Vegan Passover Recipes

Passover starts at sundown on Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Passover is when we eliminte leavening from our food and focus on eleminiating sin from our lives. Leavening is yeast, but Jews and Messianic Jews (and some Christians rediscovering their Jewish roots) avoid all "chametz" which is anything made from the five major grains: wheat, rye, barley, oats and spelt that has not been completely cooked within 18 minutes after coming into contact with water. This is the time of year when we eat "matzah", unleavened bread. Many Jews also eliminte "kitniyot" during Passover. Kitniyot are ingredients commonly used to make bread -- eliminating them avoid any confusion of what is acceptable and what isn't. Kitniyot include rice, corn, peanuts, and beans, among other things. Some people eliminate soy and soybeans, as well, although some vegans allow soy during Passover.

A couple of years ago, my mom and I got through all of Passover without eating anything in the strictest kitniyot lists. It wasn't impossible, but it was awfully hard. We were hungry (and cranky) all the time. We researched, talked and my husband agreed we could eat soy, so we do, but in smaller amounts than usual.

Needless to say, being a vegan is a challenge during Passover. We live on chametz and kitniyot! I have scoured the internet over the last several years for Kosher for Passover Vegan recipes. Slowly, but surely, I'm building our collection. I thought I would share them with you. Applicable to Jews and Messianic Jews, most of these recipes also are great for gluten-free diets. Over the next several days, I'll share some of our tried and true recipes for Passover. If you have wheat allergies, these recipes will be great for you!

To read more about Passover, these links should help:

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidaya.htm

http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/holidays.html