Vegan Pistachio Halvah (really)

I was standing in my soul food kitchen recently, staring dumbfoundedly at the empty container of what only a short time before contained a kilo of pistachio halvah. Irit, I should note, is even more addicted to tchina than I am, and, with her sweet tooth, the halvah didn’t have a chance.

There has got to be a better way I thought. Cheaper, healthier, better. So I decided to make a batch on my own. Which, as it turns out, is way easier to pull off than you might think, just eyeballing this dish. And, since we were going to celebrate a family member’s birthday that following day, another vegan of course, I decided to go whole hog and make it as healthy as I could: Organic silan rather than honey, whole grain sesame paste, also organic, even locally-harvested pistachios, yes, organic as well. No added sugar, no salt, just a smidgen of vanilla.

The ah-ha moment for with this dish was simply how often it makes sense to cook and eat this way. Don’t get me wrong. I’m nowhere close to being a zealot and have a strong belief that one should be guided by what our bodies seem to be asking for — which means a whole host of things not on a vegan menu. But still: You make this vegan version of halvah — which turned out superb, by the way — and you have to ask yourself “why would I do this any other way?”.

It’s not a rhetorical question. When you have two versions of a particular dish and one is clearly the healthier choice without compromising on taste, what’s the resistance? What’s the fear factor, that we will somehow be kow-towing to some kneew-jerk aspect of cancel culture? I’ll have to get back to you on that one.