Tag: passover recipes

Passover Nachos with Homemade Plantain Chips

Ever since I jumped on the Paleo train, plantains have become a regular part of my diet. I frequently buy Trader Joes roasted plantain chips to eat with guacamole or even tuna salad. I eat them on taco night while my kids enjoy crunchy corn tacos, and I top ’em with nut butter for a delicious treat.


It took me a while to start making my own plantain chips, but once I did, I never turned back. Once you get past the peeling part (which is really ridiculously easy), there’s not much to it.

I prefer to use a mandoline for slicing my plantains because it ensures that all my chips are equal in size so that they cook evenly. Sadly, I don’t have a dairy one (yet!), so I just used a sharp knife. If you’re careful about keeping your chips even, they’ll all bake up nice and crisp at the time same time, and if they don’t, you can just remove the ones that are ready and let the thicker ones finish in the oven.

It’s really that easy! You can bake them savory or sweet – but chili powder and kosher salt are my fave. Of course some gooey melted cheddar doesn’t hurt either.

Can you believe these crunchy cheese smothered chips are kosher for Passover?! Forget the greasy potato chips, and the boring old Passover brownies, THIS is a snack that will make you forget you’ve gone gluten free for 8 days. Yes, it’s as good as it looks, and you know you want it. Now.

Forget Passover, these nachos are great for year-round guilt-free nacho-eating. When you’re eating low-fat oven-baked chips that are made out of a fruit and topped with vegetables, can you even call them nachos? You’re basically just doing your best to get your fill of fruits and veggies, right? RIGHT?

Welcome to my world of deguiltifying comfort food. It’s what I do best.

Now that I’ve got you covered with homemade nutella, nutella banana ice cream, pure-bliss Passover nachos and endless other out-of-the-box kosher for Passover recipes, you can say goodbye to the chicken and potatoes you’ve been making for ages and try some fun dishes instead. Although, if you like the “same old” , I’ve got you covered with that too.

Passover Nachos with Homemade Plantain Chips

2 green plantains
chili powder
kosher salt
olive or coconut oil spray
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 small avocado, diced
1 plum tomato, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1/2 cup sliced green or black olives
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the ends off each plantain, and make a few lengthwise slits through the peel (I do this at each natural bend in the plantain), be careful not to cut all the way through the flesh. Working with one strip at a time, nudge your fingers between the peel and the flesh and peel off each section of the peel. Using a mandoline or knife, cut the plantain into thin diagonal chips. If you’re using a knife, try your best to keep the chips uniform, otherwise they will bake unevenly. Spray or brush a baking sheet with coconut or olive oil and spread out the plantain chips on the tray. Try not to overcrowd the baking sheet, or the chips won’t crisp up properly. Spray or brush the tops of the chips with more coconut or olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder and kosher salt. Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness, until browned and crispy. Set aside to cool completely. The chips will crisp up more as they cool.

Spread the chips out on an oven to table dish and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted. Top with avocado, tomato, onion and olives and drizzle with Greek yogurt (you can add a bit of water to the yogurt to thin it out so you can drizzle it). Serve immediately.

VARIATIONS: If you eat kitniyot on Passover, feel free to add corn or black beans. For spicy nachos, add thinly sliced jalapenos. You can also mix in your favorite cheese such as mozzarella, muenster, pepperjack, provolone or others.

Related Recipes: cauliflower nachos with harissa cheddar sauce

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Nutella Banana Ice Cream

Now that I’ve made my homemade nutella, I’ve got to find uses for it, right? As if eating it off a spoon isn’t good enough for me…

The truth is, I am in love with banana ice cream, and I really wanted to share it with you in time for Passover! I made it for the holidays last year, and I’ve been making variations ever since.

There’s not too much to banana ice cream, and that’s precisely why I love it so much. You can say goodbye to the dozen-egg-homemade-passover-ice-cream and say hello to this no-machine, easy, healthy and no-guilt variety that’s tastes just like soft serve.

All you have to do is just slice up some ripe bananas and freeze them until a solid, just a couple of hours. Then, you pulse the bananas in the food processor until they’re very finely chopped. Keep going until the bananas are creamy and add in your flavors of choice! I love adding nut butters – like my homemade nutella – for Passover. During the year, my favorite combo is banana, peanut butter, cinnamon and maple syrup. It’s so so good.

I mean would you just look at that creamy consistency? Don’t you just want to grab a spoon and dive right in?

The best part about banana soft serve is the possibilities. Blend with strawberries, top with coconut whipped cream, stir in some chopped macaroons, or add in your favorite candied nuts!

Nutella Banana Ice Cream

4 ripe bananas
½ cup nutella (use my easy homemade 4-ingredient recipe)
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Method

Peel bananas and slice into pieces. Place on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, a few hours or overnight. Place the frozen banana slices in a food processor or powerful blender and blend until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. If the bananas are hard to blend, let them thaw for a few minutes to soften. Add the nutella and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Serve immediately for soft-serve ice cream consistency. If freezing for later, store in an airtight container and remove from the freezer to soften before serving.

NOTE: If you’re making your own nutella from scratch, make sure it cools completely before adding it to the ice cream, or it will freeze on-contact and won’t incorporate as well.

VARIATION: For a fun frozen banana treat, you can dip the banana slices into melted chocolate (before you freeze them) and top with shredded coconut, chopped nuts or sprinkles.


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Passover Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed cabbage is just one of those foods that is synonymous with tradition. The smell and taste of the meaty cabbage rolls in a sweet tomato broth evoke a feeling of nostalgia and memories of Bubby’s kitchen. Well, at least my Bubby’s kitchen.

