If you don’t celebrate Passover and have no need to make lasagne out of matzo, I am so sorry this post likely doesn’t appeal to you. Although I must mention that our not-Jewish friend Matt had my matzo lasagne last year and keeps talking about it nonstop. In fact, just the other day he invited himself over the next time I make it. Why is it that the non Jews look more fondly upon Passover foods than Jews? When we were growing up, my mother and grandmother used to buy 5 pounds of matzo when it came into the stores because they absolutely loved it with some Breakstone’s whipped butter in the morning. I’ll admit, I liked it quite a bit, too. Now that I am married to someone who actually celebrates Passover, the sight of matzo makes me cringe a little. Is it because when you’re “forced” to eat something, it takes on a different feeling? Probably.
For the first time, I am not going to be with my family for Passover. It’s my older daughter’s sorority’s Mom’s Weekend during the first two nights of Passover (clearly she goes to a school with a very low Jewish population) and I am excited to be with her. My son has been stressing out that if I am out of town there won’t be any good desserts on Passover and “what about the popovers??!!” And he has reason to be concerned. After all, “what is Passover without popovers?” asked no one ever. But Mr. Picky is worried. Let me just come clean and share that I didn’t grow up Jewish and never had to abstain from any of the forbidden foods for 8 whole days, but I have observed a trend over the last 10 or so years with respect to Passover foods. People are getting a lot more creative coming up with foods that are kosher for Passover that really shouldn’t be kosher for Passover, if you know what I mean. Like cakes, muffins, breads, POPOVERS. Do you feel the pain of your ancestors if you eat a muffin made from almond flour instead of wheat flour? Thoughts?
I am not much of a drinker, at least anymore. 😉  If you’ve known me for a long time, you know that way back in the day, I used to enjoy a cocktail more often than not.  Nowadays, I have very limited tolerance for it and therefore I pretty much abstain except for a glass of wine once a month or so.  The headaches the next day just aren’t worth it to me.  My husband says that’s the price I pay for being so clean.  Ha!  But one of my favorite cocktails used to be a mojito, a Cuban drink with rum, mint, sugar and lime juice.  It’s super refreshing and light.  I had my first mojito in Cuba about 14 years ago and I became an instant fan.
I came up with this salad for a Cuban-inspired menu I taught last month and although it is not anything I ever saw when I was in Cuba, it reminds me of the tropical vibe there and the dressing in particular makes me think of a mojito since it contains mint, honey and lime juice. This recipe was probably the biggest hit last month.  That said, 99% of the people that come to my classes are women, and women love salads.  I always make so much extra of all my salads for classes because I know everyone loves to load up on them.  No matter if I doubled, tripled or quadrupled this salad, there were never any leftovers!
One of my favorite food blogger friends, Phoebe Lapine, of the fantastic blog Feed Me Phoebe, had a genius idea.  She recently moved and came to the conclusion that she is a pantry hoarder.  Um, guilty over here, too!  Phoebe then suggested to some other food blogger friends/pantry hoarders that we gather together for a virtual “Pantry Purge.”  I love this idea.  Nothing says a fresh start like cleaning out your pantry.
Why is it that I don’t like meat, but I can handle meatballs? Maybe because it doesn’t resemble actual meat? Most people, both kids and adults, like meatballs. I have made many meatball-related recipes in my classes, and they are always quick favorites. I grew up thinking a meatball was only something simmered in a marinara (tomato) sauce and served with pasta. And it usually is, but there are Mexican-flavored meatballs in albondigas soup, sweet and sour meatballs, Swedish meatballs and Greek meatballs, so why can’t there be Asian-flavored meatballs? Indeed there can be.
When I came up with this recipe, they didn’t go into a soup or in a rice and veggie bowl, although those would be great ways to enjoy the meatballs. I served them taco-style, in a big lettuce leaf with crunchy cabbage and a spicy sauce. My family went nuts and the mamas in my classes all ran home to make these for their kiddos. I received lots of great feedback, so I am confident you will receive rave reviews.
