Seder Plate

The main difficultly in putting together a seder plate is finding and remembering everything, especially haroset ingredients. Fortunately, haroset is quite forgiving.

Ingredients

1. Parsley
2. Horseradish (prepared or fresh)
3. Roasted eggs (one for the seder plate and optionally one for each guest)
4. Chicken bone, shank bone, or a beet
5. Ingredients for haroset (balls)
6. Romaine lettuce (optional)

Other non-meal items required for the seder are:

• matzah (and a cover for it)
• a bowl of salt water
• an afikomen bag or other wrapping

Instructions

1. Roast the egg(s) in the oven for 30 minutes at 325° (you can leave them in a cardboard carton or put them straight on the rack), then cool in ice water and peel. You can hard-boil the extras if you prefer, or omit them.
2. Roast the bone or bone substitute with anything else in the oven at any temperature.
3. For appearances, hold the bone and one of the eggs over a gas flame (using an appropriate implement).
4. Make the haroset (see recipe).
5. Grate the horseradish if not prepared.
6. Wash the greens.
7. Unbox the matzot, cover, and put out the salt water.

A Seder Menu

Here’s a pretty simple seder I put together for some Ashkenazi Jews with certain menu expectations, especially about the color of tzimmes.

Most of the recipes mentioned serve 8.

1. The seder plate (explained above), including haroset
2. Gefilte fish (out of a jar, with prepared horseradish or any leftover seder horseradish), chilled if you like it that way
3. Matzo ball soup or matza ball mix and prepared broth.
4. Tzimmes
5. Briskette (about ⅓ lb. per person, more if you want any leftover)
6. Tapioca pudding with fruit

If possible, make the haroset, soup, brisket, and/or dessert a day ahead.

Warm up anything cooked ahead (except dessert, which can be served hot or cold) at the appropriate point of the seder.

Other Passover Recipes

I also have recipes for meatloaf, Turkey Chicken for a Crowd, Coconut Chicken for a Crowd, Spinach Wedding Soup (warning: rice and/or legumes), rice flour cookies (warning: rice), almond flour muffins, breakfast lentils (warning: legumes), Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread), and Emeril (matzah) pizza.

Other recipes that weren’t intended to be Passover-friendly but qualify include Candied Grapefruit Peels, Suspiros (meringues), Potato and Cilantro Soup, Fish Kuku, Molha Quase à Moda de Pico (Azorean beef stew), Cottage Pie, stovetop Turkey Chicken, Chicken Cacciatore, Tuscan Chicken, Turkey Scaloppini (the Passover variant), and many more of my roasted chicken, roasted vegetable, and vegetable salad recipes.