New York Times Magazine – Forty-Carat Cakes

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More Levana in the News

On SiriusXM with Rabbi Wechsler Teaches

A special Chol Hamoed treat! Check out my interview with Rabbi Wechsler Teaches on Sirius Radio!

Pre-Yom Kippur Recipes from The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple
By: Jewish Tribune

For a pre-fast menu, I make certain to select dishes that are at once simple, light, and not too pungent or salty or sweet. So no herring or lox or chalvah, you hear? You might get so attached to my quick minestrone version that you will ignore the time-honored time-consuming original.
Honey cake needs no introduction in our Jewish circles, except mine has a powerful secret ingredient that makes it an award-winning beyond-Tishrei treat… you’ll see!

Read the full article here.

Pre-Yom Kippur Recipes from The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple
By: Jewish Tribune

For a pre-fast menu, I make certain to select dishes that are at once simple, light, and not too pungent or salty or sweet. So no herring or lox or chalvah, you hear? You might get so attached to my quick minestrone version that you will ignore the time-honored time-consuming original.
Honey cake needs no introduction in our Jewish circles, except mine has a powerful secret ingredient that makes it an award-winning beyond-Tishrei treat… you’ll see!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Jewish Tribune

Her book, similarly, does many things at once. Kirschenbaum presents her mindset for shopping, eating and dieting, along with many delicious recipes in her fourth cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen. She explains that she is not just in the business of cooking; she is also in the business of cooking up a philosophy.

“You could be eating something delicious. That’s my motto. You could be eating something fantastic right now at a fraction of the price, if only you were not always told repeatedly, ‘don’t bother, we can make it for you more delicious,’” she said.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Today’s Diet and Nutrition

There’s nothing unusual about cookbooks on whole foods. But in Lévana Kirschenbaum’s excellent new book,The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure & Simple, the whole foods are prepared in the kosher tradition with a gourmet spin. The result is healthy and delicious dishes that will appeal to a broad audience of kosher and nonkosher cooks. As a bonus for people who follow a kosher and gluten-free diet, Kirshenbaum, who is a kosher gourmet cooking teacher and restaurateur, provides an index of more than 250 gluten-free adaptations.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review)
By: This American Bite

My book-case is yawning with the weight of the artisan style cook books that have caught my attention and been added to my collection.  Amongst my favorites, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen by the culinary genius, Lévana Kirschenbaum. Levana elevates food to highlight the purity of the ingredients without sacrificing on taste.  Lévana’s philosophy of cooking, the cure is in the pot aligns with my feelings of natural and healthy eating.  We live in a generation of convenience driven decisions and the art of dinner is being lost in too many homes.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review and Recipes)
By: Kosher Food Allergies

What a fantastic way to combine 2 Rosh Hashana simanim (apples and cabbage). This cool looking (and tasting) salad is a refreshing side for a big yom meal. Go ahead, lighten things up with this healthy and allergy friendly salad.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review and Recipes)
By: Aish.com

Above all, there’s one thing that affords you all this streamlining, deliciously, painlessly and effortlessly, and of course beautifully: Use only the best. Meaning, the real thing. And while food-shopping and cooking, hum to yourself, as I do, the immortal song: “Ain’t nothin’ like the real thing!” Shana Tova and enjoy the recipes!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Susan Tomchin/Jewish Woman Magazine

Just say the first name of this woman, and everyone in New York City Jewish cooking circles will take notice. Lévana Kirschenbaum is a legend for her catering, her cooking classes and the upscale kosher restaurant she co-owned for 32 years. This coffee-table book, which features dramatic color photos is filled with a fascinating collection of recipes. In addition to the recipes, she offers valuable advice on healthy eating. One tip she shares (which she attributes to her son, who lost 60 pounds and has never regained it): “Eat things that take time to eat!”

