A healthy and light Passover Side Dish – a flavorful addition to your Seder table
Who says Passover side dishes need be saturated with carbs, schmaltz and salt?
The seder meal is a multi-coursed event of traditional delicacies, with the whole family sitting at a mile-long table. Jews around the world celebrate the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.
For the vegetarian, gluten-free or dairy-free diner at the Seder, this dish would be most welcome. Gluten-free matzos are mass produced today, see the brand I use… it’s delicious, or see below for my gluten-free matzo you can make in your kitchen.
Our palates have changed over the years, looking for healthier, lighter options. Typical Passover staples are served to honor the traditions – homemade chicken matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket and macaroons… to name a few.
Many, like me, enjoy the side dishes the most. I add mango, dates and pecans to my Manischewitz soaked haroset – I can’t resist this! – and look each year to try imaginative, vegetable side dishes.
This recipe is part kugel, part soufflé. A kugel is a baked pudding of sorts, with a starchy base (noodles, potatoes or matzo), eggs, enriched with fat and a variety of colorful additions. A typical savory soufflé relies on separated eggs for texture and volume, a purée of some sort, and a base of a dairy based béchamel sauce.
For passover, many kugels are laden with matzo farfel, potato starch and fat… not my style – too heavy!
I start this recipe by sautéing bright, seasonal vegetables – onions, garlic, sunchokes (also called jerusalem artichokes), spinach and kale. The crisp mixture is then puréed (but with some texture), egg yolks and matzo meal are then added. Then egg whites are whipped to firm peaks and folded in.
The color remains a vibrant green inside – and the flavor is robust with an incredible light an airy texture.
The perfect side dish, which is low in calories and carbs. Makes a lovely addition the your main dishes, and adds the wonderful earthy flavor of sunchokes, which might be a new flavor for some – it tastes like artichoke hearts!
You may bake the kugel-soufflé in a decorative 9″ x 13″ pan, or a souffle dish (perfect for bringing to the table.)
Cuts in perfect wedges or squares when very cool. Did I mention it’s delicious cold?
Adaptable for everyday – you can substitute fine cracker crumbs for the matzo meal.
No need to serve right away like a typical soufflé, it will not fall out of the oven, it will simply settle down – you can make a day before and reheat.
Enjoy!
Karen
More Passover Recipes:
Karen’s Gluten-Free Matzo
The Ultimate Coconut Macaroons ~ One Chocolate Dipped, One with Dried Apricots, Cherries and Pineapple
Pistachio Lemon Bars for Passover