The Smiling Onion

Vegetarian and Gluten-free Cooking

Subscribe

16 Passover Recipes

By Leave a Comment

Passover is around the corner! That means matzoh ball soup, charoset, hard boiled eggs, horseradish, tzimmes, and a whole lot of other Passover staples if you happen to be attending or hosting a seder this year. In fact, planning what to eat at a seder is almost never difficult – there are so many traditional Passover dishes! What can be hard for most of us, however, is figuring out what to eat after the Seder, when you are sick of the staples yet still have almost a week left of restricted eating.

Since I’m gluten-free year round and happen to also follow Sephardic Passover (this means beans and grains are A-okay), the basic change to my diet is restricting oats. Which isn’t super difficult. However, many of my friends follow Ashkenazi Passover, which is much more restrictive – no grains or legumes at all (though quinoa is okay), no poppy seeds, sunflower seeds, or sesame seeds…the list goes on for a while. And it can be difficult if you are vegetarian.

So, instead of giving you yet another version of Matzoh Ball Soup (though I have a pretty great idea for one and will probably post it next year), I’ve decided to list for you all of the delicious and wonderful things you can eat right from this blog even if you follow a strict Ashkenazi style Pesach. (If you follow Sephardic Passover, you can pretty much eat anything on this blog that doesn’t contain oats!)

[Read more…]

Quinoa-Vegetable Lettuce Wraps (Mexican-Style!)

By Leave a Comment

Alright – I may be getting ahead of myself with this recipe – it screams summer. But summer is coming!! It really is!! And as the days get longer and the sun shines brighter, I’ve been craving some lighter meals. In my opinion, lettuce wraps are one of the most refreshing and delicious ways to satisfy that craving. And, luckily for me, I am able to get really delicious local, greenhouse-grown lettuce to form the base of my wraps (so don’t judge me too harshly for throwing in a summer-style recipe when it’s still spring :p)

Plus…the filling for these wraps is nice and warm and rich and savory and delicious and spicy and …(I could go on for a while here.) What I’m trying to say is that –– if you look past the fact that zucchini is definitely not in season this time of year –– this dish is actually the perfect prelude to summer. It’s light and fresh, but still warming, hearty, and satisfying.

[Read more…]

Leche de Tamarindo

By 4 Comments

I don’t know about you, but when late August hits, I start to get a little sad. Summer is quickly waning, and if you’re me, you still haven’t made time to do all of the summery stuff you’d planned! In the New York City area, that means taking advantage of the free outdoor concerts, movies, boat rides, etc. It means braving a long public transit ride to get to something that vaguely resembles a beach. And to many it means getting out of the metro area all together – planning that one, glorious, summer vacation.

This post is a tribute to the vacations I planned, but didn’t take.

In fact, this summer was stacking up to be incredible. One of our friends was getting married in India, another was getting married in Mexico. India and Mexico in one summer? Hell yeah! Unfortunately, the timing of the two weddings was identical. Add  in a new apartment for both of us and a new job for one of us, and we quickly realized a big vacation just wasn’t in the cards this summer. I’m hoping we’ll brave that long public transit ride and get to one of the super crowded beaches New Yorkers flock to before the summer ends. But for now, I’ve decided to channel the tropics whenever I can. And what better way to start than with a fruit that happens to be pretty ubiquitous in both India and Mexico?

Tamarind is a pod-shaped fruit with a tangy flavor that is grown in most tropical areas of the world. If you’ve ever had tamarind chutney (the brown, sweet chutney often served in Indian restaurants), you are already somewhat familiar with its unique taste. Tamarind is thought to have many health benefits, including anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants, iron and B vitamins, and dietary fiber to improve your digestive system!

Leche de Tamarindo translates to — quite literally — tamarind milk. Sounds better in Spanish, right? Be that as it may, it tastes amazing whatever language you may happen to speak and wherever you may happen to be spending your summer.

[Read more…]

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa (And a Salute to “The Taco”)

By Leave a Comment

Is it just me or is this summer going by ridiculously quickly? I feel like I’m constantly struggling to keep up with all the wonderfully delicious fresh produce in season right now! And I’m fortunate enough to work RIGHT by the Union Square Greenmarket, a huge NY farmer’s market that constantly reminds me I better get to the kitchen, stat.

In my opinion, one of the best summer meals (and I may be influenced here by my Mexican-food obsessed fiancé) is THE TACO.  Yes, the article there is deliberate – in our household, tacos deserve the same amount of reverence and respect as The Macaron or The Rack of Lamb. (Although lamb doesn’t actually get any respect since we don’t eat meat.) But anyway, why is The Taco a perfect summer meal? For starters, you can pretty much make anything into a taco, so it’s a fantastic vessel for keeping up with all the delicious produce that keeps appearing in the summertime. Secondly, there’s not that much cooking involved – you may have to quickly sauté some veggies and heat up your tortillas, but you won’t have the stove/oven on for too long – a definite blessing in the summertime. Thirdly, you get to make your own salsa, which in my opinion is what makes a taco into The Taco.

While homemade salsa in all forms is absolutely delicious, I have always been partial to tomatillo salsa. I love the tangy, pungent, citrusy flavor of The Tomatillo. Okay, sorry – I’m overusing the article trick now :p But seriously, if you haven’t tried tomatillos, you must! They are related to tomatoes, and are used quite often in Mexican cooking. You may have heard them referred to as  “husk tomatoes,” since they grow inside a husk – this must be removed before you use them. After removing the husk (and any stems that you see), you’ll also need to  quickly rinse the tomatillos, since they will feel slightly sticky. But once husked and rinsed, they are ready to go! You can roast, sauté, eat ’em raw, whatever strikes your fancy! While some recipes call for seeding tomatoes, you will NEVER have to seed a tomatillo – just another of their many benefits.

[Read more…]