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Recipes for Ashkenazi Passover

These foods are kosher for Passover in keeping with Ashkenazi traditions, and do not include kitniyot or kitniyot derivatives (legumes, rice, etc.). For a list that also includes recipes with kitniyot, please go here.

Garlicky roasted cabbage salad

There’s something enticing about the refrigerator case in even the simplest neighborhood grocery stores around here — salad after colorful salad, lined up on the shelf in clear plastic containers like so many jars of candy, ready to be taken to picnics or home for an easy meal. It’s appealing …

Sour plum punch

Do these little plums not look like candy? Or maybe candies were modeled after these plums — small, round and bright-colored, they just make you want to reach out and grab a handful. But look out — they’re tart as can be. The many stone fruits coming into season include …

Jenny Penso’s cheesy Passover bimuelos

Bimuelos are a highly personal affair for anyone who makes them. One February afternoon last year, I walked into the Pensos’ borekas shop at the Levinsky Street spice market. “By the way, do you make bimuelos for Passover?” I asked Moshe Penso as he took filo dough out of the …

Happy Passover on Cafe Liz

It’s that time of year again, and hopefully you’re ready for Passover. Well, it doesn’t really matter, because Passover starts tonight whether you like it or not. Hopefully you like it. If you’re like me, you’ve been eagerly anticipating Passover food for weeks now. I haven’t gotten around to trying …

Confetti carrot-lemon salad

This is a classic little salad, one of the basics you’ll often find served at falafel stands and lunchtime restaurants. It’s a pleasant, simple creation with a sharp, fiery tang from lemon juice and raw garlic, along with a slight bitterness from the lemon peels. You can make it by …

Green salad with figs and herb-yogurt dressing

As Rosh Hashana approaches, the many symbols of the holiday are again appearing in the markets. There are plump pomegranates bursting with seeds, and juicy green and purple figs, one of the biblical seven species. OK, figs have actually been in season for a while now, but as the holiday …

Sorbet with arak and cherries (or stone fruit)

I’ve been on somewhat of an arak kick lately. See, I don’t really like arak — I can’t drink it straight, and I despise licorice. But it turns out that I quite like this anise-flavored liquor as a seasoning. Kind of like vanilla extract. I don’t think I’d like to …

Watermelon with arak and basil

We have a watermelon problem. You see, we went a little watermelon crazy at the farmer’s market. Watermelon is one of those things I can’t really buy on my own — it’s too heavy. But here I was with my husband at the Tel Aviv port, and here was a …

Homemade pickles for cucumber season

This is what we call cucumber season. It’s that sultry time of year when everyone is on vacation and the only thing that’s happening is cucumbers are ripening on the vine. This year we’re having an unusually exciting cucumber season, with the largest social protests in decades, but at least …

Salad with roasted squash and lemon-rosewater dressing

Rosewater adds a fresh, fragrant hint to this salad, and it turns out to be a lovely complement for roasted squash, too. Who would have known? The Moroccans, apparently. Chef Kamal Albaz at Al Maghreb makes a lovely salad of thin slivers of cucumber seasoned with rosewater. The menu simply …