From: Bonnie H.

Dear Rabbi,

I am a vegetarian and it is abhorrent to me to have an animal leg on my table at Passover. I have been told that somewhere in the Talmud it says that a roasted beet can take the place of a roasted shank bone. Can you help me find the source?

Dear Bonnie H.,

The Talmud says (Pesachim 114b) that two cooked foods are to be placed along with the other traditional items on the Seder plate.

Rabbi Yosef explains that these two foods are to be meat: one is roasted to represent the Passover offering and the other is cooked to represent the festival offering.

Rabbi Huna says even beets and rice can be used for the two cooked foods.

The custom is to use a roasted shank bone to commemorate the Passover offering, and a boiled egg for the festival offering (Sh.A., O.Ch. 473:4).

If an egg is used instead of meat for the cooked item, perhaps a beet can replace meat for the roasted one.