A vegetarian, I will pass on the brisket for Rosh Hashana dinner. As fish will be served as a first course, it would feel redundant, to say the least, to also cook myself fish for the main course. So what a vegetarian to do for protein for a main course? No, I don’t eat tofu! Can’t call beans festive for this meal.
In preparation for the holiday meal, I planned to bake chocolate meringue cookies last night, the perfect parve (non-dairy) dessert. Cholesterol free, meringue is not only parve and delicious, it is also no clogging-danger to our aging arteries. As I hunted for the bowls of egg whites I stowed away in the freezer whenever a recipe called for yolk only (yes, egg whites freeze very well), the thought occurred to me that meringue cookies are laden with high-quality protein. Meringue is made from mostly egg whites and sugar. The realization that, but for its high-sugar content, the meringue would be a perfect choice for vegetarian main course was truly an unexpected aha moment!
I baked a batch of chocolate meringue cookies with cocoa. But what I am really excited about are the two new flavors I was inspired to bake: orange scented and turkish coffee.
For the orange scented meringue cookies, I frothed egg whites with some cream of tartar and a teaspoon of Sabra liqueur, raised speed of mixer and added a slow trickle of candied orange powder (pulverized in coffee grinder) and white sugar. When the whites stiffened, I gently folded some shredded coconut. I transfered it all onto a plastic bag, cut a small opening in the corner, and piped 2”- disks onto parchment-paper-covered-cookies sheet. A slow bake (about 45 min.) in a 275 d. F. warm oven kept them soft. For crunchiness, I let them hang to dry on top of stove. Truly delicious!
The Turkish Coffee meringues were scented with a hint of ginger. I like! A great ‘pick me up’ cure for the office afternoon doldrums.
Any other ideas for a festive vegetarian substitute to brisket? Has to be natural, nondairy, of visibly detectible origin, and delicious.
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