2 Spring Salads

28 of the First Month 5770

Here are a couple of recipes I made for Pesah (Passover) to accomodate a couple of guests who do not eat qitniyoth (legumes) during the holiday. These recipes also accomodate vegans and raw fooders, and are good to serve throughout the spring and summer. As with any recipe, I recommend that you experiment to find the balance of ingredients which fit your own tastes.

Salsa
5 medium tomatoes
1 hot red pepper (add or subtract to desired spiciness)
1/2 green bell pepper
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup chopped parsley and/or cilantro (coriader leaf)
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt

Not having a proper blender for Pesah, I chose to grate the first four ingredients by hand, using the fine part of the grater. I much prefer this texture for salsa than the chunky kind. Many people do not like cilantro, so easy on it. Personally, it doesn't taste like salsa without at least a little cilantro. The same goes for the guacamole below. Mix together with the remaining ingredients. Serve at room temperature.

Variation: Roast the vegetables first, peel the skin from the tomatoes and peppers, then blend together (obviously not an option for raw fooders)


Guacamole
5 ripe avocados
1 tomato
1/2 onion
3 cloves of garlic
juice 1/3 of a lemon
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt

optional: chopped cilantro (coriader leaf)

Mush the deskinned avocados into the lemon juice, which should prevent excessive browning. Finely grate the tomato, onion, and garlic into the avocados, and fold in along with remaining ingredients. Serve at room temperature with choice of chip, cracker, or rice cake.

Enjoy!