Passover often means more pota­toes than one wants to eat, but it does not have to be that way. Avi­va Kanoff, an artist and a for­mer stu­dent of the French Culi­nary Insti­tute, has worked hard to find oth­er options. She offers sim­ple recipes, many with only six ingre­di­ents, using quinoa, spaghet­ti squash, parsnips, and but­ter­nut squash as alter­na­tive starch­es. These recipes come from a vari­ety of inter­na­tion­al cuisines: Greek, Moroc­can, Mex­i­can, and Ital­ian. The instruc­tions are clear and easy to fol­low. Although indi­vid­ual recipes are not labeled as meat, dairy, or pareve, the book chap­ters are divid­ed into meat, poul­try, dairy, and pareve. Some recipes, such as pesto chick­en ​“pas­ta,” may be con­fus­ing because the pesto recipe appears in the intro­duc­tion to the book. It tells read­ers to omit the cheese for pareve pesto. These recipes will be use­ful all year around, not just dur­ing Passover. Gold­en ruby beet sal­ad, Moroc­can baked salmon, and apple cran­ber­ry crunch are a few exam­ples. Beau­ti­ful col­or pho­tographs of the food and its coun­try of ori­gin add to the appeal. This is a nice cook­book for begin­ning cooks because the recipes are not complicated.

Read Avi­va’s Posts for the Vis­it­ing Scribe

Passover for Non-Bolivians

This Passover, Play With your Food