Baby Lettuce Salad with Jicama
Makes 4 servings
Beets are a favorite on the Passover menu in many homes. We love serving them this way, in a salad with baby greens, and an added California touchâsweet crunchy jicama and a lime juice dressing.
2 large beets, rinsed
2 quarts mixed baby lettuces, washed and dried
3 cups peeled diced jicama
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 to 4 tablespoons walnut oil or vegetable oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 â 3 cup toasted mixed nuts
1. Put beets in a pan, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 40 to 50 minutes or until tender. Let cool. Run beets under cold water and slip off the skins. Cut beets into wedges.
2. In a large bowl combine lettuces and jicama, and toss. In a small bowl, whisk lime juice, oil, salt, and pepper until blended. Pour over greens mixture and toss thoroughly. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve greens topped with beets and sprinkled with nuts.
Artichokes with Spicy Lemon-Herb Dressing
Makes 4 servings
Artichokes are a Passover favorite in the French-Jewish and Sephardic kitchens. This is an easy, flavorful way to serve them.
4 medium or 8 small artichokes
2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
5 or 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1 â 2 to 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño pepper, or to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1. To trim artichokes: cut off top 1 inch of large artichokes or 1 â 2 -inch of small ones. Trim spikes from tips of leaves with scissors.
2. Put artichokes in a large saucepan of boiling salted water and cover with a lid of slightly smaller diameter than that of the pan to keep them submerged. Cook over medium heat until a leaf can be easily pulled out; medium artichokes will need about 30 minutes and small ones 15 to 20 minutes.
3. To make dressing: whisk lemon juice with salt and pepper. Whisk in oil, thyme, and jalapeño pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning. Before using, whisk dressing and add chopped parsley.
4. Using tongs, remove artichokes from water, turn them upside down, and drain thoroughly. Either cover to keep warm or let cool and serve at room temperature or chilled. Serve dressing on the side.
Springtime Green Salad with Passover Nuts
Makes 4 servings
When my husband was growing up in Israel, hazelnuts were known as "Passover nuts," and he still often refers to them by this name. A sprinkling of hazelnuts lends a festive touch to this salad. We toast the hazelnuts for richer flavor but you can use them raw in the salad if you like.
For the greens, I often use chopped romaine lettuce hearts mixed with tender butter lettuce or crunchy iceberg lettuce. Another terrific choice is mixed baby greens. Sliced red radishes and thin slivers of mild onionsâeither sweet onions or red onionsâgive pleasing accents of taste and color.
1 â 4 cup hazelnuts
4 cups romaine lettuce
2 cups butter lettuce (Boston lettuce)
1 cup iceberg lettuce
4 to 6 baby radishes, cut into thin slices
1 â 4 sweet onion, cut into thin slivers
3 to 4 tablespoons Passover Vinaigrette
1. To toast the hazelnuts, preheat oven to 350°F. Toast hazelnuts in a shallow baking pan in oven about 8 minutes or until skins begin to split. Transfer to a strainer. Rub hot hazelnuts with a towel against strainer to remove some of skins. Cool nuts on a plate.
2. Tear or cut lettuces into bite-size pieces or larger. Mix lettuces, radishes, and onion in a serving bowl. Just before serving, add dressing, and toss until greens are moistened. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve salad sprinkled with nuts.
Passover Vinaigrette
Makes 7 or 8 tablespoons
Olive oil is the best choice for vinaigrette, and not only for reasons of taste. Many vegetable oils are not kosher for Passover, as they might contain corn oil, soy oil, or other types of oil that are avoided during the holiday.