It's Passover season once again, and along with all the cleaning starts the "what am I going to cook?" worries that so many of us have. Try out these great recipes for starters that come from my cookbook, A Taste of Tradition, Feldheim Publishers, where you can find many more tasty and original ideas.

Orange Chicken

1 - 1/2 chicken, skinned and cut up
2 Tbls. olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 T. paprika
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 stalks celery, diced
3 large carrots, sliced into rounds
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup dry or semi-dry white wine

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until clear. Place half of them in the bottom of a baking pan. Place the chicken pieces on top of the onion mixture, upside down, and sprinkle them liberally with half of the paprika and pepper. Add the remaining onions and garlic to the top of the chicken, together with the remaining vegetables. Pour the orange juice and wine over all. Let this marinate in the fridge for several hours or overnight before cooking. Turn the pieces of chicken over, sprinkle them with the remaining spices and cover the pan well. Bake at 375°F / 190°C until fork tender, about 1 hour.

Let's go on now to a tasty and nutritious soup...

Garden Broccoli Soup

1 large head fresh broccoli OR 1 bag 'Bodek' frozen
1 large onion, diced
1 olive oil
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 small potato
2 cups water
1 cup pareve milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt
10 florets, reserved for garnishing

Sautee onion and peppers in oil until soft. Add water and potato and cook until potato is soft, about 35 minutes. Add seasonings and broccoli; cook another 15 minutes, until broccoli is just soft. Puree until smooth, while adding milk. Serve hot, and add reserved florets to each bowl when serving.

(For dairy option, replace olive oil with table spoon of butter, and cup of pareve milk with skim milk. You can also sprinkle small amount of grated cheese to top of florets when serving.)

And now for one really great cookie, people will hardly believe it's a Passover cookie!

Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

2 cups potato starch
3/4 cup oil
3/4 cup cocoa
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. baking powder
2 cups powdered sugar for rolling cookies

With a hand blender, mix together the cocoa, oil, and sugar. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and mix until the batter resembles thick paste. Chill batter several hours or overnight covered in fridge. If very liquidy after it's been chilled, you may need to add a bit more potato starch. Preheat oven to 350F/ 180C . Roll batter into balls, then roll each cookie ball in the powdered sugar until well coated. Space evenly apart on a lined cookie sheet. Bake for 10-15 minutes until just starting to crinkle. Let the cookies cool off on the baking sheets for five minutes. Then remove gently with a spatula. They spread out a lot and are delicate to handle. Freezes well.