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review and Recipes)
By: Sybil Kaplan/Jewish Community Voice

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen makes a great addition to any home. This cookbook explores recipes that contribute to a wholesome lifestyle. Her philosophy is minimal use of processed and packaged foods and incorporation of “all the ingredients that are good for you in your daily food preparation.” One of the nicest things about the recipes is the personal comments. The other special touches are the paragraphs scattered throughout the book with discussions on topics such as turmeric, sea salt, roasting garlic, orange flower and rose water, roasting peppers and many more.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Made Pure and Simple (Review and Giveaway)
By: Busy in Brooklyn

Levana Kirschenbaum, author of The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen, is a cook after my own heart. She likes to cook healthy food, with minimal ingredients, in a short span of time. That’s not to say that this cookbook is filled with quick-fix dinners. It certainly is not. While it may include 15 variations of 3-ingredient chicken dishes (which I’m thrilled about!), it’s also got plenty of gourmet recipes that require an array of flavorful ingredients.

Read the full article here.

Becomes Happy Camper
By: Levana Kirschenbaum/Collive.com

Before summer rolled in, I asked my granddaughter Musia what her summer plans were (in case you didn’t know: children’s summer plans are much more exciting than their parents’) and she told me, with great glee, there was a brand new camp starting in Crown Heights, and she was going to be one of the brave pioneers. She went on to describe the upcoming activities, and I was thinking, boy this sounds right up my alley!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen
Reviewed by: Maron L. Waxman/Jewish Book Council 

An avid advocate of home cooking from scratch, Kirschenbaum serves up a host of the uncomplicated flavorful dishes that she developed on this basis. More important than the recipes, however, are her kitchen skills and practical advice—how to make and always have on hand a variety of salad dressings, spice rubs, marinades, and other flavor enhancers that make any dish notable. An example of the practicality and flexibility of her approach is found in Stove-top Chicken Variations, which also apply to fish and meat. With just three ingredients—chicken pieces, celery, and turmeric, plus water—Kirschenbaum provides a basic recipe then gives fourteen variations by changing the celery for another ingredient. Variety is also achieved with a wide range of flavorings—Moroccan, Japanese, Indian, Chinese. And treats are by no means neglected; beverages, breads, and desserts are particularly appealing.

Read the full article here.

Secrets of Success
Interview with Food Service East

An ongoing series of interviews with chefs, restaurateurs and foodservice operators, Secrets of Success looks at the paths taken to professional recognition and acclaim. Her childhood in Morocco influenced the way Levana Kirschenbaum, former restaurateur, cookbook author and educator, looked at food. “All meals were taken together and every single meal was cooked (not bought or microwaved or whatever).” Her mother’s skill in the kitchen made an early and lasting impression.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Story: Eating Healthy with Levana
Lakewood Home/C. Baumwolspiner

While I don’t claim to be a maiven on restaurants in Manhattan, someone I know who does once told me that the best place to eat in Manhattan is ‘Levana.’ That was almost 3 decades ago, yet she continued to repeat this sentiment year after year on her annual visit to New York, despite the  ever-increasing number of ‘classy’ restaurants she now had to choose from. Although ‘Levana’ closed its doors in 2009,  its founding owner and namesake, Mrs. Levana Kirschenbaum is still actively involved in the food ‘business’ both as a teacher and a prolific writer of recipe books. With her latest book, ‘The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen’  currently booming in Lakewood bookstores, Levana graciously agreed to share with readers some of her ideas about cooking, along with a sampling of healthy and delicious recipes that are ideal for the Nine Days

Easy Summer Shabbat Entertaining
Levana on Kosher.com

The preoccupation with dreaming up wonderful and easy summer dishes started very early this year for me. Recently I found myself listening, rather incredulously, to the weather report on the news, one Thursday morning, and the forecast was: Temperature in the high eighties. We were in the last Shabbos of April, and I thought to myself, what’s up with that? What happened to spring?  Sure enough, the odd prediction turned out to be accurate, and then some. My children and grandchildren were spending that Shabbos with us, and I was determined to serve food that would lend itself to the scorching temperatures, easily and effortlessly, and as always (you know me!) nutritiously, while leaving us ample time, both after Friday’s cooking and after Shabbos lunch, to find refuge in the balmy shadow of the beautiful blooming trees in Riverside Park.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Whole Foods Cookbook
By: Sandy Eller/The Jewish Press

A pioneer in kosher upscale dining, Levana Kirschenbaum made a name for herself as co-owner of the Manhattan restaurant that bore her name for thirty years. While Levana’s, which opened in the late 1970’s, closed its doors in early 2000, it’s proprietress has remained a fixture in the kosher cooking world, offering private cooking demonstrations and weekly cooking classes in Manhattan – and has authored four cookbooks. Levana’s latest volume, a four hundred page full color cookbook published by Feldheim, titled The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen, is accompanied by a DVD featuring two of her cooking classes, showing simple yet delicious menus for Shabbos and Pesach and should be required reading for every home cook.

