The first word that came to mind when I was reading and reviewing Passover by Design is the Yiddish word haimish. The Dictionary of Jewish Words by Eisenberg and Scolnic defines haimish as unpretentious and homey, from the German word for “home.” So what I mean by haimish is that Susie presents her food and her recipes in a friendly manner, putting the reader at ease.

For example, the author often puts little notes or stories at the beginning of the recipe, which draw the reader directly into her kitchen. Here’s an example from one of her recipes, Warm Mushroom Potato Salad: Certain foods remind us of certain people. Potato salad will always be a reminder of my friend Lisa Goldman Altman, an extraordinary woman who passed away at far too early an age. In addition to being a wonderful wife, mother, and lawyer, she was passionate about many things, including cooking. She had created dozens of versions of potato salad, which were in her recipe box. This is a winning combination of some of those. Just reading this little story prompted me to add this to my list of “recipes to try.”

In addition, when I spoke with Susie Fishbein on the phone at her New Jersey home, I asked her about why she writes cookbooks (This is her fifth cookbook with another in the works.) when she is already a busy wife and mother of four. Her answer was also “haimish.” She told me that her mother, a practical cook, often entertained when Susie was growing up and she passed this joy to Susie of opening her house to family and friends. Susie also said that when her dining room is quiet, she often hears echoes of older family members that are no longer with them, and that she is happy she had shared her love of cooking with them. Obviously, this author has a passion for cooking because she told me that she loves getting up every morning to “go to work” in her kitchen. She said her work is a gift!

An important fact about Susie’s book is that that because so many ingredients are now kosher, creating more unusual dishes from around the world is much easier than it was in her mother’s day. So while there are traditional Jewish recipes in this cookbook suitable for Passover or any time of year, for that matter, there are some “new” recipes that might not have been found in a Jewish cookbook 25 years ago.

What this means is that the recipes can be used by anyone, Jewish or not Jewish. This fact reminds me of an ad that used to appear on the NYC subway. It showed an Asian man eating Levy’s rye bread with the caption: You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy’s rye bread. Ditto with this cookbook. All you need is a passion for delicious food that borders on the exotic, but with readily available ingredients. For example, I made Thai Quinoa because it appealed to my love of quinoa, a food generally reserved for natural foods cookbooks, and Thai seasonings, which are now available with the kosher symbol.

Thus, this cookbook can appeal to anyone with an adventuresome palate. While all the recipes follow kosher dietary laws of keeping meat separate from milk, using ingredients designated as kosher, these standards do not get in the way of preparing the recipes any time of year, regardless of one’s religion.* Another important factor is that there are 130 gluten free recipes, some of which I hope to feature in a future posting on gluten free dishes, with the author’s permission

The other thought that came to mind while reading this book is that the 9 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ photos by photographer John Uher are so beautiful and realistic that I wanted to lick the pages as I turned them. Each dish looks enticing. I will say that some recipes contain more ingredients than I feel comfortable with, and Susie does use sugar, which I avoid. But even with these stipulations, as well as the fact that I don’t eat meat, there are more than enough recipes in her book for me to try that fit in with my dietary guidelines as a vegetarian.

Of course, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. So the question I asked myself is: “Do the flavors of the dishes match the beauty of the pictures?” So far, the answer is YES. Below are just three of the recipes I have prepared before posting this month’s blog. In the next couple of months I hope to try the dozen or so I have on my list. But don’t wait for me! Get your own copy of Passover by Design and start enjoying the tasty recipes that Susie has created in her “haimishe” (adjective form of haimish) kitchen and shares with all of us ready to try some dishes that may be a little different, but have a big taste.

The book is published by ArtScroll/Shaar Press and costs $34.99. It makes a nice gift for someone who loves to cook and is also a beautiful addition to your coffee table collection. The first printing of 20,000 copies were sold out immediately, so Susie’s followers are legion. I am now part of that following and look forward to her next book: Kosher by Design Lightens Up, due to be released this fall.

*SPECIAL NOTE: I came across this tidbit on kosher that I thought fit perfectly with my position that you don’t need to be Jewish or keep kosher to enjoy this cookbook. It is quoted from a small publication called Dateline: World Jewry:

The most popular claim for food products in the United States is kosher, according to a consumer products pollster. Mintel points out that the kosher label beats out all claims like “All Natural” and “No additives or Preservatives,” in a report released at the end of 2007. The pollster claims that Jewish and non-Jewish consumers believe products marked kosher are healthier and safer than non-kosher foods,and that last year alone, food and beverage companies introduced a total of 4,712 products with the kosher label.

