Want to indulge in a meaty Jewish staple, but, well, without the meat? Have a vegetarian or vegan friend coming to your Rosh HaShanah meal? Fear not! You can have this tasty brisket-substitute with no animal products.

This recipe is adopted from the Meet the Shannons food blog.

You will need:

3 Small Leeks, sliced
6-8 Red Potatoes, quartered
1 Cup Baby Carrots
2 Packages Gardein Beef-less Tips (defrosted)
1/4 Cup Olive Oil, plus an extra 2 tablespoons to brush over your “beef”
1/4 Cup Kosher Red Wine (Manischewitz or similar)
1/4 Cup Soy Sauce
1 Can Tomato Paste (6oz)
1/2 Cup Strong Brewed Black Coffee
3 Tablespoons Light Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Vegan Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. In your slow cooker, mix leeks, potatoes, carrots, 1/4 cup olive oil, red wine, and soy sauce and cook on high for 2 hours.
2. In a small bowl, mix coffee, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, and brown sugar with a whisk until sugar has dissolved.
3. Brush the defrosted gardein with 2 Tablespoons of olive oil. Put the gardein in your slow cooker on top of the vegetables (don’t mix them in).
4. Pour the coffee sauce over the top and cook for another hour.
5. Pre-heat oven to 400.
6. With a ladle, move your gardein and vegetables from your slow cooker into a glass baking dish. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top begins to brown. Turn your oven down to 200 and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven once your sauce has reduced to saucy gravy. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Go forth, and enjoy!

Molly Moses is a music therapist practicing in Central Florida, working primarily with children with special needs. She enjoys cooking and discovering new vegetarian recipes, especially for the holidays, and sharing them with family and friends.

Image via Wikimedia

The post Not Your Bubbe’s Recipe: Beef-less Brisket with Vegetables appeared first on Jewcy.

Amanda Cohen has created a reputation for herself as a chef defiantly supportive of vegetables.  When she opened her restaurant Dirt Candy (which is certified Kosher) a few years ago, she received just as much attention for her blog, a thoroughly hilarious and opinionated thread on vegetarianism and debunking the myths surrounding it, as for her incredible food.  As the husband of a vegetarian, we dine at a good amount of vegetarian restaurants, Dirt Candy is the only place that left me blown away, and not missing meat at all.

This Sunday at 10PM Amanda will become the first Vegetarian chef to compete on Iron Chef America on The Food Network.  Cohen writes on her blogs, “I thought that if someone was going to be the first vegetarian chef on Iron Chef America, if someone was going to go out there representing vegetarian food, I’d rather it be me than anyone else. Part of that is, of course, my giant ego, but part of it is also the fact that vegetarian food has been chained to the animal rights movement and the health food movement for years, which has let the food mainstream dismiss it. There’s nothing wrong with animal rights or health food, but Dirt Candy is just about food, and it’s about vegetarian food as nothing more than cooking vegetables – no politics, no health claims or virtuous living, just giving vegetables a chance to be treated as seriously as chefs treat pork. It’s a point of view that isn’t seen very often, especially on the Food Network and I wanted my chance to put a different face on vegetarian food.”

Cohen admits that she had some reservations about going on Iron Chef, she didn’t want to be represented as a crappy chef, or be exploited to allow Iron Chef Morimoto and easy win, but when she finally agreed to do it, she became fully committed.  “The only way to deal with Iron Chef is to go big or go home. You either take it really seriously, or you shouldn’t do it at all. So I started closing the restaurant every Tuesday for four weeks so we could practice, knocking out menu after menu in 60 minutes,” Cohen said.

From her play by play on the Dirt Candy Blog, the filming seems to have been an intense experience, 60 minutes of heart pumping cooking action that truly flies by, in a foreign kitchen, completely surrounded by cameras, with producers constantly screaming directions to get the best shot.  Her blog posts make it sound like she might have won, a few months after filming, she admits she was invited to compete in The Next Iron Chef, so maybe she blows Morimoto away.  If you live in NYC they are having a viewing party at Angels and Kings, I personally hope she makes Yids and vegetarians everywhere proud and annihilates Morimoto.

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The various ethical, environmental, and cultural issues surrounding honey have been considered and discussed on Hazon’s blog The Jew and the Carrot, both in posts and comments. Leah has explored whether honey is “kosher” for vegans, and wondered if there’s “any ethics-based diet that *doesn’t* have a little bit of hypocrisy clouding up its ideals.” Michael Croland from HeebnVegan explained that the issue does little to promote veganism, and pointed us in the direction of this Satya Mag article on the subject.  Meanwhile, Rabbi Shmuel has suggested that we should critically re-examine the Rosh Hashanah custom of dipping apples in honey, and explore alternatives such as maple syrup, while Rabbi Debbie Prinz joined the conversation with a lip-smacking guest post on how we can integrate chocolate into our Rosh Hashanah celebrations.

Rather than continue the debate on whether honey is vegan, eco-kosher, or even just kosher (Leah notes that she has always “puzzled over how eating a food created by a decidedly non-kosher creature could be considered okay for the Tribe”), I’m offering a number of delicious, vegan, kosher, and organic ideas and recipes for a sweet new year.

Agave Nectar: Derived from the succulent plant of the same name, agave is like honey’s sophisticated big sister. Satisfyingly sweet and sticky, it makes for a perfect apple dip, plus it has a low glycemic index, a long shelf-life, and it won’t crystallize.  Madhava Agave Nectar is available in different grades, is certified organic, and is kosher. It’s available online and at many markets across the U.S.

Maple Syrup: As Rabbi Shmuel noted, maple syrup is an ideal choice for Rosh Hashanah thanks to its rich symbolism and earthy sweetness.  “Maples,” he explains, “represent the ultimate in chesed (loving-kindness) giving freely of not only their wood and shelter but their sap—their very essence.” Shady Maple Farm offers certified organic, kosher, pure maple syrup, as do Coombs Family Farms, Highland Sugarworks, and a host of others.

Brown Rice Syrup: Rich in rice protein concentrates, brown rice syrup has been said to have a healthy effect on cholesterol levels, and may help to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Because it’s produced from a whole food source and is composed of simple sugars, brown rice syrup is considered to be one of the healthiest sweeteners in the natural food industry.  With a light, sweet flavor and the consistency of honey, this is another great option to experiment with on Rosh Hashanah. Lundberg Family Farms offers brown rice syrup that’s organic, eco-farmed, vegan, kosher, and gluten free!

Date Honey: References to honey in the Torah are believed to have been about honey made from dates. This is quite possibly the ultimate symbolic Rosh Hashanah food, and also the hardest to find. Our own Leah offered a recipe on the Lilith’s blog, but you may still have time to track some down at a local Middle Eastern market, or order it online in time for the holiday. Try here and here.

Chocolate: It’s incredibly easy to find vegan chocolate these days, and what’s more, you can often find vegan chocolate that’s also organic and fair-trade. Simply melt some semisweet, vegan chocolate chips with a drop of soy milk or oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Allow it to cool a bit before dipping your apples, bread, and fingers!

Vegan Caramel Sauce: Little goes better with apples than sweet, sticky, mouth-watering caramel. Unfortunately for vegans, caramel often contains milk and butter.  Not to worry, though!  Try one of these recipes for vegan caramel sauce, which creates a thick, sweet, pourable alternative.

(Image by Chiot’s Run, via Flickr)

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