Read the full article here.

Healthy Recipes from Levana’s New Gorgeous Cookbook
By: Aish.com 

Levana Kirschenbaum’s new The Whole Foods Cookbook is a gorgeous cookbook with a gajillion recipes. It’s nearly 400 pages long! You can tell that this is truly one of Levana’s life’s works, written straight from the heart with love. You can hear Levana talking to you throughout the book. It’s written as if she’s sitting across the kitchen table from you, giving advice and encouragement while you cook.

The recipes are outstanding. Each one comes with multiple variations – so if you like a recipe, you can make it again…but a little differently.

Read the full article here.

Two Refreshing Summer Thirst Quenchers: Flavored Infused Water & Metromint
By: The VIV Magazine: 

While perusing The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen by Lévana Kirschenbaum, I fell in love with a photo in the book of glass pitchers displaying rosemary, mint leaves and cucumber. In her cookbook, Kirschenbaum says she simply adds one of the following to a pitcher of cold water (ice optional): sliced lemon, lime, mint, basil, sliced cucumber, sliced apples, ginger, lemongrass or rosemary. “So pretty, simple, refreshing and delicious: yum!” she says.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Recipes on The Washington Post
B
y: Bonnie S. Benwick/The Washington Post

The humble can of tuna continues to inspire recipes; this one, from Levana Kirschenbaum’s comprehensive new book, “The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen,” is a keeper because it uses both the fennel bulb and its fronds. White wine, lemon zest and juice balance the flavors of this pasta dish.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Recipes on Kosher Scoop
B
y: Kosher Scoop

There are quite a few of Levana’s recipes from her latest cookbook The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple featured on the Kosher Scoop. This wonderful selection of goodies are all made with the delicious pseudo-grain: quinoa.

Read the full article here.

What’s Cooking with Luca Featuring Levana Kirschenbaum (Radio Interview)
B
y: Chef Luca Paris

Click here to hear Levana’s radio interview with Chef Luca Paris.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review and Recipes)
By: The Kilted Chef

To sum this book up, it features honest, real food, prepared using simple techniques that let the food speak for its self. Many recipes offer alternate ingredients or methods that make the recipe suitable for Passover, another great feature is that many of the recipes come with options to make the recipes gluten free as well. A huge draw for me was the authors Moroccan heritage, this shines through in many recipes offering up foods with the warmth of saffron, cinomon and tumeric,resulting in food that is the ultimate in comfort!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Demystifying Foods From Scratch
B
Viv Magazine

When we think of comfort foods, too often heavy, fatty dishes come to mind. Yet in The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen (Lévana Cooks, 2012), author and chef Lévana Kirschenbaum recalls that her mother would say, “The cure is in the pot,” from oatmeal for stomachaches to a baked sweet potato for nausea. The book takes an updated approach to food cures, providing healthful recipes that utilize unprocessed foods for nutritious and flavorful dishes.

Read the full article here.

The Zen of Kitchen Mastery: Levana at De Gustibus
B
y Sharon Matten/The Kosher Scene: 

As Sal Rizzo (Owner/Director of De Gustibus) so succinctly stated, “Levana, you’re very Zen in the kitchen.” He totally ‘got it’! What makes Lévana’s recipes so magnificent is their utter simplicity; like her un-garnished use of wholesome fresh healthy ingredients – roots and all – or opting for basic easy tools like food processors and shallow pots and bowls – that facilitate expedience and functionality in prep, or not overwhelming a dish with too many ingredients, thus silhouetting the key flavors, allowing their fine characteristics to fully emerge. It’s a style of cooking where less really is more.

Read the full article here.

Chicken and Mushrooms, Herb Roasted Salmon Medallions, Preserved Lemons: A Review
B
Kosher Everyday: 

I made the chicken for Shabbat dinner last week.  It was fantastic!!!  It was amazingly easy to make and the taste was incredible.  I loved that it was fresh, healthy, and only needed a few ingredients which I already had in the house.  To quote Levana – YUM!!