Below are the three recipes I prepared so far. All three were well received well by my mini-luncheon guests who taste tested the recipes.

Cauliflower “Popcorn”

You will pop these gorgeous golden carb-friendly treats into your mouth like popcorn. The simple high-heat roasting method brings out the natural sugars of the vegetable and the spice combination works great in both flavor and color. Don’t cut florets too small because they shrivel while cooking. (Notes from the author.)

Ingredients

2 heads cauliflower, cut into medium-sized florets, stems discarded
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 teaspoons sugar (I substituted one packet of Stevia)
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon paprika
¼- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
6-8 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line a jelly pan or baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, combine the salt, onion powder, paprika, turmeric, and oil. Add cauliflower florets and toss to evenly coat.
Place in a single layer onto the prepared sheet.
Roast, uncovered, for 30-35 minutes, until the largest pieces can be pierced with a fork. If the tops are starting to get too brown, toss the cauliflower during the baking powder.

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Thai Quinoa

Quinoa has become very popular with cooks today, especially during Passover when this berry, which tastes like a grain, stands in nicely for what we crave. It is high in protein and has other healthful characteristics. (Author’s comments.)
(My note: Susie also writes that quinoa may or may not be acceptable for Passover and that if you are keeping kosher, you should consult your local rabbi for clarification.)

Ingredients

1 ½ cups dry quinoa (I used 1/2 red quinoa and half white quinoa- E.S.)
3 cups water
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
6 basil leaves, finely chopped
3 sprigs cilantro, leaves gently torn (discard stems)
1/3 cup minced red onion (about ½ small onion)
½ firm mango, not too ripe, peeled, pitted, and cut into ½-inch dice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon lime juice

Directions

Rinse the quinoa thoroughly either in a strainer or in a pot, and drain. (Do not skip this step or a bitter, soap-like natural coating will remain.) Once the quinoa is drained, place it into a medium pot with the water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 10-15 minutes, or until the grains turn translucent and the outer layer pops off. Drain.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine the minced jalapeno, basil, cilantro, red onion, mango. Drizzle in the oil, salt, and lime juice. Stir to combine.
Add the drained quinoa and toss to combine. Season with salt to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

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Roasted Beet Salad

Note: I photographed this on a sunny day when my blinds were at an angle and gave the photo an interesting light and shadow effect, which I liked, so I decided to use it.

Dairy or Parve (can be used with meat or dairy dishes)

Not one person in my family likes beets. Not one person left a drop of this salad over when I served it and it was requested the very next night! The roasted beets become almost like beet chips. They are incredible. The procedure can be done with taro root or other root vegetables as well. One of the unique aspects of this recipe is not needing to peel the beets. Cutting the beets on newspaper keeps the juice from dying your kitchen pink, and gloves keep it off your hands. If you can’t find golden beets, just double the amount of red beets. (Author’s Notes)

Ingredients

2 medium/large red beets, scrubbed but not peeled
2 medium/large golden beets, scrubbed but not peeled
olive oil
coarse sea salt or kosher salt
dried thyme
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons (imitation) Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons orange juice
or apple cider vinegar
2 ounces frisee lettuce
3 ounces red leaf lettuce
½ cup chopped walnuts
3 ounces blue or gorgonzola cheese, optional for dairy meals

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Slice off the top and bottom of each beet. Slice into rounds as thin as possible, ¼ inch thick or less. Drizzle each beet with olive oil, brushing it to evenly coat. Sprinkle with salt and thyme. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Roast 18-22 minutes, until the beets are soft and slightly shrunken. Smaller or thinner beets will need to come out of the oven earlier so they don’t burn. Set aside. Keep the colors separate as they will bleed.
Using an immersion blender or a whisk, combine the honey, mustard, orange juice, olive oil, and vinegar. Blend or whisk until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the frisee and red-leaf lettuce leaves into a bowl and lightly dress, tossing to combine, reserving 6 teaspoons of the dressing.

Arrange the roasted beet slices, in alternating colors in a single layer on each plate. Drizzle a scant teaspoon of the dressing over the beets. Place a tall mound of the greens into the center of each plate, allowing the beets to peak out. Sprinkle with walnuts evenly over each plate. If using cheese, crumble over each mound of lettuce.

