Vegan Passover Main Dish Recipe

Today I'm continuing to provide kosher for Passover, vegan receipes, many of which are gluten free. Today's recipe features quinoa (pronounced keen-WAH), a high protein grain-like substance that is actually a berry and, therefore, allowed during Passover. You can buy either red or white quinoa -- just make sure you rinse it thoroughly before using it. It has a "soapy" residue on it which protects it from birds, etc., in the wild. You'll know when it's done because the kernels "pop" and look like they have a curly little "string" coming out of them. This recipe is one I modified which usually uses rice so you can substitute rice for quinoa the rest of the year.

Smoky Stuffed Peppers

2 Tbs olive oil
2 stalks celery, minced (1/2 cup)
1 medium onion, minced (1 cup)
2 Tbs poultry seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp)
1 canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, drained and minced
2 cups cooked quinoa (directions for cooking below)
1/2 cup yellow raisins
1/2 cup vegetable or faux chicken broth
3 red bell peppers, halved lengthwise (or coarsely chopped, see note below*)

Rinse quinoa thoroughly in a mesh strainer. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a pot and add 1 cup quinoa. Turn heat down to medium-low, cover with a tight fitting lid, and let simmer for 15 minutes or until almost all the liquid is absorbed and kernels have split and appear "curly". Drain excess water. Quinoa will approximately double in size.

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Add celery, onion, poultry seasoning, and garlic and saute 7 minutes or until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in chipotle pepper and saute 2 minutes. Add quinoa, raisins and broth to pan and cook 5 minutes more or until the consistency of stuffing, stirring constantly. Add quinoa mixture to each half red pepper. Place peppers in a 9 x 13 casserole dish. Add water until it comes 1/2 up the sides of the peppers. Bake in an oven preheated to 400 degrees for 30 minutes until peppers are soft. Can top with vegan cheese before serving if desired.

* Rather than stuffing the peppers, I chop the red pepper and saute it with the onions and celery. I mix all the ingredients together and serve it as a casserole.

REMINDER: BOOK GIVEAWAY -- I have one copy of Don't Let Me Go by David W. Pierce to give away to a lucky reader. To enter the drawing, please e-mail me at http://seewhykinsman@gmail.com. I will announce the winner on Friday, March 20th.

Vegan Recipes for Passover (Gluten Free)

This is my first installment of Passover recipes that are vegan/vegetarian and gluten free.

Passover meals traditionally begin with soup. Soup begins with "chicken", "beef", onion, or mushroom broth that is Kosher for Passover. We love Osem brand consomme at Passover and all year around. You can find it in the kosher section of many Wal-marts, Winn-Dixie, Publix, and online. The following soup recipe works with any of the above broths, or vegetable broth. This recipe makes a huge amount: approximately 22 quarts. We eat it as the first course of our seder meal and then throughout the week -- it rounds out our meals and saves time. It can be frozen as well; just cool it in the refrigerator overnight before transferring the containers to the freezer.

Passover Soup

1 1/2 lb baby carrots, sliced

3 medium-large onions diced

8 large celerey stalks, sliced

6 medium zuccini, sliced

1 lb cauliflower

1 lb broccoli

2 large heads of cabbage, chopped fine

2 28oz cans of diced tomatoes with juice

9 quarts water

1 1/2 c dry, loose broth (Osem brand, any flavor)

2 boxes frozen spinach

4 Tbs minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

Brown onions, garlic, celery and zuccini until veggies are soft. Add to large stock pot with water, broth, and rest of veggies. Cover and cook on low heat for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

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