My Guide to Surviving Passover - Great Passover Recipes

Passover starts a week from tonight, and this year I actually want to be prepared in advance! Charlottesville doesn't exactly have a large Jewish population, so most grocery stores have a pretty pitiful Passover section. Giant is considered the "Passover supercenter" but if you don't go early, you'll be left with empty shelves and really expensive single boxes of matzah. We went a week ago and picked up a lot of stuff - we got a 5lb box of matzah for only $2.99 with our purchase, as well as roasted chestnuts, matzah ball mix, macaroons, horseradish, and of course Dr. Brown's soda.

Most of my meals revolve around non-kosher for Passover foods. For breakfast I have a breakfast sandwich (english muffin = not kosher), followed by oatmeal (cooked grains = not kosher). For lunch I have a sandwich (bread = not kosher). Dinner is easier, since the majority of the meal is the protein and lots of veggies, and it's easy to substitute quinoa for that.

I want to come up with some meals that don't simply replace the bread with a piece of matzah. I remember back in high school, when I would bring in matzah to make a sandwich at lunch, and everyone who wasn't Jewish wanted to try a piece of matzah for the novelty of it. This year, when we were buying the matzah, the (obviously non Jewish) cashier informed us that she had tried matzah, and it was just really plain and she couldn't figure out why people were buying so much of it now. Yes, I agree it's bland!

So here are some ideas for Passover-friendly meals. Everyone has their own way of keeping kosher for Passover, so you may have to slightly adjust some of these recipes.

Note - here is a post from my old blog, back from 2010! I made matzah lasagna with pesto, and flourless chocolate cake, and include the recipes. Both are great choices!

Breakfast:

Matzah Brei with Lox, Eggs, and Onions

Broccoli, Mushroom Egg and Cheese Casserole

Baked Eggs with Herbs and Goat Cheese

Caramelized Onion and Zucchini Frittata

Breakfast Egg White Spinach Enchilada Omelets

Caprese Shakshuka Breakfast Casserole

Roasted Vegetable Frittata

Extra Pink Berry Smoothie

Lunch:

Vegetarian Matzah Ball Soup

Matzah Ball Soup

Matzah Pizza

Veggies:

Recipes with an asterisk (*) include an ingredient that is considered kitniot - and is not kosher for Ashkenazi Jews.

Dijon Braised Brussels Sprouts 

Spaghetti Squash Marinara 

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Mushrooms 

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Sweet Corn and Avocado *

Braised Coconut Spinach and Chickpeas with Lemon *

Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Pine Nuts

Roasted Beets with Balsamic Glaze

Thyme Roasted Carrots 

Roasted Eggplant Salad with Smoked Almonds and Goat Cheese

Mustard and Rosemary Asparagus 

Classic Cheese Fondue Use veggies as your vehicle for delicious oozy cheese

Mustard and Chive Potato Salad 

Honey Mustard Veggie Kabobs 

"Grains":

+Quinoa, although debated, is considered by most to be kosher for Passover. 

*Rice, on the other hand, is kitniot and only kosher for Sephardic Jews.

Quinoa Succotash +

Wild Rice Salad with Cranberries and Pecans *

Caprese Quinoa with Homemade Basil Oil +

Quinoa Salad with Roasted Tomatoes, Broccoli and Feta +

Mushroom Fried Brown Rice *

Quinoa with Roasted Broccoli, Arugula and Feta +

Seafood:

*Shrimp are technically not kosher for Passover simply because they are never kosher for Jews. However, I still choose to eat them.

Honey-Ginger Glazed Salmon 

Cod Baked in a Tomato and Feta Sauce 

Simplest and Best Shrimp *

Baked Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce *

Easy Ginger Lime Roasted Shrimp *

Grilled Tuna and Avocado Salad 

Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley *

Sesame Seared Ahi Tuna Salad (sesame seeds are kitniot)

Meat (and Potatoes):

Some of these recipes mix milk and meat - if this is a rule that you follow, then be careful to avoid or modify those recipes

Beer, Ginger and Garlic Braised Brisket (you would need a gluten-free beer for this recipe)

White Wine Braised Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes and Potatoes 

Roasted Provencal Chicken with Hasselback Potatoes (potatoes use butter)

Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs with Potatoes 

Chicken and Mushrooms in a Creamy Mustard Tarragon Sauce (sauce uses cream)

Balsamic-Brown Sugar Short Ribs with Garlic Mashed Potatoes (potatoes use butter, milk and sour cream)

Caprese Chicken (lots of cheese)

Easy Honey Mustard Baked Chicken 

Stove Top Summer Chicken 

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken (uses cheese)

Tangy Spiced Brisket 

Snacks:

Chocolate Covered Matzah Otherwise known as matzah crack, for its addictiveness

Custards:

Warning - gelatin is a technical no-no for Jews, so I've noted which recipes use it. 

