After 12 years as a vegan, I’ve reluctantly conceded that eggless matzah balls cannot rival the real deal during Passover, especially not in Ashkenazi kitchens like mine that strictly avoid chickpeas and other legumes over the eight days.

Micah Siva’s welcome and delightful new cookbook, Nosh: Plant-Forward Recipes Celebrating Modern Jewish Cuisine (The Collective Book Studio, $35), unfortunately doesn’t change that situation for me. Her Vegan Matzo Balls contain both chickpea liquid and chickpea flour. (Aquafaba, which is the liquid in a can of chickpeas, is one of the optimal egg replacements for successful vegan matzah balls.) And while Siva’s recipe makes for delicious vegan matzah balls for other times of the year, they don’t work for certain Jews on Passover.

But matzah balls aside, Siva offers many other intriguing recipes for a Passover considerably lighter on animal products.

“Plant forward,” explains the California-based registered dietitian, chef and Nosh with Micah blogger, “is a way of cooking and eating that emphasizes plant-based foods without limiting one’s diet to being vegetarian or vegan.”

Accordingly, some of the 80 recipes in the book contain eggs and/or dairy, clearly labeled as such. This includes Pesach dishes like Passover-Friendly All-Year Pancakes, Almond Flour Crepes and another interpretation of the holiday’s ne plus ultra soup—Floater Herbed Matzo Balls.

Looking for entirely vegan recipes for the holiday? A green leaf and a circled P at the top of a recipe makes it easy find those that are both vegan and suitable for Passover. The latter category, which includes legumes, accounts for more than half the book’s recipes.

“I see a lack of vegetarian Jewish cookbooks out there,” said Siva, a Hadassah member who opened her kitchen to a virtual cooking event with Adeena Sussman, Hadassah Magazine’s longtime food writer, last September. Sussman, whose newest book is Shabbat: Recipes and Rituals From My Table to Yours, wrote the foreword to Nosh.

Siva points out that any kosher meat meal usually features plenty of vegetarian, if not vegan, side dishes such as kugels—there are several in Nosh, such as pumpkin—and stews (check out the Carrot and Parsnip Tzimmes with Dates and Pecans). “That’s an overlooked aspect of what Jewish cuisine is,” she said, highlighting classic supporting dishes that are naturally vegetarian. “People don’t realize they’ve been doing this inadvertently in many of their dishes.”

As a vegetarian millennial, she added, “I’m eating so differently than my parents and grandparents did, but I still want to feel connected to Judaism through what is on my plate. I wrote the cookbook for people who feel the same way. And I wanted to have it out in time for Passover because I know how challenging Passover is.”

Whether you’re flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan or simply trying not to go into cholesterol overload on Passover, this appealing book will surely help you achieve your goal.

Your seder table could offer such delicacies as Siva’s Apple and Pear Charoset, Turmeric Vegetable Matzo Ball Soup, Vegan “Gefilte” Cakes, Spiced Cauliflower Chraime, Cast-Iron Potato and Caramelized Onion Kugel, Herbed Horseradish Salad, Passover Black and White Cookies and Passover Coconut Macaroons.

Here are two Nosh plant-based recipes I’m most eager to try this Passover:

Matzo Olive Oil Granola
Serves 6 to 8

3 sheets of matzo or 2 cups matzo farfel
1 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cashews, roughly chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
3 tablespoons chia seeds
3 tablespoons flax seeds
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup chopped dried fruits (any type)

Preheat the oven to 300°. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, break the matzo into small pieces. Add the almonds, cashews, walnuts, coconut, chia seeds and flax seeds and stir to combine.

In a small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, olive oil, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared sheet pan and spread in an even layer. Bake for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes, or until golden.

Immediately after removing from the oven, add the dried fruit, stirring to evenly distribute.  Let cool before transferring to jars or containers.

Vegan “Gefilte” Cakes
Makes 10 cakes

2 medium carrots, scrubbed, 1 roughly chopped
1/4 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 medium parsnip, peeled and roughly chopped
1 medium russet potato, peeled and roughly chopped
1/4 white onion, roughly chopped
1/4 cup raw cashews
1 sheet sushi nori, finely chopped
1/4 cup matzo meal
3 tablespoons flax meal
4 1/4 to 6 1/4 cups water, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon potato starch
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt, for serving
Horseradish, for serving

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse the chopped carrot, cauliflower, parsnip, potato and onion until they are the size of peas. Add the cashews to the food processor and pulse until well combined.

Transfer the vegetables to a medium bowl. Add the nori, matzo meal, flax meal, 1/4 cup of the water, pepper, salt, lemon zest, potato starch and baking powder and mix until combined. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Using a 1/4-cup measure, form the mixture into 10 patties.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Cook the patties until golden, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Transfer the patties to the prepared sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

Meanwhile, cut the remaining carrot into 1/4-inch slices. Combine the carrots and enough water to cover by 1 inch in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer and gently cook the carrots until tender. Drain and set aside.

Top the patties with the sliced carrot and serve with horseradish.

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 Jordana Benami