Bubby always made the best stuffed cabbage, and still does. When I want a taste of bubby’s holipches, I whip up a batch of her cabbage soup with flanken. It’s got all the flavor of stuffed cabbage, without the stuffing.

Although if you want to go ahead with the stuffing, I’ve got you covered. Once you’ve stuffed your cabbage rolls with meaty filling, you’ve got to simmer it in a sweet tomato sauce with a few of Bubby’s secret ingredients. Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in later.

Now when people think of Kosher for Passover stuffed cabbage, they assume it’s a dish eaten by Sephardim because it contains rice. No Siree! I’ve adapted my grandmother’s recipe so that Ashkenazim everywhere can enjoy the sweet taste of stuffed cabbage without the rice!

The secret to my Kosher for Passover stuffed cabbage is mashed potatoes. We always have leftover mashed potatoes in the fridge over Pesach, and what better way to use them than to bind and soften the meat mixture for the stuffed cabbage filling!

Truth be told, my favorite part of holipches is the cabbage. In fact, when my mom’s stuffed cabbage rolls would fall apart in the pot (don’ t worry, I’ll teach you how to avoid that!), I’d fish out all the cabbage and leave the meatballs for everyone else!

Well, now that I’ve teased you with all this has going, head on over to my guest post on The Nosher for the recipe! 

Related Posts:

How to stuff cabbage video tutorial
How to stuff cabbage
Bubby’s cabbage soup with flanken

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Rainbow Pommes Anna


The more I’ve been reading through Passover recipe books and surfing through recipes online, I realize just how strict my family’s customs are. On Pesach, we are truly down to the bare basics, using only vegetables that can be peeled and seasoning them simply with oil and salt. We don’t use herbs, spices or any processed ingredients like Kosher for Passover ketchup, brown sugar or sauces. My mom even makes simple syrup to use in place of sugar to sweeten dishes. Matza meal, of course, is out of the question, as we do no eat Gebroks (matza that has absorbed liquid).

Due to our stringent dietary restrictions on Pesach, we tend to make simpler, wholesome dishes that don’t require a lot of ingredients. Basics like mock chopped liver, chremslach, beet salad and orange chicken are staples in our home. When I thought about classic dishes I could reinvent for Passover, I took inspiration from Pommes Anna (also called Anna potatoes), a French dish of sliced, layered potatoes that are minimally seasoned with salt and pepper and brushed liberally with butter. Using traditional Passover ingredients of beets, sweet potatoes and russet potatoes creates a stunning rainbow effect and lends a touch of sweetness to the potato cake.

Rainbow Pommes Anna

2 russet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2 red beets, peeled and thinly sliced
oil, shmaltz, or duck fat
kosher salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste (optional)

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Brush a 9″ round baking dish generously with oil and arrange potatoes and beets in layers, overlapping them slightly. When you complete each layer, brush it with oil and season with salt and pepper. Cover the vegetables with a sheet of greased parchment paper and place a heavy dish or skillet on top of it. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until vegetables are fork-tender. Uncover the vegetables and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the edges are browned and crispy.

To serve, you may cut slices directly from the baking dish, or, run a knife around the potato cake to release around the edges and flip over onto a platter.

VARIATION: Add additional seasonings according to your Passover customs, such as fresh rosemary, thyme, caraway seeds, smoked paprika, minced garlic and/or sauteed onions.

1 year ago: sweet pepper burgers
2 years ago: quick & easy shakshuka

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Chicken Pot Pie Passover Croquettes


Growing up, my mom would often prepare chremslach on Passover whenever there were leftover mashed potatoes. Some people refer to chremslach as matza fritters, but in our house, mashed potatoes were the ingredient of choice. They were held together with some egg, dipped in potato starch and fried. Nothing fancy, just another use for potatoes and a simple side for yet another meal.

I decided to spruce up my mom’s basic recipe with some leftover chicken, carrots and onions, for a take on chicken pot pie. If you eat kitniyot, peas would be the perfect addition! The patties are dredged in ground nuts for a crunchy Passover coating. Serve with a side of homemade ketchup, marinara or garlic aioli.

Chicken Pot Pie Passover Croquettes

2 cups leftover mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded leftover chicken
1/2 cup onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
1/2 cup carrots, diced and blanched
1 tbsp oil
1 egg
salt and pepper, to taste

For coating:

1/4 cup potato starch
1 egg
1/2 cup ground nuts, such as almonds
salt and pepper, to taste
oil or shmaltz, for frying

Method:

In a pan, saute the onion in oil until translucent. Add carrots and garlic (optional) and continue to saute until golden. In a bowl, combine the potatoes, chicken, sauteed veggies, and egg. Season with salt and pepper (see note for additional seasoning).

Set up a dredging station with separate containers for potato starch, egg and ground nuts. Season with a little salt and pepper. Shape croquettes and dredge into potato starch, then egg, and finish with ground nuts. Fry the croquettes in shmaltz or oil until golden brown on both sides.

Yields: approximately 14 croquettes.

NOTE: You may add additional herbs and/or spices according to your Passover customs, such as chopped thyme, rosemary or parsley.

KITNIYOT OPTION: Add peas or corn. Dredge in matza meal instead of ground nuts.

VARIATION: Prepare patties (as pictured below) by lightly dredging in potato starch and frying.

1 year ago: homemade raspberry sorbet
2 years ago: roasted beet & orange salad

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