Jewish in a Gentile World

My friend Polina sent me a link to The Joy of Kosher 's recipe for Zucchini Noodle Alfredo last week. I made it over the weekend, and it was a tasty and pretty easy to prepare vegetarian kosher-for-Passover option. Thanks, Polina! I won't presume to do a better job of presenting the recipe than the original creator, so you can follow the link above, but I thought I'd add a few comments and suggestions from my own experience with it, and also run down the kashrut issues to watch out for. I cut the zucchini using a Veggetti device that I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond a few months ago. It's really great for cutting zucchini or yellow squash into spaghetti-like strands (not so great for cutting anything firmer, but I eat a lot of zucchini). My friend Rachel also pointed out that you could simply cut it into thin slices with a carrot peeler. I wasn't patient enough to wait 4 hours to start cooking. I made it after drying only 2 hours, and I think it would have benefit...

Shepherd's pie is a great idea for Passover: it's a pie with a mashed potato "crust"! But it's normally a meat pie, and commonly includes a vegetable that is not kosher for Passover (peas). I substituted cashews for the meat to provide protein, and substituted asparagus for the peas, and was very happy with the results! Be sure to use gold potatoes for this recipe (Yukon gold or any other gold). Russet potatoes are great for baking, and white or red are great for stewing, but gold potatoes have a smoother, creamier texture that is best for mashing, which is vital for this recipe. And don't skimp on the potatoes: I tried it once with less potato and ended up with a tough potato film on top instead of the soft top that should be there. The horseradish is not necessary, but it's a traditional Passover flavor that goes very well with potatoes. If you're not a fan of asparagus, you can substitute another green vegetable, but you'll probably want so...

Last Sunday morning, some friends and I made a pilgrimage to the ShopRite in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, the grocery store with the most extensive Passover selection in our area. In recent years, most local grocery stores have whittled down their selection to little more than matzah meal, macaroons and beet soup, leaving serious Passover shopping to a smaller number of kosher shopping destinations. Most of the vegetarian Passover recipes I've made for this blog rely primarily on fresh vegetables and herbs, which don't require any Passover certification. Some other ingredients, like extra virgin olive oil, don't require Passover certification, and some carry Passover certification all year round, like Domino's brown sugar. Matzah, of course, is available just about everywhere at this time of year. But there are some things that are a little harder to find and require a special trip to someplace like ShopRite. This is the shopping list that I made for my trip to ShopRite...