All in all, Levana’s book is packed with terrific (mostly) healthy recipes (I had to raise one eyebrow really high when I came across the hot chocolate mix with 3 cupsof sugar….LOL!)  I’m really looking forward to making some of the dressings, soups and desserts – they all look fabulous and I’m sure will taste delicious!!  I highly recommend The Whole Foods Cookbook, it’s a great way to add healthy, fast, dishes to your family’s meals – and it’s pretty to look at too!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen – (Review and Recipes)
B
y My Side of Life: 

I have been through this cookbook from to cover and cannot find anything I don’t like about it. Nearly every recipe comes with variations. There’s lists of substitutions for ingredients, if you don’t have them on hand or simply happen to just feel wild and want to switch things up. I absolutely love that this cookbook includes the variations. One recipe may have up to ten (or more!) suggestions on how to cook it. Even the bread section has variations, and you all know how much I love bread!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
B
y: Jill Nussinow/The Veggie Queen

I “met” Levana Kirschenbaum on Twitter when I posted something about self-publishing a cookbook. She told me that she’d send me a copy of her cookbook. Her book is absolutely top notch, hard cover with color photos throughout. You cannot tell that the book is self-published.

While the book is based on Kosher cooking, there are many vegetarian and vegan recipes in it. I am thrilled to be able to offer a copy to someone who posts here as to why they’d like to win the book, and accompanying DVD.

Read the full article here. (Check out the comments)

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
B
y: Melinda Strauss/Kitchen Tested

Where do I start with master chef, restauranteur, teacher and cookbook author Levana Kirchenbaum’s new cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen?!? Let’s just start with the incredible size and weight of Levana’s latest cookbook, which is all about a healthy, whole foods approach to home cooking and eating. The cookbook is like a novel you can’t wait to dig right in to! Levana explains that “this book is my baby and the culmination of my life work” and you can truly feel the heart and soul of every recipe as you turn the pages. Levana’s food makes you want to throw away the frozen fish sticks and boxed mac n’ cheese.  Whether or not you keep Kosher, you will WANT this cookbook!

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
B
y: Shifra Klein/Collive.com

Cooking from scratch wins the race. You simply need to use real ingredients to fun dishes. And most importantly, the best secret of all: the single greatest diet and nutrition tool is behavior modification, and the single greatest behavior modification tool is acquiring a better knowledge of what we are ingesting and feeding to our loved ones. Why not learn to relate to food, since we use it all day long, every day of our lives? Understanding our food is easy, fun, delicious, and liberating. Plus the health rewards are endless and permanent. You never need to lose your figure on a delicious dinner.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Recipes on Today’s Diet and Nutrition
B
y: Today’s Diet and Nutrition

With this dish, I am doing nothing more than group the veggies many of us wouldn’t imagine eating raw. The result is a real triumph, so get ready to adopt them wholeheartedly into the family! You would enjoy beets and turnips much more often, even raw, if only you would grate them very fine in a food processor. The salad will keep well a good couple of days.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Deborah Madison, cookbook author of Seasonal Fruit Desserts from Orchard, Farm and Market

Levana, your new book is amazing – so thorough in scope and some good stories, too. (Always important!) Beautiful photos as well – my goodness. I’m so impressed that you published this yourself. That is truly a work of love and I’m honored to own and use The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen. You cover so many bases that are helpful, but not didactic, which I especially appreciate. And “YES” on keeping a hammer in the kitchen! I’m headed to the kitchen right now to make your Millet Fritters. Congratulations!

To Spice Up Seder, Mix Old with New
By: Faith Kramer/JWeekly.com

I serve a combination of family favorites and traditional Jewish standards during Passover, but I always try to mix in something new. Lévana Kirschenbaum’s Moroccan Fish Soup combines many of my favorite flavors. Kirschenbaum, who ran a famed gourmet kosher restaurant for 30 years, is a food blogger and cooking teacher and has written four cookbooks, including the newly updated, self-published “The Whole Foods Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure & Simple,” source of this recipe.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Recipe on Shiksa in the Kitchen
By: Shiksa in the Kitchen

You must have read somewhere there’s no good fish soup without that verboten shellfish, but wait till you taste this one! It simply has too much going for it to be missing anything.
I eliminate the broth-making step by wrapping the heads and tails of fish loosely in cheesecloth (you can also use expandable muslin bags- fill them up like a sock, and tie the open end). Cook them right along with the soup, then discard them without any mess, no need for a second pot. This is every bit as interesting as the traditional French version containing shellfish. Besides, the Moroccan version never had any.

