Simchat Torah–which starts Monday night– is the end of a long season of holidays and marked by both completing and beginning the reading of the Torah. But, we are not starting over in the same place with the Torah or in life. Rather, we are like spirals, moving into a new place that is deeply connected to the past. How will we understand or be guided by the Torah in this new cycle and year?
The foods of Simchat Torah usually elongated to represent the Torah scrolls or round to represent hakafot–the circles one dances in to celebrate the holiday. This year, I prepared a vegan zucchini quiche with lots of circles. It’s a great way to use up the season’s last bits of zucchini and is easy to prepare. There are many zucchini varieties and it would be interesting to try an assortment in this dish. Though, I perhaps should have made a dish with the super popular spiralized zucchini!
Dupont Circle farmers market
Vegan Zucchini Quiche
Ingredients
I am not a baker and used a pre-made vegan pie crust. There are plenty of vegan pie crust recipes available available, if you prefer to make from scratch. Also, this recipe helped me to develop my quiche.
2 medium zucchinis (any variety will work), thinly sliced whole rounds
I block of firm tofu, drained (14-16 oz)
1/2 chopped small onion
large handful fresh basil, torn or chopped
1 tsp fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
3/4 cup vegan parmesan
olive oil
Preparation
1. Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Sauté the onions over medium heat. Add the chopped zucchini and cook until soft, approximately 10 minutes. Add water or vegetable broth as needed to prevent sticking but don’t make the zucchinis soggy.
3. In a blender, puree the tofu.
4. Remove and put in a bowl. Add the onion-zucchini mixture. Add the fresh basil and salt and pepper. Fold in the vegan parmesan cheese. Optional to add the fresh parsley now, too.
5. Pour the mixture into a pie pan and bake for approximately one hour until lightly browned (while in the oven, moisten the crust with water if it’s overly brown while the rest of the quiche is not fully baked). Don’t expect the quiche to be done with a “clean knife”.
6. Add chopped fresh parsley on top and serve warm or room temperature.
Simchat Torah Stuffed Cabbage
And, if you are looking for more holiday ideas, here are my other Simchat Torah (and Shmini Atzeret) recipes:
Stuffed Cabbage (right photo, and a very popular Simchat Torah dish)