Chocolate Pots de Creme

Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta with Roasted Berries *uses gelatin

Lavender Panna Cotta with Honey Poached Pears *uses gelatin

Lemon Lime Mousse with Fresh Strawberries

Almond Vanilla Rice Pudding (uses rice - kitniot)

Baked Apples with Creme Anglaise

Meringues and Pavlovas:

These desserts get their rise from egg whites

Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Mixed Berry Pavlova

(Mini) Chocolate Chip Meringue Cookies

Mixed Berry Mini Pavlovas

Flourless Chocolate Cake:

This is an easy way to make a passover-friendly dessert! These chocolate cakes are actually flourless by design. You might have to check the chocolate you're using, to make sure that's kosher as well. The best way to make sure of that is to use really good dark chocolate - less likely to have non kosher additives.

Rich Flourless Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Coulis

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Warm Molten Chocolate Cake - Two Ways

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Spiced Poached Pears

Flourless Chocolate Tart with Sugared Cranberries

Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte

Ultra-Rich Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Flourless Cake

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Flourless Chocolate Cookies:

This is another easy way to make a yummy dessert for Passover with zero matzah in it! These cookies are sometimes called "puddle cookies" or "brownie cookies," but they're basically pure chocolate and fudgy and delicious!

Flourless Chocolate Cookies

Flourless Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookies

Flourless Chocolate Mint Cookies

Chocolate Puddle Cookies

Macaroons:

You can find these in grocery stores, in round tins. However, when made at home, they taste so much better!

Chocolate-Dipped Macaroons

Raspberry Coconut Macaroons 

Weekly Finds - 4/6/14

Breakfast:

Dill Yorkshire Puddings with Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Cream Really interesting take on your typical cream cheese and lox for brunch - I love the pairing with dill. Not sure if I would do the horseradish cream - maybe a whipped cream cheese with more dill instead.

Sandwiches and Soups:

Garlicky Avocado Grilled Cheese with Tomato Pesto Seriously - all the things!

Snacks:

Leftover Chai Latte Scones Probably the best use of leftover chai I've ever seen

Rhubarb Scones Perfect combination of sweet and tart

Vanilla Bean Rhubarb-Ginger Scones It's that time of year for rhubarb! Ginger and vanilla really add to the flavor

Chocolate Swirl Banana Bread This is a really interesting way to spice up your banana bread, plus it looks beautiful!

Bread:

Twisted Cheese and Scallion Bread This is a similar technique to making babka - with rolling, cutting and twisting. It's a great way to get your filling completely spread out

Lion House Rolls These soft buttery rolls have an interesting shape since they're individually rolled

Dinner:

Caramelized Onion and Thyme Risotto I love risotto, and this flavor combination is dynamite

French Onion Pizza Another great way to use caramelized onions - this is basically french onion soup, but in pizza form

One Pot Thai Shrimp Pasta This is a really cool Thai version of the infamous one-pot pasta that's been making the rounds lately.

Easy Ginger Lime Roasted Shrimp I make roasted shrimp all the time, and usually keep it pretty simple with salt, pepper and garlic. This is a great (and simple) way to add some great new flavor.

Goat Cheese and Brussels Sprout Skillet Pizza I think this recipe is summed up by one sentence in the blog post "Because everything is better with goat cheese."

Sides:

Baked Portabello Fries with Sriracha Mayo This is a new version of a baked veggie that's almost like a fry!

Dessert:

Chocolate Eclairs This makes 6 mini eclairs, which means you can eat all of them!

Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Deliciously creamy cheesecake that is topped with cinnamon sugar, just like the cookie!

Spiked Raspberry-Lemonade Cupcakes These actually use freeze-dried raspberries to make the beautifully pink frosting. Plus, who doesn't love boozy cupcakes?

Dark Chocolate Coffee Macarons Coffee really brings out the flavor of chocolate, and these macarons are gorgeous

Big Soft and Chewy Peanut Butter Crinkle Cookies This is basically a peanut butter version of the typical chewy molasses cookie, sounds awesome

Carrot Cake Cheesecake Absolutely beautiful, and I'm sure it tastes amazing. I love cream cheese frosting with carrot cake, this is an even better way of doing it.

Loaded Soft and Chewy M&M Cookie Pie This is like a cookie cake that's made in a pie dish - you can  include your toppings of choice.

Mixed Berry Buttermilk Cake This is a great way to make a berry cake even when fresh berries aren't available.

