What Am I, Pareve Liver?

It’s a tragedy, if you mean to keep kosher, that the beloved Jewish treat chopped chicken liver can’t be served at a meal that contains dairy products.

So vegetarian chopped liver--also known as mock chopped liver or pareve chopped liver--was devised as a substitute that can be served with either meat or dairy foods. In so doing, Jewish cooks created a whole range of vegetable appetizers that have an advantage over the original, because they have much less saturated fat and cholesterol.

Some people make their vegetarian chopped liver with green beans, some with mushrooms; others swear by a recipe using green peas. Israelis often use eggplant and occasionally zucchini. The vegetable is cooked and chopped, then combined with well-browned onions. Usually chopped nuts and grated hard-cooked eggs are added as well.

In my own mock liver recipe, I use garbanzo beans, green beans and a small number of walnuts. It’s quick, easy and can be made ahead.

Do any of these spreads really taste like chopped chicken liver? Personally, I don’t think so, but I don’t care. I enjoy them for what they are: delicious vegetable spreads.

In fact, I’m not sure they should even be called mock liver, because that can be a turn-off to liver-haters. Call them vegetable pa^tes or spreads instead and serve them on pita, challah or your favorite bread or scoop a portion onto a bed of salad greens garnished with cherry tomatoes.

Levy is the author of “The Low-Fat Jewish Cookbook” (Clarkson Potter, 1997).

BEAN AND WALNUT SPREAD

2 tablespoons oil

2 large onions, chopped

3/4 pound green beans, ends trimmed, beans snapped in half

Salt

3 cups cooked garbanzo beans or 2 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup walnuts

1/4 cup vegetable broth

1 hard-boiled egg, coarsely grated

Freshly ground pepper

* Heat oil in large skillet. Add onions and saute over medium heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes.

* Cook green beans in large pan of boiling salted water until very tender, about 10 minutes. Rinse with cold water and drain well.

* Chop green beans in food processor. Add garbanzo beans, onions, walnuts and broth and process until smooth. Transfer to bowl and lightly stir in egg. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve cold.

8 to 10 servings. Each of 10 servings:

150 calories; 67 mg sodium; 21 mg cholesterol; 7 grams fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams protein; 1.84 grams fiber.