Charoset and more

I realize that posting a charoset recipe AFTER the seders is a bit late, but with all the craziness leading up to my seders I didn’t have a chance to post my recipe and photos.  I started with a traditional charoset then decided to do a bit of a twist in the end.  Traditional charoset is made with usually one type of apples, a sweet red wine, walnuts, and cinnamon.  You can either chop your apples and walnuts by hand or put them in a food processor to pulse mix.  I prefer a chunky charoset so I did mine by hand, but if you prefer more of a “paste”, go with the processor.

Charoset Ingredients:

• 6 apples (I used two each of Gala, Macintosh, and Fuji)
• 1/4 bottle of semi sweet red wine for Passover (cheap is good)
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon (more or less to taste)
• 3/4 cup toasted chopped walnuts
• Optional ingredients: dried dates, preserved lemon
  

  Basic Ingredients

Spread the walnuts out on a lined baking sheet.  Set the oven to 350 F and put the pan in.  After 10 minutes shake the pan to turn the walnuts.  You will know when they are done as you will smell the nuts toasted.

Toasting Walnuts

Finely chop the apples in a small dice.  You could use your mandoline to either do even slices or julienne the apples then dice them further.  To the apples add the cinnamon and the 1/4 of a bottle of wine.  You want the apples coated, but not drowned in the wine.  When the walnuts have cooled, chop them in a rough chop  and add to the apples.

Apples in wine

If you want to change up your charoset this year, take 5 (or more or less) dried dates and chop them.  Add these to the mixture.  I also used some of my preserved lemon peel to add a punch to the charoset.  I loved the taste, but you could used just some lemon rind instead.  Make this at LEAST 24 hours before you are going to serve it.  This allows the flavors to really meld together.

Optional ingredients

 

Now begs the question as to what to do with the rest of the bottle of wine.  Hopefully you did not purchase a very good bottle.  So, drinking is out of the question.  I used mine for a dessert.  I made poached pears in wine.  It’s an EASY dessert, I promise.  For each person prepare half a pear.  Chop a pear in half and spoon out the seeds.  Place the pears cut side down in a pan and add the rest of the bottle of wine and a few cinnamon sticks.  You can do this in the beginning of the day to let the pears soak up the wine.  After the dinner has cooked put the covered pears in the oven at 350 F.  While you’re eating dinner the pears will cook and be ready.  Place a pear and a bit of wine on a plate.  Top with a bit of honey, whipped cream, or mascarpone.  This can even be served at room temperature, so it’s really a SUPER easy dish with little to prepare and big rewards.

Related articles

• Sephardic Charoset (jewishmothercooking.wordpress.com)
• Poached Pears (Pastry Pal blog)

Vegan Moussaka

Well, Passover is here.  This year I was in charge of the main dish for the vegetarians/vegans the first seder.  I’m off eggs and limit my dairy intake.  But apparently my sister has developed a lactose intolerance and a tree nut allergy.  Plus she doesn’t like mushrooms.  So my ideas for the main dish started to shrink considerably.  I’d had a vegetarian moussaka recently and thought I could recreate it for Passover using a milk substitute that is ok for Passover.  I got my inspiration for the recipe from the Avalon Wine website.   A word of warning.  I mostly keep Passover.  I don’t eat anything that’s specifically prohibited, but the milk I used did not have a kosher for Passover hecksher on it.  Flax has been approved by Star-K as ok for Passover, so I used the “milk” as my base for the bechamel.  If I didn’t have to deal with the tree nut allergy, I would have used almond milk, which you can find with a hecksher or make your own.  Another option would be to use cashew “cheeze” instead of a bechamel sauce.

Moussaka Ingredients:

• 1 medium eggplant
  

  Moussaka Ingredients

• 2 medium/large potatoes
• 1/2 onion
• 2-4 garlic cloves
• 28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Using a mandoline cut the eggplant and the potatoes into even slices.  Place the eggplant in a collandar with salt to draw out some of the bitterness.  If you cut the potatoes at the same time as the eggplant, you can put the potatoes in a bowl of water to prevent the potatoes from browning.

In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil then add the chopped onion and the garlic cloves.  Heat until the onions are transluscent.  Add the salt, peppers, oregano, and cinnamon to the pan then the tomatoes.  Cook for about 10 more minutes.

Grease a pan and add a layer of the potatoes, the sauce, then the eggplant (that you’ve since rinsed off and patted dry).  Then add more sauce, potatoes, then eggplant.  Finish with the last of the sauce.  Cover the dish and put at 375 F for one and a half hours.  While that is baking, make the bechamel.

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Vegan Bechamel

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3.5 tbsp matzo meal (I used whole wheat)
• 2 cups milk of choice

In a saucepan heat the oil over medium high heat.  Add the matzo meal and whisk together.  The mixture should clump together.  Slowly add the milk to the pan and whisk well.  Lower the heat to medium low and allow  the mixture to thicken.  You will know the bechamel is  complete when it sticks to the back of a spoon.  It will thicken up more as it sits, so if need be, add more milk to thin out the sauce.