Note from Ellen Sue: If using both colors of beets, use one cookie sheet for the red beets and the other for the yellow beets, so bleeding between the colors will not occur in baking. Also, I did not have frisee, so I used my Spring Greens Mix.

This article, while long, seems important enough to include it in its entirety, because it shifts the emphasis from CO2 onto methane gas from animal agriculture as the main source for harmful gases related to global warming. As a vegetarian, I found this quite interesting and even if you are not a vegetarian, you might consider eating less meat as part of reducing your impact on the planet. Also, I made some statements in bold for emphasis.

A New Global Warming Strategy: How Environmentalists are Overlooking Vegetarianism as the Most Effective Tool Against Climate Change in Our Lifetimes
by Noam Mohr

Summary

Global warming poses one of the most serious threats to the global environment ever faced in human history. Yet by focusing entirely on carbon dioxide emissions, major environmental organizations have failed to account for published data showing that other gases are the main culprits behind the global warming we see today. As a result, they are neglecting what might be the most effective strategy for reducing global warming in our lifetimes: advocating a vegetarian diet.

Global Warming and Carbon Dioxide

The environmental community rightly recognizes global warming as one of the gravest threats to the planet. Global temperatures are already higher than they’ve ever been in at least the past millennium, and the increase is accelerating even faster than scientists had predicted. The expected consequences include coastal flooding, increases in extreme weather, spreading disease, and mass extinctions.

Unfortunately, the environmental community has focused its efforts almost exclusively on abating carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Domestic legislative efforts concentrate on raising fuel economy standards, capping CO2 emissions from power plants, and investing in alternative energy sources. Recommendations to consumers also focus on CO2: buy fuel-efficient cars and appliances, and minimize their use.

This is a serious miscalculation. Data published by Dr. James Hansen and others show that CO2 emissions are not the main cause of observed atmospheric warming. Though this may sound like the work of global warming skeptics, it isn’t: Hansen is Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies who has been called “a grandfather of the global warming theory.” He is a longtime supporter of action against global warming, cited by Al Gore and often quoted by environmental organizations, who has argued against skeptics for subverting the scientific process. His results are generally accepted by global warming experts, including bigwigs like Dr. James McCarthy, co-chair of the International Panel on Climate Change’s Working Group II.

The focus solely on CO2 is fueled in part by misconceptions. It’s true that human activity produces vastly more CO2 than all other greenhouse gases put together. However, this does not mean it is responsible for most of the earth’s warming. Many other greenhouse gases trap heat far more powerfully than CO2, some of them tens of thousands of times more powerfully. When taking into account various gases’ global warming potential—defined as the amount of actual warming a gas will produce over the next one hundred years—it turns out that gases other than CO2 make up most of the global warming problem.

Even this overstates the effect of CO2, because the primary sources of these emissions—cars and power plants—also produce aerosols. Aerosols actually have a cooling effect on global temperatures, and the magnitude of this cooling approximately cancels out the warming effect of CO2. The surprising result is that sources of CO2 emissions are having roughly zero effect on global temperatures in the near-term!

This result is not widely known in the environmental community, due to a fear that polluting industries will use it to excuse their greenhouse gas emissions. For example, the Union of Concerned Scientists had the data reviewed by other climate experts, who affirmed Hansen’s conclusions. However, the organization also cited climate contrarians’ misuse of the data to argue against curbs in CO2. This contrarian spin cannot be justified.

While CO2 may have little influence in the near-term, reductions remains critical for containing climate change in the long run. Aerosols are short-lived, settling out of the air after a few months, while CO2 continues to heat the atmosphere for decades to centuries. Moreover, we cannot assume that aerosol emissions will keep pace with increases in CO2 emissions. If we fail start dealing with CO2 today, it will be too late down the road when the emissions catch up with us.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that sources of non-CO2 greenhouse gases are responsible for virtually all the global warming we’re seeing, and all the global warming we are going to see for the next fifty years. If we wish to curb global warming over the coming half century, we must look at strategies to address non-CO2 emissions. The strategy with the most impact is vegetarianism.

Methane and Vegetarianism

By far the most important non-CO2 greenhouse gas is methane, and the number one source of methane worldwide is animal agriculture.

Methane is responsible for nearly as much global warming as all other non-CO2 greenhouse gases put together. Methane is 21 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2. While atmospheric concentrations of CO2 have risen by about 31% since pre-industrial times, methane concentrations have more than doubled. Whereas human sources of CO2 amount to just 3% of natural emissions, human sources produce one and a half times as much methane as all natural sources. In fact, the effect of our methane emissions may be compounded as methane-induced warming in turn stimulates microbial decay of organic matter in wetlands—the primary natural source of methane.

