cover image Beyond Chopped Liver: 59 Jewish Recipes Get a Vegan Health Makeover

Beyond Chopped Liver: 59 Jewish Recipes Get a Vegan Health Makeover

Kenden Alfond. Turner, $27.99 (240p) ISBN 978-1-68442-559-4

Jewish Food Hero blogger Alfond (Feeding Women of the Bible, Feeding Ourselves) charms in this cheerful guide to vegan Jewish cooking. “Abstaining from meat and dairy should be socially acceptable in the Jewish community (and any community),” she writes before laying out dishes that are organized around a basic dinner sequence (bread, dips and spreads, soup, salads, main courses, and desserts). Recipes include egg-free mini sweet and savory parsnip and sweet potato latkes, shakshuka made with tofu instead of egg, crispy falafel that is baked rather than fried, a jackfruit “brisket,” and (as the title suggests) a chopped liver variation made from mushrooms and walnuts. Desserts feature coconut macaroon cookies with a vegan chocolate drizzle, a chocolate prune babka that uses coconut and oat milks, and a decadent flourless chocolate cake that calls for extra-ripe bananas instead of egg. Primers on Jewish culture are sprinkled throughout; for example, a list of “Enduring Truths That Define Jewish Food” informs that “Not all foods considered Jewish food today are ancient in origin.” This vegan twist on Jewish cuisine hits all of the right notes. (Feb.)