegetables.
Remove the seeds and fibers from the pumpkin and butternut squash and cut into large, coarse pieces. Scrub sweet potato and slice thickly. (Do not peel vegetables.) Place the unpeeled pumpkin, butternut squash, sweet potato, beet, onions and carrots in the steamer (the hardest vegetables should go closer to the bottom basket). Place the baskets over the cooking broth and cover.
Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium-low and steam the vegetables, removing onions after 5 minutes and the other vegetables as they are done (about 10-20 minutes).
Preheat the grill in the oven. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Mix all the steamed vegetables together with the zucchini and garlic cloves in a large bowl. Put the olive oil, wine, crushed garlic, pepper and a little salt in a small jar, cover and shake vigorously and pour over the vegetables. Mix gently to coat. Pour into the tray.
Place the tray in the middle or lower third of the oven and grill the vegetables, stirring and turning them over occasionally, until they are golden brown. Turn off the grill but keep the vegetables warm.
Sauce: Peel 2-3 pieces of the pumpkin. In a blender, mix 2 cups of the steaming broth with 2-3 pieces of peeled pumpkin and process till smooth. Taste and add another piece of pumpkin or butternut squash to make the sauce thicker or more flavorful, as desired. Serve the vegetables over the couscous (recipe follows) with a little sauce on top. Pass the rest of the sauce around the table.
WHOLE-WHEAT COUSCOUS
Place 21â„2 cups of instant whole-wheat couscous (Couscous Mazon brand recommended) in a medium bowl with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Pour in 21â„2 cups of boiling water, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and add 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 cup apple-juice or maple-syrup sweetened organic cranberries and serve.
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