Cooking and baking successfully using dairy-free ingredients is always a challenge for the kosher cook, but there are also many people who have to steer clear of dairy ingredients on a daily basis due to lactose intolerance or allergies. Levana Kirschenbaum, restaurateur, chef and cooking instructor, to the rescue!

Kirschenbaum has worked diligently for the last few years to compile a creative collection of luscious recipes made with natural dairy alternatives such as soy, rice, oat, almond and coconut milks. Her new book Levana Cooks Dairy-Free! (Skyhorse Publishing) includes a wide range of both vegetarian and meat fare, including, lasagna, cauliflower au gratin, chicken breasts in mustard cream sauce, ice cream, cheesecakes, truffles and even tiramisu! Kirschenbaum takes into account that most people don’t want to spend all day in the kitchen, so she keeps her recipes simple, using fresh, natural ingredients that yield fantastic results without fuss or muss.

Beautiful full-colour photographs accompany each recipe, so if you’ve had problems with dairy dishes, now you don’t have to look at the pictures and dream. It’s time to eat and enjoy Kirschenbaum’s collection of natural, delicious recipes for your favourite “forbidden” foods!

And if you are planning a trip to New York City, check out Kirschenbaum’s cooking classes. For more information, visit her website at www.levanacooks.com.

 The roasted tomato soup is a wonderful way to use up the harvest of tomatoes from your garden and it’s delicious hot or cold.  

 
Do not attempt to make this soup with canned tomatoes. Roasting them along with the other vegetables is all you have to do in order to make this soup delicious. Make it when good, ripe tomatoes and basil are plentiful. The flavour of garlic mellows as it roasts.
 
Roasted Vegetables:
5 lb. tomatoes (7-8 large, or 16 plum), halved
3 heads garlic, points sliced off, leaving the cloves exposed
4 medium red onions, halved
3 red peppers, halved and seeded
1/4 cup olive oil
coarse sea salt to taste

6 cups water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups tomato juice
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tbsp. paprika
1 cup basil leaves, packed
2 good pinches saffron threads
freshly ground pepper to taste
4 cups soy or other non-dairy milk (rice, almond, grain, oat)
 

Preheat oven to 450 . Mix the first set of ingredients in a bowl, spread on a cookie sheet, and roast for about 45 minutes, until the vegetables look charred. When the garlic is cool enough to handle but still warm, squeeze the heads until all the pulp is forced out of its skin.

Place all the roasted vegetables, including the garlic pulp, and all the remaining ingredients except the milk, in a wide, heavy pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce the flame to medium and cook, covered, 30 minutes.

Add the milk and cook until just heated through. Cream in a blender or with an immersion blender until perfectly smooth. Adjust seasonings and consistency. Serve hot or chilled. Makes a dozen servings.

 
I love all my “babies” but this is one of my greatest triumphs. My daughter Bella recently asked me with great urgency whether I had thought of including this recipe in this book. “Whatever you do, don’t forget this one!” she said, smacking her lips and patting her belly. Okay, so no, it is not dietetic food, but it is somewhat leaner and is not laden with cholesterol as is its dairy counterpart. You will never want to go back to the dairy version. The strawberry sauce can be used with many other desserts (ice cream, pound cake, bread pudding, etc.)
 
Crust:
2 packages graham crackers (about 10 oz. total)
1/2 cup oil
Batter:
4 containers Tofutti brand cream cheese
1 container Tofutti brand sour cream
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
 

Preheat oven to 375. Make the crust: In a food processor, grind the graham crackers and the oil to a fine powder. Press the ground mixture hard into the bottom of a 10-inch round spring form pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan and reduce the temperature to 325.

In a food processor or with an electric mixer, cream all the batter ingredients until smooth (not longer) and pour over the crust. Bake 1 hour and 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the cake inside 2 more hours, without ever opening the oven. Take out and chill completely. Serve alone or with strawberry sauce (recipe follows).

 
Strawberry Sauce:
1 (12-oz.) bag frozen unsweetened strawberries (or raspberries, strained to remove the seeds)
1 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup creme de cassis (from liquor stores)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. cornstarch (or potato starch or arrowroot), mixed with a little water until dissolved
 
Bring all but the last ingredient to a boil. Reduce the flame to low, add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring, until just thickened and the mixture is no longer cloudy, about 1 minute.
Puree in a blender or with an immersion blender until smooth. Cool completely before serving. Makes about 3 1/2 cups or 16 servings.

Italian for “pick-me-up,” probably because it puts together three of our favourite, intense, robust flavours: rum, chocolate and coffee (please don’t try to substitute any of them), this dessert is so fabulous that I never bother to make the original dairy version. It’s also healthier, thanks to my staunch ally – tofu. When you serve it, don’t tell anybody about the tofu until they have tasted and raved about it.

It’s fine to use good store-bought sponge cake. Although sponge cake is not as pretty as ladyfingers, I prefer it because it maintains its shape better when soaked in the espresso and brandy. Lining the mould with plastic wrap allows very easy unmoulding; just pull up the sides and the cake will lift right up. The chocolate must be only the best, as always! To chop chocolate, scrape the block vertically with a sharp knife; it will fall off in little shards or curls. Once you have all the ingredients in place, the dessert takes only a few minutes to assemble. Try your best to make this dessert a few hours before serving time, or even the day before, in order to give the dessert ample time to soak up all the flavours.

 
1 1/4-lb. store-bought sponge cake
1 lb. silken tofu, thoroughly drained and dried with layers of paper towels
2 tbsp. oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 container Tofutti brand cream cheese
2 1/2 tbsp. instant espresso powder, dissolved in 2/3 cup hot water
1/4 cup brandy, rum, or bourbon
8 oz. best quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
 

Preheat oven to 375. Slice the sponge cake in half-inch thick pieces and toast in the oven for about 15 minutes, turning the slices over once, until medium-brown on all sides. Let cool.

In a food processor, process the tofu with the oil and sugar until perfectly smooth. Add the cream cheese, and process for a few more seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Combine the coffee mixture and brandy in a container equipped with a spout, such as a glass measuring cup.

Grease a 2-quart (8-cup) loaf pan and line with plastic wrap, letting the sides overhang. Line the bottom completely with slices of cake, trimmed to fit tightly. Pour half of the coffee mixture evenly and carefully over the cake. Spread half of the tofu mixture evenly over the cake. Sprinkle half of the grated chocolate over the tofu mixture. Repeat: cake, coffee, tofu mixture, chocolate.

Fold the overhanging plastic wrap toward the centre of the mould. Refrigerate a few hours until set. Unmould and slice. Makes 12 generous servings

   
Norene Gilletz is a cookbook author, cooking teacher and food consultant. For updated information about her services, call 416-226-2466 or visit her website at http://www.gourmania.com.