Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Zucchini. We'll eat zucchini.

Our guests for first night of Passover are vegetarians.

Obviously, this means we'll do a dairy meal, but with Bad Cohen's current list of food sensitivities, I've been kind of stuck on what goes with matzah and cheese.

No potatoes.
No fish.
No nuts.
No tomatoes or peppers or eggplant.
He's also down on cumin, although that's just a taste thing.

And we're not sure if the guests do kitniot (we do, but Bad Cohen can't digest beans).
Obviously, no grains (wheat, barley, spelt, rye, oats) or other chametz.

So far, I've got hard-boiled eggs, and possibly a spinach/cheese/egg/fresh herbs/ crustless pie thing. (Sounds weird, tastes good)

And, you know, salad. And cake.

Have I mentioned that I hate matzah ball soup with a passion normally reserved for finding a slug in your food?

And did I mention there will be several children under the age of 5?

HELP ME!!!!

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

spaghetti squash with butter and parmesan

quinoa salad with cukes, parsley, olives and feta (trader joe's sells an israeli feta that's awesome)

butternut squash soup or pea soup if you're doing kitniot

matzah quesadillas (cabot has a kosher for passover cheddar) with avocado and salsa (on the side for those who can't eat it)

3/16/2010 1:06 PM  
Blogger sweetawreet said...

If eggs and cheese are in, you're good.

Broccoli Nuggets -- You can do this with any veg, and this is a kid favorite. Toddler approved.

1 16-oz Package frozen broccoli, cooked, drained, and chopped
1 cup matzoh meal
1 ½ cups Shredded cheddar cheese
3 Large eggs OR 3/4 c ricotta
salt to taste
Seasonings to taste. Suggested: fresh basil, 1/2 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 c parmesan

1. Heat oven to 375. Lightly spray or rub oil over parchment paper on a cookie sheet.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix well.
3. Shape mixture into slightly-less-than-egg-sized balls, flatten slightly, and place on baking tray. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, turn nuggets over after 15 minutes. Serve warm.
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Use the same sort of technique for quinoa patties/croquettes. Cooked quinoa, cheese, egg. Fried. Very good. Toddler approved.
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If you can eat quinoa, you are also in great shape. Quinoa pilaf, quinoa-stuffed zucchini. Toddler approved.
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Greek salad (salad w/olives & feta cheese). You can also do this with quinoa.
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Vegetarian pate.
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Crustless quiche (which you already mentioned). Toddler approved.
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Sweet potato fries. Toddler approved.
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Sweet potato chunks roasted with oil, salt, a splash of orange juice, brown sugar. Toddler approved.
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Quinoa, veg, cheese casserole. I'll be trying one for the first time this Pesach, but I'm betting it'll be toddler approved.
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Vegetable soup with matzoh balls is fantastic, but we use a tomato-sauce base, so that might be out.

3/16/2010 1:14 PM  
Blogger Tzipporah said...

You guys FREAKING ROCK!

Thank you thank thank you! (the only suggestion I've gotten so far from family members is chocolate matzah. Not that that's a bad idea, but...)

3/16/2010 2:19 PM  
Anonymous Minnesota Mamaleh said...

*love* this post for many reasons! first, because we were just looking over the good ol' dos and don'ts list with the kids and had to laugh at their reactions. 2nd b/c of the matzoh ball and slug thing (um, can we say *priceless*) and 3rd b/c it really is quite hard to make creative delish pesach foods that please all! so thank you for just putting that out there for me. i mean, you! :)

3/16/2010 3:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

oh god. no potatoes? i can't imagine. but you sound like you have some great ideas.....

3/16/2010 9:40 PM  
Blogger The back of the hill said...

Meshwiyat khadra - salad of sliced grilled vegetables with olive oil and a touch zatar.

Green salad - lettuce and stuff with feta.

Medley of Chinese vegatables (baby bochoi, chinese broccoli (actually a mustard green), and stuff like that, stirfried with pressed tofu.

Fruit salad.

Rice pilaf. Surely your minhag is Sfardi / Southern Balkan enough that arroz ala yahud is acceptable?

--------------------------------

The first time I mentioned the restrictions necessary for pesach to Savage Kitten, she nearly started throwing things at me.
I had just described culinary hell to her. If I were to suggest vegetarian to boot, she'd probably beat me to death with a ham and cheese sandwich. Or dump a fierce live lobster on me while I slept.
My shalom beis is dependent on doing pesach elsewhere.

3/17/2010 4:41 PM  
Blogger Tzipporah said...

BoTH, tofu is a no-go for Pesach. Just like soy sauce, it's made from fermented soy beans.

now kitniot I can do, but fermented kitniot?

Also, I could make anything yummy with feta, but on top of everything else one guest (NOT ME!) is pregnant, and doesn't eat it when pregnant.

3/18/2010 2:33 PM  
Blogger The back of the hill said...

Well you had already mentioned that you do do kitniot.... but now I also notice that you're not sure whether your guest do.

I do not think that there is a 'kitniot-free' version of tofu. As soon as they invent it, I'm withdrawing from civilization. I'm already tense over the vegan turkey sausage I saw at the market the other day.

All I can suggest is as broad a range of vegetables as possible, and lots of spices. Plus fruits. Lots of fruits.

Maybe some nice SKINLESS blintzes?
Indian style rice pudding? You know, longgrain rice simmered with sugar and milk, plus cardamom and saffron, with some raisins strewn over.....

3/18/2010 6:27 PM  

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