What is haroset? Haroset is a mixture of chopped apples and nuts that plays a part in the traditional Jewish seder meal at Passover. By March, it’s hard to get the kids excited about more apples, but they love making and eating haroset. Ashkenazi or Sephardic? Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe, like my Lithuanian ancestors, …
Category Archives: Appetizers
Thyme or rosemary bread
Riding around in the Abruzzo hills of Italy I spent one fall with my friend Kay riding motorcycles up in the hills around Rome – well, we rode on the back of the motorcycles like girls, and our Italian friends Paolo and Alberto drove the motorcycles. That’s a lot easier! When we stopped for lunch, …
Roasted chickpeas
How to roast chickpeas: At breakfast, put a cup of chickpeas to soak in a large bowl of water. An hour and a half before dinner, rinse the chickpeas and put them in a saucepan over high heat in plenty of fresh water. Bring to a boil and simmer for half an hour or until …
Potato-squash puffs
Delicious, nutitious party treats! I was running a free store, and somebody brought these and left them on the food table. I’d been working all day and missed lunch, and I was starving, and when I found these they were so good! Sadly, the person who brought them was long gone, and so I had …
Parsley boniet
Early spring fresh food! Here in Portland, parsley grows like a weed in my yard, and it’s one of the few things that grows in February and March. But it turns out parsley’s way more than a garnish. Instead of using parsley in little sprinkles, try recipes that involve a cup or two of parsley …
Hummus from scratch
How do you say “chickpeas” in Arabic? When I was on an archaeological dig in Tunisia, in North Africa, we were out exploring and came across a young man harvesting chickpeas. He came over and offered us some in the palm of his hand, and we ate them – yum! Fresh chickpeas! He didn’t really …
Guacamole
Easy, fast, and everybody likes it 🙂 It only takes a few minutes to make terrific guacamole, and it’s way cheaper than buying the premade stuff. Make these terrific crackers too, to eat the guacamole on, or make nachos. How to make guacamole: Cut an avocado in half the long way and throw away the pit in the …
Gefilte fish
Why eat gefilte fish? Gefilte fish is a way to make cheap fish more exciting to eat; it got started when more Jewish people were poor, and it remains a traditional Jewish food, especially for Passover – that’s why I usually make it in the spring, for Passover. Fish is super good for you, and …
Chimichurri sauce
Parsley and Cilantro In springtime, it’s mostly the stems of things that are in season, so this is a good way to make those stems into something delicious. You can use this chimichurri sauce as a dip for crackers or bread, or as a sauce on pork tenderloin or noodles, or in place of tomato sauce on pizza. How …
Ceviche
Summer barbecue contribution I first made this ceviche to bring to a friend’s hot-dog and marshmallow roast, a few summers ago. It’s a great appetizer to bring to a party, where a lot of people can share it. Ceviche’s too much trouble to make just for your family, and too intense to have for dinner, …