BR — Time to Bring it, Sweetie
Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year starts Wednesday at sundown It’s a time of sweetness, gladness, new beginnings. And you could be forgiven if you’re just not feeling it. That’s okay, I’m here to help.
You’re not alone. Throughout our history, there have always been reasons not to be cheerful — war, pestilence, poverty, death, your basic four horsemen of the apocalypse. I don’t know why. Human design flaw, I guess. I’m not asking you to ignore reality, which has been far from pretty, but try not to get sucked into the toxic drip of doomscrolling. When we dwell on misery, it steals our energy, it steals our souls. And sometimes when we cling to the past, we misremember it. They weren’t all such good old days. Remember Lot’s wife. Looking back turned her into a pillar of salt.
Maybe that’s why we start the Jewish New Year with a taste of sweetness forward. And the sweetness? Got it for you right here. It coaxes us forward, sparks us to look ahead. It opens us to hope, to possibility. And coming off Climate Week, after world leaders have kicked the climate change can down the road for years, there’s even good news — a unified commitment to the Pact for the Future. That’s a bright beginning to the new year. Imagine what other sweet things the future might bring.
Enjoying the foods of Rosh Hashanah can help. They symbolize our hopes for the future . They lift our hearts, which could do with some lifting.
Beets and beet greens are punnishly linked to bringing an end to enemies. So here’s to peace and here’s to beets, which team up with fennel, and citrus in this pretty salad.
Carrots represent abundance and they’re the abundant main ingredient in my Moroccan carrot salad. It’s easy and awesome, with a hint of sweetness and a splash of spice.
Black-eyed peas signifying our desire to be better humans, are in this luscious fennel-scented autumn stew.
Round foods like lentils represent wholeness, the eternal. Lentils are also one of the most sustainable crops to grow, and most sustainable for us, being high in fiber and protein. Pomegranates, symbolizing fertility, contain 613 seeds, the same number of blessings as there are in Judaism. They’re seasonal and one of the seven sacred foods. Put the two together, and you have pomegranate lentils. It’s quick to make, a little sweet, a little tart, and my favorite dish to welcome the new year.
And, of course, there must be sweetness. My Rosh Hashanah apple cake delivers.
The Jewish New Year offers a fresh start for all of us, a chance to bring our best selves forward. What would be really sweet and generous and gratefully received is you considering upgrading to a paid membership so Broccoli Rising can continue providing you with weekly plant-based recipes and spirited content. As an incentive, I’ve got not one but two extra, exclusive tastes of sweetness for Broccoli Rising paid subscribers.
Scroll down to the bottom for Joe Yonan’s killer, customizable chocolate cake from his new book, Mastering the Art of Plant-based Cooking and my almond cookie recipe — it’s like the love child of meringue and amaretti.
Chocolate cake and almond cookies aren’t Rosh Hashanah specific, but they’re sweet and happy-making.
Let there be sweet things to come and bright days ahead for all of us. Happy New Year.
Speaking of bright days and sweet things to come, here’s what’s ahead for October:
October 1 World Vegetarian Day Go plant-based. Cows will love you for it.
October 2 Gandhi’s birthday — “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
October 3 Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year begins at sundown
October 7-13 Florida Climate Week — given our extreme temperatures and wacky weather (hello, Hurricane Helene), Florida gets its own dedicated Climate Week
October 9 John Lennon’s birthday “You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one.”
October 11 Yom Kippur begins at sundown
October 14 Indigenous People’s Day
October 31 Halloween
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