Homemade Monkey Bread with Caramel Sauce This can be made in advance and refrigerated, which makes it so convenient.

Chocolate Flourless Cake Just a few ingredients makes these cakes luscious, and surprisingly, almond butter is one of the ingredients

Fitness:

25 Best Body-Weight Exercises These are all really great exercises that work your entire body, and don't require any equipment

Lunge Variations Here are 14 different lunge variations, just in case you were getting bored with the basic lunge

Yoga Twist Poses for the Back and Spine These twisting poses relieve tightness that cause pain, but also help elongate the spine

New Playlist for Cardio This pop-filled playlist will be great for your next workout

Best Pinterest Workout Posters Thank you FitSugar for compiling some of the best workout posters out there on Pinterest!

Yoga for Strong Legs and Butt Sign up for soreness - this is a balancing yoga sequence for your butt and thighs

How to do a Reverse Burpee The move you love to hate - reversed

Crunch Variations 8 different ways to target your core

Yoga Poses to Tone Arms Yoga isn't just for stretching and relaxation - these yoga poses are just as effective as dumbbells at toning your arms

Running:

Why All Runners Should Strength Train

Treadmill Workouts 5 awesome workouts to end treadmill boredom - whether you're stuck on the treadmill because it's cold, or you have a crazy schedule, this will help defeat the boredom

10 Miler Training: The Final Week + The Race!

Week 16:

Well, it's finally the week of the race! This should be an easy week of running, with the hardest day being Tuesday (and obviously, the race itself). I had to alter the plan slightly, since the plan assumed a race day of Sunday, instead of Saturday. I also didn't want to do too much right before the race, and tire out my legs or feet.

Tuesday, March 25th:

This was the speediest portion of my training, but since the mileage was low, it felt like a break. I wasn't sure that I would be able to maintain my "5k pace" for a whole mile, and then repeat it, but I managed to do it. After that, the 400m at 3k pace felt really easy. 

Thursday, March 27th:
I went out on a nice, easy run. The weather was pretty good, so I took advantage of that and did the run outside. I planned on doing a 4 mile run, but miscalculated where I would have to go for it to equal 4 miles. It ended up being 3.67 miles, which was close enough for me. I was proud of my negative splits throughout, with the exception of that last 0.17 miles.

Friday, March 28th:
I met Joey at the AFC to do some stretching and light jogging. I jogged 1/2 mile on the indoor track, and then walked another 1/2 mile. Then I did a good 30 minutes of stretching, on a mat and using the foam roller. Once Joey was finished with his workout, we went to JPJ to pick up our race packets. I was a bit surprised once we got there - I was expecting to get a bag with goodies, including an actual race packet. We were just handed our bibs, and then the t-shirt. Also, the shirt was not a tech tee this year, but was a regular cotton shirt. It's really soft, which is nice, I was just surprised by that. There was no race packet - they had some printed out maps you could take, but nothing with information about the race, last year's winners, coupons, etc. I specifically remember last year that Joey got a packet. I think that the packet also helped build excitement for the race - you could look through at all of last year's winners, and read their mile by mile description of the course. There were also coupons for stores like Ragged Mountain Running, which wasn't the case this year. It would be one thing if they were trying to save paper, and emailed it out this year instead of printing for everyone, but that wasn't the case. I also was hoping they would be selling last year's shirts - usually they have them available for only $5. Oh well.

I spent a bunch of time that night prepping for the race, setting out everything that I needed, and trying to mentally prepare myself. I was really unhappy about the weather forecast - basically 100% rain from late Friday night through Sunday. The last race I ran (Richmond 8k) had rain, and I was not prepared for it at all. This time, I wasn't going to be happy about it, but I wanted to make sure I had a plan to protect my phone from getting soaked. Joey used a quart-sized ziploc bag, and cut small holes where my armband would go. I made him make two of them, so I would have a backup. For clothes, I was planning on wearing long running pants, a short sleeve shirt (the one I got from the Women's 4 Miler), and a lightweight longsleeve pullover (it has a zippered pocket in the bag that's perfect for stashing tissues, gum and gu chomps).

Saturday, March 29th: RACE DAY!!

I woke up at 6, and my nerves sunk in immediately. I looked out the window and was surprised to see that there was no rain, but figured it would be starting soon. I kept telling Joey over and over again that I just felt sick - my stomach was in knots, and I felt so anxious. I was so afraid that the leg pain that had been plaguing me would prevent me from finishing in a time I was proud of, or even finishing at all. I ended up bursting into tears during the drive over, and asked Joey if he wanted to switch places with me and run the race for me. Yes I know, that was extremely inconsiderate to ask the person who was dying to run the race, if he could, to run it for me.