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Health News Digest

With this cookbook, Lévana embarked on her most ambitious journey yet: to present a beautiful, comprehensive compilation of her life’s work, the culmination of thirty years of developing simple, healthy and delicious recipes, her Magnum Opus as she calls it. The hundreds of dishes she shares in the book are at once economical and easy to prepare, creating the must-have cookbook for anyone looking to create delicious, health-promoting meals.

In addition to her native Moroccan cuisine, Lévana recipes include Indian, Italian, French and Chinese cuisine.

Read the full article here.

Levana’s Recipes on Gourmet Kosher Cooking 

Levana’s Purim menu from GKC friend Levana, yes, the Levana Kirschenbaum, best-selling author, restaurant owner, private instructor and culinary expert. Recently, I had the opportunity to enjoy one of her classes where she prepared the best Miso soup ever (more on that after Pesach) and she agreed to share some healthy, wholesome kosher recipes with GKC readers. Want more from Levana? You should, visit her athttps://levanacooks.com/and make sure to pre-order her new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen or try one of my all-time favorite books, Levana’s Table.

Read the full article here.

Recipe by Levana on Kosher Scoop

With this dish, I am doing nothing more than group the veggies many of us wouldn’t imagine eating raw. The result is a real triumph, so get ready to adopt them wholeheartedly into the family! You would enjoy beets and turnips much more often, even raw, if only you would grate them very fine in a food processor. The salad will keep well a good couple of days.

Levana’s Seaweed, Kale and Beet Salad was featured on Kosher Scoop. 

Read the full article here.

The Kid-Friendly Recipe: Chicken Vegetable Soup From “The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen
By: Jen BetterleyParentmap.com

In the midst of Passover, we couldn’t have been more excited to recieve a copy of chef Lévana Kirschenbaum’s latest delicious cookbook, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen. (Amazing timing, we know!)

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen, cited as Kirschenbaum’s magnum opus, is filled to the brim with great family meal ideas, and features an inspirational tone that will encourage even the most unsure of home cooks to tackle the easy-to-make recipes. And, with Passover in mind, we’ve got a delicious sneak peek just for you! Read on for Kirschenbaum’s homemade recipe for gluten-free, kosher chicken vegetable soup — perfect for the holiday week, spring rainy days, or when you’re just in need of a little nutritious warm-up. Bon appétit!

Read the full article here.

Recipes by Levana on Diabetic Life 

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple was featured on dlife.com, a website that specializes in diabetic lifestyle! The column presents three of Levana Kirschenbaum’s delicious recipes.

Harissa

Steel-Cut Oat Soup

Broccoli Cauliflower Kugel 

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple (Review)
By: Sweeties Freebies

Many of us are getting bathing suit ready and some diets can have a tremendous effect on our health. Whiles some foods cause inflammation, other foods may fight inflammation. Foods that ARE healthy for us can be made into fantastic culinary delights thanks to the recipes found inside The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple.

Read the full article here.

Simplicity and Elegance Rolled Into One – Cooking With Levana 
By: The Kosher Scene

Traditionally women have slaved away cleaning and cooking for Passover, almost making this season into something akin to an Egyptians’ Revenge. While there is no doubt that celebrating the sedorim (aside from the religious reasons) is beautiful, getting there is not easy. While we can’t make your cleaning either easier or faster, Lévana – in the video below – shows us how to cook faster, easier and still enjoy a feast!

Read the full article here.

Levana, Kosher Cooking’s Renaissance Woman
By: Culinary Kosher

We all know Levana Kirschenbaum from her legendary kosher upscale restaurant that graced the Upper West Side for over thirty years. Levana served gourmet dishes that defied imagination. But Levana is far more than a successful restaurateur. In fact when it comes to comes to food there is little that Levana doesn’t do. She is not only a top notch chef with incredible kosher recipes but also a remarkable entrepreneur.