With methane emissions causing nearly half of the planet’s human-induced warming, methane reduction must be a priority. Methane is produced by a number of sources, including coal mining and landfills—but the number one source worldwide is animal agriculture. Animal agriculture produces more than 100 million tons of methane a year. And this source is on the rise: global meat consumption has increased fivefold in the past fifty years, and shows little sign of abating.

About 85% of this methane is produced in the digestive processes of livestock, and while a single cow releases a relatively small amount of methane, the collective effect on the environment of the hundreds of millions of livestock animals worldwide is enormous. An additional 15% of animal agricultural methane emissions are released from the massive “lagoons” used to store untreated farm animal waste, and already a target of environmentalists for their role as the number one source of water pollution in the U.S.

The conclusion is simple: arguably the best way to reduce global warming in our lifetimes is to reduce or eliminate our consumption of animal products. Simply by going vegetarian (or, strictly speaking, vegan), we can eliminate one of the major sources of emissions of methane, the greenhouse gas responsible for almost half of the global warming impacting the planet today.

Advantages of Vegetarianism over CO2 Reduction

In addition to having the advantage of immediately reducing global warming, a shift away from methane-emitting food sources is much easier than cutting carbon dioxide.

First, there is no limit to reductions in this source of greenhouse gas that can be achieved through vegetarian diet. In principle, even 100% reduction could be achieved with little negative impact. In contrast, similar cuts in carbon dioxide are impossible without devastating effects on the economy. Even the most ambitious carbon dioxide reduction strategies fall short of cutting emissions by half.

Second, shifts in diet lower greenhouse gas emissions much more quickly than shifts away from the fossil fuel burning technologies that emit carbon dioxide. The turnover rate for most ruminant farm animals is one or two years, so that decreases in meat consumption would result in almost immediate drops in methane emissions. The turnover rate for cars and power plants, on the other hand, can be decades. Even if cheap, zero-emission fuel sources were available today, they would take many years to build and slowly replace the massive infrastructure our economy depends upon today.

Similarly, unlike carbon dioxide which can remain in the air for more than a century, methane cycles out of the atmosphere in just eight years, so that lower methane emissions quickly translate to cooling of the earth.

Third, efforts to cut carbon dioxide involve fighting powerful and wealthy business interests like the auto and oil industries. Environmental groups have been lobbying for years to make fuel-efficient SUVs available or phase out power plants that don’t meet modern environmental standards without success. At the same time, vegetarian foods are readily available, and cuts in agricultural methane emissions are achievable at every meal.

Also, polls show that concern about global warming is widespread, and environmental activists often feel helpless to do anything about it. Unless they happen to be buying a car or major appliance, most people wanting to make a difference are given little to do aside from writing their legislators and turning off their lights. Reducing or eliminating meat consumption is something concerned citizens can do every day to help the planet.

Finally, it is worth noting that reductions in this source of greenhouse gas have many beneficial side effects for the environment. Less methane results in less tropospheric ozone, a pollutant damaging to human health and agriculture. Moreover, the same factory farms responsible for these methane emissions also use up most of the country’s water supply, and denude most of its wilderness for rangeland and growing feed. Creating rangeland to feed western nations’ growing appetite for meat has been a major source of deforestation and desertification in third world countries. Factory farm waste lagoons are a leading source of water pollution in the U.S. Indeed, because of animal agriculture’s high demand for fossil fuels, the average American diet is far more CO2-polluting than a plant-based one.

Recommendations

# Organizations should consider making advocating vegetarianism a major part of their global warming campaigns. At a minimum, environmental advocates should mention vegetarianism in any information about actions individuals can take to address global warming.
# Government policy should encourage vegetarian diets. Possible mechanisms include an environmental tax on meat similar to one already recommended on gasoline, a shift in farm subsidies to encourage plant agriculture over animal agriculture, or an increased emphasis on vegetarian foods in government-run programs like the school lunch program or food stamps.

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Source: Check out EarthSave’s website: for more information. (The hosting of this website was donated by www.vegsource.com. EarthSave was started by John Robbins, former heir of Baskin-Robins Ice Cream. He turned his back on that fortune and turned his attention to saving the earth, one meal at a time. His book, Diet for a New America, made headlines and I hope to review another one of his many books, The Diet Revolution.