I decided to teach a version of cauli-rice in my classes last month mainly because I have received a lot of emails and questions on Instagram about this phenomenon. Â It’s partly my fault because I posted on Instagram riced cauliflower from Trader Joe’s a few times. Â Some of the comments were, “I have some and I don’t know what to do with it.” Â Or “I can never find this at Trader Joe’s. Â It’s always out of stock!” Â Which is usually followed by tales of people hoarding cases of cauliflower rice. Â Or stores in different parts of the country limiting quantities of how much people can buy. Â I mean, seriously? Â It’s cauliflower! Â Pulsed in a food processor! Â Huh.
Yesterday my son asked me what my favorite foods were when I was a kid and I quickly responded, “Salad!  I remembered telling someone when I was in the second grade that I wouldn’t mind drinking a bottle of olive oil and vinegar.”  To which my son scoffed, “That’s impossible.  What 7-year-old likes salad that much?”  Honestly, I did.  I loved salad then and I love salad now.  I was always in charge of dressing the salad when I was young.  But we didn’t make anything fancy.  I just drizzled good olive oil and vinegar with some salt on our greens and that was that.
What’s all the fuss about grain-free this and grain-free that? Â Should you be grain-free? Â Is it healthier to abstain from grains? Â Maybe. Or not. Â Grains can be difficult for some people to digest. Â This can be true. Â Some people think that abstaining from grains will help them lose weight. It’s possible. Â But I think whole grains are good for you, especially if you can take time to soak them before cooking (read this post) and as long as you don’t overeat them since they do contain a fair amount of carbohydrates which can spike your blood sugar. Â I touched on this in my last post.
I am also a fan of mixing it up a little and I love having a few good grain-free recipes in my repertoire, especially since so many people I know are going grain-free right now, even if they don’t know why.  Wink, wink.  When I taught this tart in my classes a while back, most people loved the recipe because the crust is a press-in crust and not one you roll out.  That was the excitement about this tart — no pastry-making, no rolling, no anxiety.  Fair enough.  This is a really easy crust to make and I actually like the way it tastes better than traditional pastry.  It has a more interesting nutty flavor and great texture.  Let this be your “back pocket” grain-free/gluten-free tart crust.
The balsamic-roasted strawberries are one way to go with this, and I love the combination of sweet aged balsamic vinegar and strawberries.  I may sound odd, but it’s a very classic and delicious sweet-tart combination.  Plus when the juices from the strawberries mingle with the syrupy balsamic, it’s absolute heaven.  Try pouring those on top of Greek yogurt or ice cream.  But you can essentially fill this tart shell with almost anything!  Cream fillings, Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, cooked fruit, ice cream all work here.  The crust is totally neutral and will be perfect with anything.  I am posting this now because I think it would be ideal for Easter which is in 2 weeks or for Passover next month.
One caveat with a lot of grain-free crusts — they get soggy a little faster than regular pastry crusts, so I fill them at the last minute. Â Make this the day before if you want and let it sit at room temperature and then make your filling separately and fill just before serving for maximum crispness. Â Of course, you could melt some chocolate and spread that on the finished crust to form a barrier of sorts, but that’s a whole other thing.
You can also make mini-tarts as shown above which is super fun.  I was able to make 5 6-inch tarts with this recipe.  How cute would it be to have a platter with all sorts of mini tarts and different fruits?  Answer:  really, really cute!
In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, coconut oil, maple syrup, egg white, vanilla extract and salt. Mix until very well combined.
Transfer mixture to prepared tart pan and press firmly and evenly into the bottom and sides. Make sure the dough is a uniform thickness throughout. Prick the crust all over with the tines of a fork (about 12 times is good.) Refrigerate dough for at least 20 minutes before baking.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden and firm to the touch. You basically want to cook it until it is as golden as possible without getting too dark. Remove from the oven to cool while preparing strawberries.
Pile the strawberries onto a large rimmed baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar and drizzle with balsamic. Toss to coat and spread in an even layer.
Roast strawberries for 10-12 minutes or until they begin to soften and start to lose their shape. You can pour the warm roasted strawberries into the cooled shell and serve immediately or allow the berries to cool and then transfer to the cooled shell. Either way, berries should be poured into the shell just before serving so that the crust doesn’t get soggy. Serve plain or with desired accompaniments.
