Recipes you must not Passover!

For our household we celebrate all the Holidays!  The one that I get especially excited about every year is Passover.  For those not familiar here is a quick lesson:

 Passover is a Jewish festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt.

NO CHAMETZ

To commemorate the unleavened bread that the Israelites ate when they left Egypt, we don’t eat—or even retain in our possession—any chametz from midday of the day before Passover until the conclusion of the holiday. Chametz means leavened grain—any food or drink that contains even a trace of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt or their derivatives, and which wasn’t guarded from leavening or fermentation. This includes bread, cake, cookies, cereal, pasta and most alcoholic beverages. Moreover, almost any processed food or drink can be assumed to be chametz unless certified otherwise.
Ridding our homes of chametz is an intensive process. It involves a full-out spring-cleaning search-and-destroy mission during the weeks before Passover, and culminates with a ceremonial chametz on the night before Passover!

My daughter Bryten's favorite thing to eat is Matzah ball soup, so we don't have a problem in the food department.  The child would eat it all day everyday if you let her.  Although the traditional Seder requires animal components, we do egg (because we have rescued Hens in our backyard,  if we had to go buy eggs we would do without I don't personally eat the eggs, but I allow my daughters to with their dad) but choose to leave out a few of the others because of our families cruelty free morals!  We make our Seder just as meaningful but custom to our beliefs spiritual and ethical!
  
The tradition is great, and I always feel refreshed and happy after observing it!   Here are a few of our families vegan Passover recipes that I am sure everyone will love.  You can even make them as sides to your Easter brunch!  

 

Apple Kugel

• 4 cups Matzah meal crackers!  Soaked in water or rice milk!
• Rice milk for soaking Matzah.
• 1/2  tea salt
• 1/4 cup vegan butter
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts I go for pecans, but walnuts are divine as well
• 1/2 cup raisins or cranberries!  I have used dates or apricots as well
• ¼ tea ground nutmeg
• 3 tbs ground flax seed and 9 tbs water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
• 2-3 apples, peeled and cubed
• Additional vegan butter as needed

Break matzah and soak until soft. Drain, but do not squeeze dry. Beat flax seed and water egg re-placer mixture with salt, sugar, butter and cinnamon. Add matzah. Stir in chopped nuts and apples and raisins. Pour mixture into a greased casserole. Dot top with additional butter. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes.

Broccoli Knishes

• 1 cup mashed potatoes
• 1/3 cup matzah meal
• 2 tbsp. potato starch
• 1/2 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbs ground flax seed and 6 tbs water
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 cup fresh or frozen broccoli, steamed and finely chopped
• Cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl combine the potatoes, matzah meal, potato starch, onion, flax seed egg re placer, pepper and salt and knead together. Divide the dough into 6 balls and flatten each. Divide the broccoli evenly onto each circle, fold over, and press edges to seal.

Generously coat a baking sheet with the cooking spray. Arrange the knishes in a single layer and place the baking sheet on the bottom rack of the oven. Bake for 15 minutes on each side. Serve hot. Serves 6.

Pesach Spinach Pie

·         1 can Matzah meal soaked in rice milk

·         20 ounces spinach

·         8 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
     24 tablespoons water add to a separate bowl mix and let set up!

·         1 package of vegan mozzarella cheese grated

·         3 onions

·         a bunch of scallions

·         dill

·         black pepper

In a pan brush oil. Place ½ matzah meal in the bottom of the pan. That is the 1st layer. Then pour over the mixture of spinach, ½ flax seed egg replacer mixture, black pepper, onions, scallions, dill and vegan mozzarella cheese. Then put the 2nd layer of matzah meal. Then pour over other ½ egg replacer mixture with oil. Bake in preheated oven 375 degrees about 1 hour or until golden .  Serves 10.  I prep this the day before and have it in the fridge and bake off the day of!

Whichever holidays your beautiful families celebrate this spring I hope they are filled with happiness and love!  See you Après festivities commence!  Tread lightly!