Passover Menus

To the ongoing question of Passover menus & especially the subset of green vegetables:

Early in the haggada, there us the blessing if karpas (usually celery or parsley). Some people now use this as the place (perfectly fine, even for the most traditional) to serve all sorts of crudites. It staves off hunger, but doesn't kill your appetite for the big meal.

And if you''re in an area that has them, and they''re in the markets, serve fiddleheads as a sign of spring.

Opps here the basic cucumber salad recipe: http://theshiksa.com/2011/07/08/crunchy-pickled-salad/

Hi All - Do you think this salad would work with The Girl and her Pig's Lemon Caper Dressing?

I too agree with the sad lack of veggies, how about making a play on Bitter & Fresh Greens (Maror/Charzet & Karpas) ...which as we know were traditionally eaten and most likely savored since they were the first greens of spring esp by Ashkenazim..Passover coincided with the first green buds peeking out of the snow, they must have been gobbled up with great enthusiasm... to that end I've made a watercress & endive salad which covers both fronts and adds some much needed freshcrunchiness to the table and can also be snuck in as a bed for gefilte fish, as can barley pickled thinly sliced still crunchy beets + cucumbers + radishes with a shaving of fresh horseradish & some fresh dill, can't get more Ashkenazi than that!.

As far as other ideas:

We always had Matzoh Ball Soup, Gefilte Fish, Chopped Liver, Roasted Chicken with Oranges, Apricot & Honey one night and a Brisket the next, Potato Kugel, Carrot Tsimmes, Mushroom Farfel & inexplicably my Nanny Matty would make green bean casserole???, then Sponge Cake, Macaroons, Chocolate covered marshmallows& Raspberry Jellies.

I still make some variation of that like Cornish Game Hens with Blood Oranges, Apricots & Fennel. If I have the chance to do a big Seder I prefer make a Roast leg of Lamb over a Brisket, I sometimes veer over to the Sephardim as far as flavors basting it with Pomegranate molasses or studding it with garlic and rubbing it with cinnamon & cumin.

I've made root veg kugels, sweet potato kugel, mushroom & potato kugels, I once made a very intense potato kugel with onions carmelized in duck fat. A Zucchini Kugel is not a bad idea either or I just thought of a Ribbon salad of lots of raw veg shaved and served with lemon juice, olive oil a bit of garlic & lots fresh herbs. Something again tart & crunchy to offset all the oozy fatiness...

Though Kugel's never my favorite, though I'm a huge fan of Tsimmes!!! My grandmother's always had walnuts, prunes, carrots & sweet potatoes cooked with honey & oranges (both my grandmothers were big honey & orange fans). I still make a fairly traditional one but I add lots of ginger, candied & fresh, and occasionally a bit of cumin & sub pistachios for walnuts. Using multicolored carrots makes it even more festive.

Oh now I'm sad I'm missing my family Seder because it's far away and on a weekday and will have to cram it all into a dinner for me and my goyim husband.

I agree with you on the dearth of vegetables on the traditional Ashenazi Seder table. I always volunteer to bring veggies or a salad for that very reason. Just because "they" didn't have them is not a good enough excuse...

I have a easy oven baked dish of baby artichokes with peas, pearl onions and romaine lettuce that transports easily and is really tasty. When I can't find the really tiny artichokes I use the frozen ones.

I know this is an ancient recipe, but if I have a crowd, I often make chicken Marbella as you can make quite a lot at once. I usually try to do roast asparagus on the side and then I also do a vegetarian entree of some kind - perhaps with quinoa.

Bevi, I've read through the NYT menu, and realed Passover articles - as always - great read!

This page will link you to great recipes: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/p/passover/recipes/index.html

We made the entire Iranian Seder in Beverly Hills, and it was fantastic!

I usually make roasted asparagus, the first of the season for us. I also make my potato recipe ("Greek Mahogany Potatoes":http://food52.com/recipes/14554-the-wfp-greek-mahogany-potatoes). I like your idea for the huge potato latke-kugel. I'll probably roast some chickens.

I think there's such a dearth of green vegetables in traditional Passover dinners that I usually make roast broccoli or Brussels sprouts, or asparagus if I can get good ones. This is one of my favorites from Food52:http://food52.com/recipes/2625-roasted-broccoli-with-smoked-paprika-vinaigrette-and-marcona-almonds. One of my friends makes potato kugel that's really a giant latke-- she puts oil into the baking dish and heats it in the oven at high heat before pouring in the latke batter, then bakes it. Because the bottom essentially fries in the hot oil, the bottom and edges are really crispy. It's delicious,

I make this priceless cake every year; it is so delicious the children always ask why I only make it on Passover: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Toasted-Hazelnut-Cake-103338

So far, I think I will be preparing these two recipes for our 20 person Seder: http://theshiksa.com/2011/07/08/crunchy-pickled-salad/ and a variation of this savory kugel http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/potato-kugel-with-fried-shallots