The seder plate is an experiential and sensory centerpiece. Each item on the plate has significance and is integral to the story of the Exodus. I've labored over many versions of charoset, grated my own horseradish relish to fully convey the flavor of hardship, and served marbled and beet-stained eggs.
The often-neglected item is karpas: a hastily grabbed bunch of parsley, snipped at the last minute to fit the seder plate before being dipped in salt water. At the end of the seder, the parsley is limp, sad, and thrown away.
Karpas serves as a symbol of the bounty of vegetables and fruits in the springtime harvest. It also represents the period of Jewish flourishing before Egyptian slavery began. The Israelites numbered 70 individuals when Jacob and his family descended into Egypt. A few generations later, due to a prodigious birthrate, they comprised hundreds of thousands.
The time for appreciating karpas is now. Nothing says spring more than fresh greens. Any salad, meal, or dish can be enhanced with the addition of fresh herbs (and roots too), and because culinary herbs contain aromatic oils, they're filled with additional nutrients and health benefits that lettuce, spinach, and kale simply do not offer.
For more than 5,000 years, herbs and spices have held a strong, significant role in cooking. Most culinary herbs were eaten for their pleasant aroma, flavor, and ability to preserve foods long before it was understood that they held other beneficial properties. People cherished their local herbs and cultural traditions for utilizing them.
Throughout ancient history, references to the culinary use of herbs and spices were eventually documented, and their health benefits became more well-known and understood as the spice trade routes evolved and expanded. It is only in the past century that common knowledge of the full spectrum of health benefits of herbs waned in the mainstream public, only to be on the rise again in the last few decades.
Herbed Meatballs
Fresh herbs add a bright flavor to meatballs. Skip the dried stuff, as fresh herbs add more vitamins and minerals. This recipe has not only all the good stuff in it, but items you already have for the holiday. Homemade chicken stock (which you already have in your soup!) adds moisture and flavor. Extra virgin olive oil adds flavor, delicious richness, and healthy fat.
Kitchen tip: Measure herbs after they are chopped. So, ½ cup chopped parsley is the amount you have after chopping. How you chop can greatly affect the amount you add to your dish. "Finely chopped" refers to about the size of a grain of rice or smaller. This allows the herbs to be easily incorporated into the dish.
These meatballs can be served all year round. They are delicious on their own, or glazed with Pomegranate Sweet and Sour Sauce or your favorite tomato sauce.
Serves 4-6
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, minced
½ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 pounds ground beef or turkey
½ cup chicken stock
¼ cup dry white wine
2 cups small pieces of matzo crackers broken with your hands (matzah meal is too fine for this)
2 pounds ground beef or turkey
4 egg yolks (yolks yield a soft melting texture)
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, but not browned. Add parsley, basil, thyme, and fennel seeds. Cook for just a minute or two until very fragrant. Add garlic and cook for two minutes to soften the garlic. Cool the herb mixture.
Place meat in a large mixing bowl. Add stock, wine, matzah, and herb mixture. Mix together without over handling (over mixing will make the meatballs tough).
Add egg yolks, salt, and pepper; then lightly mix.
Preheat broiler. Form meat into 2-inch balls. Place on lined sheet pans. Broil 5-7 minutes until browned.
Pomegranate Sweet and Sour Sauce
This sauce is brightly flavored with a hint of sweetness. It pairs well with meatballs and vegetables, and can be brushed onto fish.
4 tablespoons pomegranate molasses
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon potato starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons sea salt
½ teaspoons crack black pepper
Garnish: chopped flat leaf parsley, chopped fresh mint
Heat pomegranate molasses, vinegar, ginger, stock, honey, potato starch, salt, and pepper. Simmer until thick.
Add meatballs.
Garnish with fresh parsley and mint.
Kuku Sabzi
This Persian frittata is my favorite egg dish! It is more about the herbs than the eggs and is basically spring on a plate. Perfect for a brunch, lunch, or light dinner. Use whatever herbs you have on hand.
This recipe has a mountain of herbs in it, but don't let that stop you from making it. It is delicious and packed with flavor. I serve Kuku Sabzi with a large dollop of yogurt, chunks of feta cheese, spring radishes, olives, and pickles.
Serves 4-6
3 bunches flat leaf parsley
3 bunches cilantro
2 bunches dill
3 bunches scallions, thinly sliced
¼ cup chopped dried cranberries or chopped dried cherries (this adds a pop of tartness and sweetness to the dish)
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek leaves
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon baking powder
5 eggs, lightly whisked
1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Trim off all thick stems from herbs and discard. After washing herbs, spin in salad spinner or pat dry as much as possible with towels.
Chop herbs as finely as possible. I gather batches of herbs into a ball and chop them, gather them back to a ball, and chop again until fine enough. Place chopped herbs in a large mixing bowl.
Add scallions, cranberries or cherries, fenugreek, turmeric, baking powder, eggs, salt, and pepper. Combine thoroughly. The mixture might seem dry, but it will hold together.
Heat a 9-10-inch sauté pan over medium heat. Add olive oil. When the oil is hot, pour mixture into oil. Cook without stirring until the bottom looks set and is very dark green (about 8 minutes)
Flip frittata onto a plate and slide the uncooked side, face down back into the pan. Continue cooking for another 8 minutes until dark green and the frittata is set.
Slide frittata onto a cutting board and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing into wedges.
Serve with chunks of feta, spring radishes, sliced tomatoes, pickles, olives, and yogurt.
Gremolata
Everything tastes better with Gremolata! This Italian condiment is a staple in both my home and professional kitchens. The bright color is eye catching and just looks so fresh. The fragrance of chopped herbs with garlic and citrus is mouthwatering. The way the gremolata opens your palate for the next bite is absolutely addicting.
Endlessly versatile and with no rules, this herb condiment is the way to liven up your meals. I often add toasted and chopped nuts to my gremolata for a textural interest. You can add chopped tomatoes, chopped dates, pickled raisins, a pinch of heat from minced chiles or grated horseradish, or any flavors you want.
Basic Gremolata
3 cloves garlic, grated on a microplane
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
Zest and 2 teaspoons of juice from 1 small orange
¼ cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
3 tablespoons toasted and chopped hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, or almonds (optional)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper
Whisk garlic, lemon juice and zest, orange juice and zest, parsley, hazelnuts (if using), olive oil, salt, and pepper until a paste is formed.
Serve at room temperature. Store leftover gremolata, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Garlicky Poached Halibut with Gremolata
Spring means Alaskan fish season is officially open. Halibut is delicately flavored and pairs well with fresh herbs.
Serves 4
4 5-ounce skinless, halibut filets
1 ½ cups good quality extra virgin olive oil
8 large, peeled garlic cloves
1 lemon, sliced into thin rounds
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Place halibut, olive oil, garlic, and lemon slices into a small saucepan. Heat pan on low until olive oil is barely hot; the oil should not fry the fish, only gently poach it. Continue poaching for about 15 minutes.
Cool for about 10 minutes to firm up the fish. Gently remove the fish with a spatula (the fish will be very delicate) and move to a serving platter. Sprinkle fish with sea salt and pepper.
Dollop with gremolata. Serve warm or chilled.
Save olive oil for another round of poaching by straining through a mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.
Laura Frankel--a noted kosher chef, and cookbook author--serves as Director of Culinary Operations at CJE SeniorLife-Tamarisk NorthShore. She is also a product development specialist and has worked as culinary director for a media company.