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When the vegetables are completed spoon the bechamel on to the veggies and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes and allow the bechamel to brown more.

Bechamel added

If you have used whole wheat matzo meal (or maybe whole wheat flour) the color will not be the appealing light brown.  It’s more of a brownish-grey in the end.  It’s not a really pretty dish.  But, it is good.  Like we had non-vegans at the seder who work at a restaurant and had seconds.  I’d say that was a hit .

Finished product

Vegetable Tian

I originally wanted to make this recipe for Thanksgiving this next year.  I have it in my recipes on my Pinterest as a recipe that I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving.  With Passover being here, I wanted to make something visually appealing and delicious as well, so this recipe seemed to fit the bill.  There is nothing in it that makes it specifically FOR Passover, which is why I like it even more!

If you’ve never used a mandolin before, you are missing out.  It makes slicing vegetables in precise widths SO much easier.  And there are other inserts to use, including ones to julienne as well.  Caution: BE CAREFUL.  I totally sliced my thumb while slicing my potato.  Secondly, only FIRM vegetables can be used on a mandolin.  Do not try to cut the tomato unless you have a really nice one with serrated edges or something of that sort.  My $20 mandolin from Bed, Bath, and Beyond is not the most sophisticated piece of equipment.

• 2 TBSP  olive oil (divided)
• 1 medium onion diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 russet potatoes, unpeeled
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• 3 large roma tomatoes
• Salt, black pepper, and thyme
• Optional: parmesan cheese or possibly nutritional yeast

Preheat the oven to 375.  Coat your baking dish with olive oil non-stick spray (use a round baking dish since it looks better).  Heat a pan to medium then add the olive oil and onion.  Cook until the onions are translucent, about eight minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two, until the garlic is softened.  Add the onion and garlic to the baking dish.

Slice the potatoes, zucchini, squash, and tomatoes in 1/4 in slices.  Or use the mandolin.  In a single layer, arrange the vegetables in the pan on top of the onions and garlic.  If using a circular dish, layer one vegetable on top of the next, leaving a slight overhang with each vegetable.  Keep going around the edge and then add to the middle.  Season the vegetables with salt, pepper, and thyme.  Drizzle the last tablespoon of olive oil on top.

Cover the dish with tinfoil and cook for 30-40 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through.  Uncover the dish and grate the cheese on top if you plan on using it.  Bake for another 25-30 minutes to allow the dish to crisp up.  Enjoy!

Note: I cooked this dish to the point of cooking the potatoes through, then planned on finishing it at my mom’s, which would crisp up the veggies.  It didn’t happen.  It also wasn’t in the oven long enough.  So, make sure you get it nice and crisp at the end so it doesn’t get soggy.

Carrot Macaroons

Well now that Passover is just about done, I am finally getting around to posting about my treats that I’ve been eating all week.  I figured cookies that included carrots are better for me than cookies that don’t.  Right??  They also happen to have coconut and chocolate on top.  I found the inspiration for the recipe on No Meat Athlete‘s blog.  The recipe that’s posted is gluten free, but the one I made is not.  Next time I make them, I think I’ll leave out the matzoh meal.  Again, it might be that I’m using whole wheat matzoh meal, but the taste of the meal definitely came through in the flavoring.

(makes 24-30)

• 1 packed cup grated raw carrots (about 2-3 medium carrots)
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 cups coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup matzoh meal
• 1/4 cup potato starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 TBSP sweetener of choice (agave, honey, maple syrup, or molasses)
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  The easiest way to grate your carrots is to use a food processor.  If you don’t have one, you can grate by hand, but it will take awhile.

Add all ingredients except the chocolate into a bowl and mix.  Split the vanilla bean with a paring knife and using the tip, scrape the insides of the bean into your dough.  The coconut oil is a semi-solid and therefore it might be easiest to incorporate by mixing with your hands.  It allows the oil to liquify into the mix.

Grease a baking sheet or use a silicone baking sheet for easy removal of the cookies later.  Using WET hands, roll your dough into balls and place on your sheet. Bake for 30 minutes.

When the cookies are done, melt your chocolate and either dip the tops of the cookies or use a spoon to put a dollop on top.  Enjoy!

Options: Next time I think I’ll just use REAL vanilla flavoring rather than a bean.  I also think I won’t use the matzoh meal.

Chocolate Cherry Bites

Passover can be a difficult holiday, especially if you are vegetarian.  In years past I’ve spent much of the holiday eating a lot of dairy products.  This was also one of two times of the year I would also eat egg salad.  I wasn’t happy with it, but it seemed like the right thing to eat to get protein.  I’ve recently decided that I have no desire to eat eggs.  I haven’t given up all things (cookies) where eggs may be in, but I’m not actively cooking with them and I’m trying to avoid eggs as much as possible.

