Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-Free: A Guide for the Perplexed

Fortunately, people’s expectations for Shabbat meals nowadays are very different from the meals I remember as a child. For the most part, chicken and meat are not the primary focus of a meal anymore. Most people are diet conscious and want to eat more healthily. Vegetables don’t have to be turned into kugels and you don’t have to have to serve several types of meat. This year’s Thanksgiving section in the New York Times had 94 recipes for side dishes, most of which could easily be a main dish for vegetarians, such as baked spaghetti squash, caramelized acorn squash stuffed with cranberries, or cauliflower roasted with chickpeas. Many of the different sweet potato and white potato recipes, as well as vegetable biryani could easily be made parve by omitting the ghee and the yogurt.   

Probably the most overwhelming part of catering for all these different dietary needs is simply understanding what each designation means.  

Typically, a person who refers to themself as a vegetarian does not eat meat, but usually does consume eggs or dairy products (or both). Before the advent of all of the processed foods we have today, a vegetarian diet relied mostly on vegetables, grains and nuts. Because of all of the processed non-animal products available today, the term “plant based” has become popular. The number of people conducting a Google search for “plant based” doubled from 2017 to 2019, showing an increasing popularity of plant-based diets. This term emphasizes the vegetables as the main focus of either a vegetarian or vegan diet. 

The word vegetarian was first used in 1841, and in 1944 vegetarians who consumed no animal or dairy products began calling themselves “vegans.” According to the Vegan Society, a vegan is someone “who consumes no food that comes from animals.” In addition to not eating dairy products such as milk, butter or eggs, many strict vegans will also refrain from eating honey. Generally, vegans eat a plant-based diet.  Some people create their own terms, for example the “vegan” in my family does not eat

hard boiled or fried eggs but will eat foods that are cooked with eggs.

People that follow a gluten-free diet do not eat foods made from gluten. According to the National Celiac Foundation, gluten is a protein which is found in wheat, barley, and rye. Celiac is a disease where the consumption of gluten triggers an immune response in the small intestine. One of my children has celiac disease and is medically required to follow a gluten-free diet. There is gluten in many products that you wouldn’t expect, such as candy: in particular jelly-type candies like gummies.  

Depending on the sensitivity of the person, the gluten-free dishes may have to be cooked in separate ovens. I prepare for my daughter’s visit by cooking the dishes separately and being very careful not to cross-contaminate the food. It is not easy but it can be done. Today it is very easy to find gluten-free recipes online and I easily adopt recipes by switching up flour for almond flour, gluten-free oat flour or a gluten-free flour mix. The secret ingredient to make these baked recipes better is xanthan gum. 

Aleksandra Crapanzano, of The Wall Street Journal, recently had a full-page spread about gluten-free recipes, more proof that the condition is very common. For the best gluten-free recipes, keep your Passover cookbooks out all year. Look for the recipes with almond flour or no flour at all. Some of our favorite recipes are the Chocolate Cakey Brownies, found in My Pesach Kitchen  and the Vanilla Cupcake recipe found in Perfect for Pesach by Naomi Nachman. Another favorite is the Blueberry, Almond and Lemon Cake recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi, published in The New York Times. I substitute rice flour for the all-purpose flour and add ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum. 

For vegetarian recipes, one of my most favorite and easy dishes to prepare is the vegetable roast. I roast eggplants, sweet potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms – and any other vegetables from my refrigerator that are about to go bad – at 400