Read the full article here.

Blogger Spotlight: Lévana Kirschenbaum
By: Hadassah Sabo Milner/Joy of Kosher With Jamie Geller 

In this delightful interview, Levana shares her earliest cooking memories, favorite kitchen tools and best tips! 

Read the full article here.

The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: A Review
By: Lois Held & Roberta Sher/The Kosher Eye

All of the recipes and ingredients featured in the cookbook are based on that premise. The book embraces a lifestyle, a way of cooking, that encourages healthful eating habits. Lévana has always been a culinary pioneer and for years, through her recipes and cooking classes, has espoused the benefits of healthful cooking.

Read the full article here.

Biscotti
By: Chaim Szimdt/The Kosher Scene

Biscotti (or biscotto in singular) are Italian cookies which are baked twice, once by first baking in a loaf, then slicing the loaf and baking the slices. They are deliciously crunchy and are just perfect for dipping into dessert wine or coffee.

They are one of my favorite breakfast treats, sometimes I’ll even have them as dessert with wine, after a special dinner. Here is Lévana‘s easy and scrumptious recipe.

Read the full article here.

Cooking Glorious Tajines with Levana 
By: Liz Rueven/ Kosher Like Me

Levana is almost always referred to by her first name. Like another favorite, extroverted star, her name rhymes with Madonna. No connection. Levana is a legend in the kosher food world. She co-owned Levana Restaurant on the Upper West Side of Manhattan for 32 years where she introduced upscale, innovative kosher dining to a public that had previously settled for mediocre kosher experiences when eating in restaurants.

Her multicultural, boldly seasoned creations exposed, educated, and elevated our expectations. After 32 years, the restaurant closed and now Levana spends most of her professional time as a cooking teacher, cookbook author and traveling the country giving cooking demos. Her latest book is an adventuresome journey into healthy, easy to prepare, flexible dishes. The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen is a beta version currently and will be released in March with a few improvements.
Read the full article here.

The Cure Is In The Pot
By: Helen Schwimmer/ The Jewish Press
Levana Kirschenbaum, restaurateur, master chef, cooking teacher and author, has just published the ultimate cookbook, “The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen: Glorious Meals Pure and Simple.”This is her magnum opus, a book that takes kosher cooking to a whole new level with everything we ever needed to know about preparing healthy cuisine from soup to nuts.
Real the full article here.

Cookbook Review: The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen
By: Tara Barker/ A Baking Life
Cookbooks these days have become works of art. We display them on our coffee tables, give them our coveted, valuable kitchen counter space, we read them in bed as if they were gripping novels. Their pages are glossy, the recipes are illustrated by full-page color photographs, and we all try not to allow them to appear used. No dog-eared pages, no splatters of oil or smears of chocolate, no notes in the margins. No one wants to deface a work of art.
Read the full article here.

Gluten – the good and the bad
By Faye and Yakir Levy/ Jpost.com
What do I have to say about Gluten? Lots!
Read the full article here.

Rosh Hashana: Chef’s Moroccan background inspires festive dishes
by Lis Balmaseda; The Palm Beach Post
Levana was interviewed by the Palm Beach Pulse on High Holiday cooking.
Read the full article here.

Why Eat Foods That Make You Sick?
Levana talks about In Short Order, her cookbook that offers an alternative way of eating to the sugar-, salt- and fat-rich foods of all too many North American diets. Listen to Levana’s interview on BookPod here.

Noshing the Aisles of Kosherfest
by Amy Spiro; Jewish Week
Levana was interviewed at the KosherFest trade show about her new line of spelt baked goods.
Read the full article here.

