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Friday, March 23, 2012

Maple Roasted Veggies for Passover

Good lord, Passover is coming. Most Jews do not like this holiday. Why? The food. The idea of giving up bread for a week doesn't really thrill people. A lot of Jews can't stand this holiday for another reason: cleaning. There are specific instructions for how to clean your house for Pesach. Do we do them? Uh, no. Instead, Craig and I eat all the hametz (leavened foods that are forbidden during Passover) the week before and give away what's left. We don't have much cabinet space, so blocking off a cabinet and locking it for the holiday isn't an option.
No carbs for you!

Anyway, Passover is also referred to as "the Atkins Holiday" in my family. It's the time when people in my brood decide to "diet" and go eight days without eating anything with carbs. Well, almost anything. Since we're not allowed to eat bread and other foods that rise, we simply use the holiday as an excuse to eat a crap-load of meat.

Problem: Craig and I don't have the money to do stuff like that. I'm not a huge meat eater anyway (I prefer veggies but I won't go so far as to say I'm a vegetarian), so the Atkins aspect of the holiday doesn't entice me.

Solution: eat more veggies!!

Goal: eat healthier foods this passover! I'm really getting into roasted veggies right now and Passover is the perfect time to make things like a veggie kugel and roasted asparagus. I can't wait to create more!

Stay tuned - this week I'm giving Passover a trial run and posting the recipes. Today's recipe: Maple Roasted Veggies

The trick to this dish is finding veggies that match the sweetness of maple syrup. If it's hard to find maple syrup that is Kosher for Passover in you neck of the woods, use dissolved brown sugar (1 tablespoons).

Ingredients
1 cup frozen carrots
1 cup cubed sweet potato
1 bunch of asparagus
1 tablespoons maple syrup or dissolved brown sugar simple syrup
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more if you like spice)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil or olive oil spray

What to do
In a mixing bowl, toss in your carrots, sweet potato, and asparagus. Mix them around. Coat your veggies with olive oil then add your cinnamon, ginger, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. Mix it well.

Place your mixture on to a pan (parchment paper works best for lining but you can use aluminum foil, too). Make sure the pan is large enough so that everything lays nicely in one layer. Put your veggies into the oven - set at 300f - and let it roast for about 30-40 minutes. You don't want to burn the veggies, just roast them. If you notice that you're veggies are turning a little black, turn the heat down.

About five minutes before you take out your veggies, add your maple syrup and place the veggies back into the oven.

This recipe is low in sugar but high in flavor. Enjoy!!

2 comments:

Doda Lolo said...

Hey Hillary-
Congrats on the birth of your beautiful baby boy! I've really been enjoying reading your blog, I feel like I've been catching up with you even though we haven't seen each other in decades.
Can't wait to try your passover recipes!
~Lauren L.

Becoming Supermommy said...

I think you're crazy! All the Jews I know (myself included) LOVE Passover!

My little sister spend the weeks between Purim and Pesach singing songs like "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," we watch my great-grandfather's dubbed-from-TV-in-1986 version of the Ten Commandments on a loop, and the food is AMAZING!

I have a recipe for cherry glazed chicken breasts I'm sure you'd like. And of course, there's the option of basically living on matzah brei for a whole week!

...and who doesn't love matzah ball soup?!

As for me, I could live on ingberlech alone if the heartburn wouldn't kill me. And if my doula wouldn't spend the week yelling at me for eating nothing but ginger and sugar. :)

I'm definitely going to try out your recipe- I've been looking for something to complement the meat in my seder meal this year that was both almost entirely vegetables and also a little sweet, so this looks PERFECT!

Chag samayach to you and yours! And next year, in Jerusalem!

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