Welp, I needed to find something I could eat that was both portable, delicious, and had some protein in it.  I found this recipe from Oh She Glows.  I’ve eyed a few of her recipes, and I found this one to be very approachable and PERFECT for Passover.  The bonus is there is chocolate involved and I could use them for long run nutrition!

Chocolate Cherry Energy Bites

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw almonds
• 10 pitted dates
• 1/2 cup sweetened dried cherries
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 1 TBSP honey
• 1/4 cup chocolate
• 1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Add the almonds to the food processor and work almonds until they are in small pieces but not to the flour stage.  Remove 1/3 cup of the almonds for later.  Add in the dates and process until the mixture starts to come together.  Add in the cherries and process until they are incorporated into the mix.  Lastly, add in the pecans, honey, and chocolate.  If you are using pecans that have added salt, don’t add extra salt, or add it at this point as well.  Mix until all items are equally incorporated.  Pulse in the reserved almonds.

With WET hands, pull off some dough and roll into a ball.  You should be able to get 15 to 18 golf ball sized bites from this recipe.  The bites can be stored at room temp, in the fridge, or the freezer.

Engery Bites

I used these on a 15 mile run the other day (fyi, that sucked!) and they were amazing.  There’s something about chocolate that keeps you going .

Vegan Matzoh Ball Soup

So, my intent was to write multiple blog posts starting before Passover with all the food I was planning on making.  That obviously didn’t happen.  It seems no matter how much time before the holiday I start planning, I’m ALWAYS rushed.  It never ceases to amaze me.  And this year, I had off the WHOLE week before Passover started.  I did go on vacation from Sunday to Tuesday and had ran a half marathon on the Saturday before….  But still!

One of the first things I wanted to try to make was matzoh balls.  I knew I would not be making the soup til I came home from the seders as we were going to be in Delaware for both.  But, I wanted to try to at least get the kinks out of the veganized version of matzoh balls before I got too deep into cooking.

I took a three prong approach.  I was going to try three different binders/egg subs and see what works best.  As for the other parts of the matzoh balls, I used a package mix to keep the consistency between binders the same.  The first was 2.5 tbsp ground flax plus 3 tbsp water sub for an egg.  The second was 2.5 tbsp ground chia seeds plus 3 tbsp water sub for an egg.  The last was 1/4 cup of unsweetened applesauce as the sub for an egg.  In each bowl I mixed the egg sub, 1 tbsp olive oil, matzoh ball mix, and enough water to keep the dough together.  I then let each sit for 30 minutes in the fridge.

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Balls in!

At this point I got a pot of salted water going.  I actually used the base I was going to use for the soup anyway, so it seemed like a plus.  I got that water boiling.  After the 30 minutes in the fridge, I took the dough and rolled it (gently, being careful not to overwork) into as many golf ball sized balls as the dough would allow.  The flax and chia both had about 8 balls, whereas the applesauce only made about 4.  Into the water it went, I turned the heat down to a low simmer, and walked away for 30 minutes.

When I returned I saw nothing.  Well, I saw cloudy broth.  The matzoh balls had all disintegrated into the broth.  I dug in with a spoon and found some strange gelatinous balls sitting at the bottom of the pot.  I think they were the chia ones, but I just chucked the pot of gunk.  Ew.  I was REALLY discouraged about this!

Ball Failure

But I persevered.  My next thoughts were to either bake or pan fry/sauté the balls, but I really wanted to make them traditionally.  So, I tried a hybrid chia/flax creation and didn’t allow the mixture to over cook, and BAM! This was it!

Disclaimer: These matzoh balls are NOT like the kind your grandmother makes.  They are not big, fluffy and white.  Due to the whole wheat, chia, and flax the balls are much more chewy.  If you want a slightly more traditional, you could try regular matzoh meal versus whole wheat.

Matzoh Balls

• 1 package whole wheat matzoh ball mix
  • Option: ¾ cup whole wheat matzoh meal, ¼ tsp each salt, garlic powder, onion powder, white pepper, and baking soda/powder (whatever’s kosher for Passover)
• 1.5 TBSP ground chia seeds
• 4.5 TBSP ground flax seeds
• 1 TBSP olive oil (or up to ¼ cup)
• 6+ TBSP water

Mix together the chia, flax, and water to create the binder.  Add in the olive oil and dry mix.  If the dough doesn’t bind together, add more water 1 TBSP at a time until dough is just barely formed.  Set the dough aside in the fridge for 15 to 30 minutes.  Get a pot of salted water going to boil.  Just before adding the dough in, turn the heat down on the water to low so that there are no more bubbles, but it stays hot.  Form the dough into balls, making sure to not overwork the dough.  Drop in the water and cover.  Make sure the water doesn’t start bubbling again.  Cook for 20 minutes.

Success!