Levana was honored as the Kosher Cook of the Week and her Carrot Ginger Soup Recipe was featured on JoyOfKosher.com

All About Lemonade
by Alisa Fleming; www.GoDairyFree.org
Lemons may technically be out of season, but we are definitely in the height of lemonade season. Whether you have managed to snag a bag of ripe lemons, or you are left with the bottle juice, Levana Kirschenbaum, author of Levana Cooks Dairy Free, has a lemonade recipe for you. The following basic recipe that follows includes her variations for sugar-free, maple, ginger, pineaple ginger, tea, and raspberry lemonade! MORE…

From Morocco to Manhattan
by Lynne Meredith Schreiber; WORLD JEWISH DIGEST
For Levana, then, the fact that the real food movement – explored in books like Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food – is having its cultural moment in the U.S. couldn’t be more gratifying. The best way to eat, the movement teaches, is as our ancestors did: simply whole foods, as fresh as possible and mostly plants. Levana has been on this bandwagon since before it even got rolling, and in fact, she was among the first to bring wholesome traditional eating to the kosher world. MORE…

At the End, Sweet Apples
by Candy Sagon; WASHINGTON POST
A Rosh Hashanah tradition among Jews of Eastern European origin is to eat a sweet apple dessert to signify hopes for a sweet new year.
Apple cake is a common choice, but this French apple flan is more unusual. It is made with chunks of tender apples surrounded by a firm, creamy custard. The custard can be made with soy milk instead of regular milk for those who prefer a non-dairy dessert. MORE…

LEVANA KIRSCHENBAUM
BFruitfull.com
[LEVANA] has devoted herself to spreading the good word about natural, elegant, and simple cooking to thousands of cooks of all stripes: kosher, dairy-free, and beyond. MORE…

A Lady Named Lévana: High Priestess of Kosher Gastronomy
by Judy Ross; NYBLUEPRINT
[LEVANA] has evolved into a vocal and vastly visible proselytizer for her personal cooking style, with its roots in her Moroccan heritage, its trunk solidly planted in the laws of kashrut, and its multiple branches reaching avidly into an array of contemporary culinary trends that celebrate fresh, light, and healthy. MORE…

Romancing the Stove
By Helen Zegerman Schwimmer
Watching Master Chef Lévana Kirschenbaum orchestrate a gourmet meal is like observing a maestro conducting an intricate symphony. MORE…

Cooking Up a Seder Storm on the Upper West Side
By Aimee Zeltzer; NYBLUEPRINT
“There are two ways of dealing with Pesach — cook, or be cooked (for). MORE…

Articles by Levana

Whole Foods Passover Recipes
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / Chabad.org
I grew up in a very modest household, but I remember fabulous food at every meal, especially on Passover. So much so, that—fast-forward more years than I care to admit—I actually wait for that time of year to showcase my culinary stars. So, what’s wrong with me? No, I don’t have one goody-goody bone in my body! Waiting for Passover to be over and slavery to be back, we are all familiar with; but actually waiting for it to come around? Get real, right? MORE…

Don’t Skip Dessert
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / Kallah Magazine
Dreading the heat generated by heating devices during the dog days of summer? Or dreading the heavy, cholesterol laden fare of the usual barbecue? Ah, this is when our creativity comes to the rescue, and rewards us with a feast. Cold foods, when properly and imaginatively composed, are so wonderful that I have no qualms whatsoever serving them a good part of the spring and all summer, even in the comfort of my own kitchen, to distinguished company. MORE…

Edible Gifts for Purim
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / CHABAD.ORG
Since I only have eyes for kosher, homemade and natural, Purim is perfect time to send a select few some fabulous, homemade, fun and useful goodies (did you say fun and useful? Of course! MORE…

Vegetable Soup
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / BFRUITFULL.COM
What’s leaner than chicken soup, but just as satisfying? A fresh vegetable soup. Whether you want to take the chill out of a cold, winter day or change up your Shabbat menu, this bowl of vegetarian heaven should satisfy. MORE…

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / BFRUITFULL.COM
Here’s a no-fail recipe for that childhood favorite. It’s sweet and simple and will rekindle fond memories for you and your family. MORE…

The Joy of Soy
by Lévana Kirschenbaum / EMUNAH Magazine
A year or so ago, I received an invitation to appear on a morning TV show. The theme? A blind tasting of my soy-based desserts, and their exact counterparts made in the conventional way. MORE…

Light and Luscious Shabat
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / BFRUITFULL.COM
Whenever there is an opportunity to save cooking or prepping time and still eat well with minimal or no loss of nutrition, I am the first to take it. MORE…

Potato Latkes; Overcoming the Fear of Frying
By Lévana Kirschenbaum / The Jewish Woman
You may have guessed it: I have nothing nice to say about frying. MORE…

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