Ultimate Passover Seder Menu

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My secret to cooking great food on Passover: use fresh ingredients.

Do you want to know my secret to cooking and eating on Passover without feeling like you’re eating kosher for Passover food? (Without using gebrokts!) The secret is fresh ingredients! Stop trying to recreate pasta and bread and your Pesach will become a (holy) culinary experience.

Here is the ultimate Seder menu that even Eliyahu Hanavi will want to stick around for.

Click here for more Passover recipes and planned menus.

Sundried tomato basil tilapia

This is a colorful and effortless recipe that will win everyone over in seconds. Its colors and flavors will look like you spent hours preparing, when in reality it was only a few minutes!

Ingredients:

  • 4 tilapia filet
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 1/4 teaspoon salt pink Himalayan
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
  • 1/2 cup sundried tomatoes sliced
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Prepare a baking dish with parchment paper. Add the fish, not overlapping but can be touching.
     
  2. Add 1 ½ tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, ½ teaspoon of turmeric and 1 teaspoon of salt. Mix well so each piece is evenly coated. Cover and place in oven for 14 minutes.
     
  3. In a medium sized bowl, add ½ tablespoon of olive oil. 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of honey and whisk well. Add the sundried tomato and fresh basil and mix again.
     
  4. Remove fish from oven and place sundried tomato mixture on top. Serve hot or room temperature.

Notes & Tips: Don’t reheat the fish; just serve it at room temperature to avoid drying it out!

Date braised chicken

This chicken is divine. The secret is high quality soft dates. It makes all the difference. But it is sweet and spicy and everything in between, the chicken is so soft and dripping with flavor. This dish is even better reheated!! Invest in a dutch oven, you won’t regret it!

Ingredients:

  • 6 pieces dark meat chicken skin on and bone in, cut into individual
  • 2 teaspoons salt pink Himalayan
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 kabocha squash peeled, seeds removed and cut into chunks
  • 1 onion cut into chunks
  • 8 cloves garlic peeled and cut in half
  • 2 cups dates
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes
  • 1 bunch fresh oregano
  • 1 bunch fresh basil
  • 1 red chili pepper cut in half, seeds removed
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons curry powder
  • 2 teaspoons garam masala spice blend

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350℉. Prepare a dutch oven on high heat. (or a low pot that can go in the oven)
     
  2. Sprinkle chicken pieces evenly with salt. Place olive oil and pan and working in batches add the chicken, searing for five minutes per side.
     
  3. Remove chicken and add 1 cup of water mixed with the tomato paste and the rest of the ingredients. Mix well, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot and mixing it into the vegetables and spices. Cook for five minutes.
     
  4. Place chicken back in and spoon vegetables on top. Add water to almost cover everything. Place lid on and put in oven for 3 hours.

Notes & Tips: Kabocha squash is found in most super markets, google it for a picture and you will know exactly what I am talking about! Most people don't know what to do with it and it adds such richness and comfort to this dish.

Leek salad

Most people use leeks for leek potato soup and not much else. I love finding alternative ways to cook these sweet and large onions!

Ingredients:

  • 4 ounces butter lettuce
  • 1 leek sliced horizontally
  • 4 scallions sliced horizontally
  • 1/2 purple onion sliced
  • 1/2 onions sliced
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt pink Himalayan
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried thyme

Directions:

  1. In a salad bowl add the leeks, onions and scallions, drizzle with enough olive oil to lightly coat.
     
  2. Prepare grill pan on high heat. Add onion mixture, in batches for 6 minutes, giving it a mix once. Remove from grill and place in bowl and add lettuce.
     
  3. In a jar, add the remaining olive oil, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and thyme. Shake well and pour right before serve.

Notes & Tips: Be sure to just use the white parts of the leek.

Pesto potatoes

I never use pine nuts in pesto. I find them a waste of money and that many other nuts or even no nuts at all makes an equally amazing pesto!

Ingredients:

  • 4 potatoes skin on, cut into pieces
  • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons salt pink Himalayan
  • 1 1/3 cups fresh basil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/4 cup toasted almonds optional

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper. Add potatoes, ¼ cup of olive oil and ¼ teaspoon of salt and mix well. Place in oven for 30 minutes.
     
  2. At 30 minutes give them a good mix and cook another 30 minutes until golden.
     
  3. For pesto add remaining olive oil, salt, garlic, fresh basil and almonds to a food processor and blend until smooth. Add pesto to potatoes when ready to serve.

Notes & Tips: Make extra and add it to your eggs in the morning, a cheese sandwich or to top on grilled chicken. Pesto also goes incredibly well with sweet potatoes.

 

Pineapple braised roast

In Israel this meat is number 2 or number 3. But you can make this with any cut of meat that can be in the oven in liquid for a long period of time (braised)

Ingredients:

  • 4 pounds chuck roast
  • 1 teaspoon salt pink Himalayan
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 can pineapple slices or 1 fresh pineapple
  • 1/2 chili pepper sliced, seeds removed for less heat
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
  • 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 1/4 cup tomato paste
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons natural smoke flavor optional

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Pat meat dry and season with salt and pepper.
     
  2. Prepare a Dutch oven on high heat. Add olive oil to skillet and get hot. Add the meat, searing for 5 minutes per side.
     
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and water to just cover all the meat.
     
  4. Cover and place in oven for 4 hours or until the meat if falling apart. (Check on the meat after two hours and add more liquid if need be)

Notes & Tips: If you are serving this for Shabbat lunch and want to put it in a crock pot, add it to a crock pot after this cooking method and make sure it is covered in water and keep on low until the next day!

Kale salad

If you are a cilantro hater, make this anyways and just leave out the cilantro! If you are a cilantro lover, you don't even need to remove the cilantro from its stems, just roughly chop it at the top part and embrace the stems!

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet potato large, cut into thin wedges
  • 1 onion sliced
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala spice blend
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt pink Himalayan
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 4 ounces kale cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 mango cut into cubes
  • 1/2 cup slivered almonds
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Prepare a sheet pan with parchment paper. Place sweet potatoes, onions, garlic powder, curry powder, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 tablespoons olive oil and mix well. Place in oven and bake for 35 minutes, or until golden.
     
  2. In a large bowl whisk together the rest of the olive oil, vinegar, honey and salt. Add mix with your hands until the kale gets softer, about 1 minute.
     
  3. Add mangoes, almonds, sweet potatoes, onions and cilantro. Mix well. Serve warm or room temperature.

Notes & Tips: If mangoes are not in season, feel free to substitute them with papayas, oranges, persimmons, red delicious apples or just leave them out! The crunchy onions add such a nice deep flavor to this dish but feel free to add a protein to it and make it more filling (grilled tofu, smoked turkey, pulled chicken, sliced steak) 

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