I choked down most of a granola bar, as pre-race fuel, and then went on a short jog around the start. It worked out that going up and down the road in front of the arena was exactly 1/2 mile. The jogging helped ease some of the tension in my stomach, and did help loosen my legs. I still had about 15 minutes before the race started, so I had my GU with water, and walked over to the start. Since Joey had a bib, he was able to stay with me all the way until the gun went off.

I had all of my electronics set up - I had my audiobook paused so I could just press play on my headphones, I had Joey's garmin watch synced to satellites, and I had runkeeper going on my phone just in case. We had switched one of the settings on the watch - instead of giving me my current pace on the screen, and then pace for the last 1/2 mile, I wanted my overall pace. I didn't have a chance to test it out, so I had runkeeper going in case it didn't work the way I wanted. As soon as I started running and started up my audiobook, I realized that I was many chapters behind where I actually was. It was a bit annoying to re-listen to about 30 minutes of the book, but that gave me time to zone out and figure out what felt best with running.

The watch worked perfectly - the pace on the home screen was my average pace, and it still gave me my lap pace every 1/2 mile. I realized pretty quickly that runkeeper was ahead of the garmin in terms of distance, and the garmin seemed to be true to the actual mile markers setup. There weren't digital displays of the time since the gun at each mile, but they had someone with a stopwatch reading out times. They must have had to sync all of their watches, since some of the mile markers were way too far away to hear the start. I figured out that I was ~45 seconds behind the gun, based on the times they were reading.

I knew I had to start out incredibly slow in miles 1 and 2, and did manage to do this. I did mile 1 11:02.4, and mile 2 in 10:51.9. I started to feel better once I had passed a lot of hills, and picked up the pace to finish mile 3 in 10:21.5. I knew I would be seeing Joey soon after the 3 mile mark, and was so happy to see him at 3.25 miles. At this point, I was approaching the downhill portion of the race. I definitely picked up the pace, to complete mile 4 in 9:49.4 and mile 5 in 9:58.9. The course started to go uphill again at around 4.5 miles, once it hit the downtown mall. I knew the coming part would be difficult, once I got to the end of the mall, since it was both hilly and unfamiliar to me. I managed to keep it together, completing mile 6 in 10:02.9 and mile 7 in 10:15.3. Just before the 7 mile mark, I had two more GU chomps, and washed them down with some gatorade at a water stop. It took me about 10-15 seconds to do this, which shows that mile 7 was probably even a little faster than my time shows. They must have given me a lot of energy, since I completed mile 8 in 9:43.2. However, once I hit that mile marker, I ran into a block. I lost the energy that I gained in the previous mile, and just felt mentally drained. I stopped at the next water stop for some water, and then I saw Joey standing there! He gave me the push to quickly gulp down my water and keep moving. Even with that water stop, I finished mile 9 in 10:14.1. For the last mile, I really kicked up the pace, and finished that in just 9:11.7. I was surprised to see Joey again, right around 9.75 miles, to cheer for me to finish!

I will point out here that although the garmin watch was pretty reliable, I hit the mile 9 marker just slightly past when the watch told me that I had done 9 miles, and I finished the race with my watch reading 10.08 miles. I think that the total race distance was slightly more than 10 miles, since it's unlikely I did something in the last mile to add that much distance. All of the paces I have mentioned above are for the garmin miles, and I finished that last 0.08 in 0:38. This leaves me with two numbers for my "overall pace," the one that uses the garmin distance, and the one that assumes the race was an even 10 miles. My garmin pace was 10:08 min/mile, and my race pace was 10:12 min/mile. Starting out my training plan, my initial goals were 10:30 pace, then 10:00 pace, then 9:30 pace, in order of easy goal, moderate goal, difficult goal. Once I started having a lot of calf pain in the last month of my training, I decided I had to adjust my goals to: finish the race, under 10:30, under 10:00. I am happy to say that I accomplished the first two goals! I also achieved a negative split when comparing my second half of the race to my first half. According to the timing system, I did the first 5 miles in 52:02, and the second 5 miles in 50:01. I think that's something to be proud of.

For my final results, I finished 131/207 in my division (females 25-29), 671/1142 for women, and 1322/1952 overall.


Oh and lastly, IT NEVER RAINED!!! I was so thrilled that throughout the whole race, it was nice and cool, albeit incredibly humid. Once I had finished, picked up race food, and got into the car, it started raining. It rained the entire rest of the day. I can't ask for better timing than that.

Also, pictures are supposed to be posted tomorrow - I will definitely try to put some of them here! I tried to make some kind of triumphant pose while going through the finish line - we'll see how that worked out.

100% humidity - yikes!