Together With Rabbi Yonah – Special Guest Mayim Bialik

[additional-authors]

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

May 25, 2020

Mayim Bialik and Rabbi Yonah discuss A Few of Our Favorite Things: Giving, Parenting and Vegan Cheesecake.

While TV sound stages are closed and communal life on hold, Mayim Bialik manages to accomplish a lot while staying safer at home. She stays active in philanthropy, and promoting the incredible services of the JFLA, the Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles. She’s active with her production company Sad Clown creating and writing. She’s a present and caring parent co-raising two kids with her ex-husband. She cooks delicious vegan creations. And on the seventh day, the Sabbath, she rests.

Interest-Free Loans…Really!

Mayim and I discuss some of our favorite things: helping others, the joys and challenges of parenting, and finally vegan cheesecake. During our conversation, I learned that was Mayim’s first experience in philanthropy was with the JFLA. The JFLA helps everyone including college students, small business owners, homeowners needing to green-up, couples paying for fertility treatments and many others with no-interests loans.

Parenting in the time of Corona

We discussed the unique challenges of parenting during coronavirus including the Nitendo Switch. Both of Mayim’s children are homeschooled. Parents struggling to keep their children motivated and engaged with school online, might think that the crisis makes them homeschoolers. Actually, Mayim explains, the challenges that parents face having to both work and educate from home is a big test for everyone, including the homeschoolers.

Vegan Dishes for Shavuot I Can Enjoy

As someone who can’t eat dairy, I have always found the Shavuot Dairy Craze, I mean custom, hard to identify with. Mayim is a veteran vegan. She is the author of the highly regarded Mayim’s cookbook Mayim’s Vegan Table: More Than 100 Great-Tasting and Healthy Recipes from My Family to Yours. Having a vegan expert at hand, we discussed some ways for those who cannot do dairy to still enjoy Jewish soul food on Shavuot, including vegan cheesecake and vegan blitzes. Yum! We may have spoken about other things, you will have to watch the video to find out.

See below for some of Mayim’s favorite vegan receipes that you can use for Shavuot!

Turtle Cheesecake squares (Grain and Dairy Free)

Ingredients:

Crust

½ cup pitted dates

¼ cup unsweetened coconut

⅔ cup pecans (or any combo almonds/pecans/walnuts)

1 tablespoon coconut oil

Pinch of sea salt

Filling

1 ¾ cup raw cashews (soakd first in water for 4 hours then drained)

⅓ cup coconut oil

⅓ cup raw cacao/ cocoa

⅓ cup +2 TBS pure maple syrup or honey

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

¼ tsp sea salt

2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Caramel Nut Topping

1 tablespoon Butter, or ghee, or coconut oil to keep it dairy free

2 tablespoon maple syrup or honey

1 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp sea salt

Instructions

Crust

Combine all crust ingredients in a food processor, and pulse until it forms fine crumbs.

Brush a tart pan (4×14 rectangle) with coconut oil and press crumbs into pan evenly

Place into freezer to harden

Filling

Combine drained cashews with all other ingredients into food processor and puree until very smooth.

Caramel Nut Topping

Heat topping ingredients on stovetop until bubbling and thickened (few minutes) stirring continuously.

Assemble by pouring the filling into the frozen crust and spreading the caramelized nuts over the top. Push nuts gently into the filling. Freeze for 3-4 hours until firm and ready. Keep frozen until you are ready to serve. Enjo

Vegan Cheesecake Traditional (uses over-the-counter non-dairy stuff)

CRUST

1 1/2 cups graham crackers

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 melted margarine

Process the crackers to fine crumbs either in a food processor or the way we do it is we put those crackers in a Ziploc and pound on them with a heavy drinking glass. Add sugar and margarine and mix well.

Grease a cheesecake pan or you can do it in a 9” pan. Press the crust into the pan and make it creep up the side about an inch. Bake at 350° for 8 minutes and let cool for a little bit.

FILLING

15 oz vegan cream cheese

3/4 cup vegan sour cream

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbsp flour

2 egg replacer eggs (I use Bob’s or Ener-G)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Zest of 1 lemon

Beat the cream cheese and sour cream with a hand mixer. Beat in sugar, flour, egg replacer, zest and vanilla. Put it all in the cooled crust. Bake at 350° for 50 min; until it starts to crack a little. Remove from oven and let sit for 15 min. Increase oven temp to 425°.

TOPPING (do not skip this)

1/2 cup vegan yogurt (plain or vanilla works)

1 cup vegan sour cream

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Pour off any liquid your yogurt has. Mix it with the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spoon over the cheesecake evenly. Bake at 425° for 10 min. Cool to room temp and refrigerate. Tastes better the next day!