For my second Passover (Pesach) Seder recipe I wanted to make a salad that borrows from the ninth step in the Seder, Maror (מָרוֹר). The term maror literally translates to bitter. In this step we eat a bitter herb or vegetable dipped in a paste of fruits and nuts mixed with sweet red wine called Charoset to temper the bitterness. (Or is it haroset, charoises, or חֲרֽוֹסֶת(
Maror Seder Salad
We eat maror at the Seder to remind us of the bitterness of the slavery in Egypt. In Ashkenazic circles the most common things to use for maror are romaine lettuce and horseradish. Others have the custom to use other bitter greens such as dandelions, endive, or radicchio. Using onion is not unheard of either. The great thing about all of these, is they make excellent salad greens. If you can’t (or don’t feel like) finding all these greens, bagged spring mix will do in a pinch. I also borrowed from the Karpas step of the Seder (where we eat vegetables dipped in salt water) for this recipe, by including celery and radishes.
Charoset Clusters
The charoset reminds us of the bricks and mortar we were forced to make and build with when we toiled in the hot Egyptian sun. As standard croutons are prohibited for those of us who don’t eat leavened bread on Passover, I needed to find a suitable substitution. The crunchy nuts of the charoset was a great option. Also, the sweetness of the apples do a great job balancing out all the bitterness in the salad.
Dressing
For the dressing I call for red wine vinegar, as a play on the four cups of wine traditionally drunk at the seder, but apple cider vinegar will work as a substitute. I mixed that with a little bit of horseradish and parsley to bring everything back to maror and karpas.
A salad for your seder that borrows from marror, charoset, and karpas. The bitter greens are balanced by the crunchy apple and nut clusters.
- 2 Cups Romain Lettuce Roughly Chopped
- 2 Cups Endive Roughly Chopped
- 2 Cups Dandelion Greens Roughly Chopped
- 2 Cups Radicchio Roughly Chopped
- 3 Radishes Sliced into rounds
- 3 Stalks Celery with their Leaves Slice the stalks thinly on a bias and reserve the leaves to add to the salad
- 1 Small Red Onion Sliced thin
- 1 Small Apple Pealed, cored, and diced small
- 1 Cup Walnuts Roughly copped
- 1 Cup Sugar
- ⅓ Cup Red Wine Vinegar
- ⅔ Cup Olive Oil
- ¼ tsp Grated Horseradish
- 1 tsp Chopped Garlic Garlic powder will work in a pinch
- 1 tsp Chopped Parsley
- 1 tbsp Honey
- Salt and Pepper To taste
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Add the sugar to the sauce pan and place on the stove over medium heat.
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Cook sugar stirring constantly. Once the sugar melts add the walnuts and apples. Stir thoroughly to coat.
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Cook the apple, nut, and sugar mixture until the sugar begins to caramelize.
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Once the sugar is a light brown spread the mixture in a thin layer on to the parchment lined sheet pan to cool.
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Once the mixture is cool, cover it with another sheet of parchment paper and break it up into small pieces with a heavy pan or a meat mallet.
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Whisk together the oil, vinegar, honey, horseradish, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Note you may not need to use all the dressing.
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Lightly dress the greens and vegetables, and top with the charoset clusters.
Don’t forget to check out some of our other Passover recipes:
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