Christos Anesti!

I'm not sure if I've told you this or not, but Easter is my favorite holiday. It has been for as long as I can remember, and I only love it more since I've started my own traditions as an adult. This year is a little bittersweet, though. It is our third and my last Easter brunch in Boston, so I wanted it to be extra special. Unfortunately, all of our carnivorous friends cancelled on us, so no lamb. Sanne and I decided to go vegetarian so that Jordan wouldn't feel bad about his lifestyle choices.

Even though this one felt slightly more thrown-together than our typical planned-months-in-advance holiday meals, I am pretty happy with how it came together in the end. And, as you know, I do enjoy a good challenge every now and then. So putting together a vegetarian Easter on a whim was great fun.

Sanne found a super cool recipe for tiny cakes baked inside of hollowed-out Easter eggs, and I finally decided on a salad. We also decided on white truffle green beans and a quiche. Jordan brought two different kinds of Matzo Kugel -a traditional Passover dish.

I started with the vinaigrette for my salad. I followed the recipe exactly, but found it to be a little dry, so I added a little more lemon juice and olive oil.

2 cups (packed) flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems)

1/2 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 tablespoon Champagne vinegar

1 garlic clove, crushed

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Meanwhile, Sanne got to work on the eggs, dyeing and draining them of their innards.

After draining them, she rinsed them really well and set them to dry overnight. 

I boiled some water for tea, and added some sugar and a half a bag of frozen strawberries. I put that in the refrigerator overnight.

This morning, I joined my mom for church while sautéing some spinach and shallots for quiche. You really can't go wrong with quiche, and there are so many possibilities.

To that, I added some chopped tomato, about 1/2 a medium chopped onion and 8 oz. of cheddar cheese. Also, 1c half and half (or 4 1/2t butter and a little milk).

For the salad, I sliced 2 stalks of celery on an extreme diagonal, and tore off the leaves of 1 medium radicchio head. Hehe, radicchio-head.

I tossed the radicchio with a few tablespoons of the dressing and laid it out on a platter.

Then, I did the same with 1 can of drained and rinsed cannelini beans and celery...

...put it on top of the radicchio, and topped it with 1 drained can of albacore tuna (in water, not oil). I drizzled a little of the vinaigrette on top of that.

Sanne mixed up a lemon-y sour cream cake and used a ziplock bag with a teeny hole snipped out of it to fill each egg shell about halfway with batter. Using aluminum foil, she propped them up in muffin tins and baked them at 350 for about 20 minutes.

We needed one more quick and easy side, so I sauteed some green beans and onion in a little olive oil and white truffle oil, seasoned with s+p and a little italian seasoning.

Jordan brought a sweet kugel with apples, and a savory one with mushrooms and onions, which had a little kick to it. Both were delicious!

Finally, it was time for dessert! The cake overflowed a little from the eggs, but situated just so, you can't even tell. They were adorable. And the cake turned out awesome-- light and fluffy with a great flavor.

me and my jew

so fun to eat! Definitely try these if you have kids!

I'm really glad we went meatless this year. Sometimes a great salad and a few thoughtful side dishes are all you need. I don't know if I could pick a favorite, but the salad was really tasty, especially the vinaigrette. And the cakes, of course, were heavenly. Also, mushroom kugel, I'm glad I kept some leftovers. Go team!

Speaking of eggs, look at Shamus's Easter-y self, lookin out the window...

How was your Passover/ Resurrection Sunday/ Easter? Cook anything good? Anyone celebrating again next weekend? It's Greek Easter! I might take that opportunity to try out that lamb! Plus, it means I would get to celebrate my favorite holiday two weeks in a row. Any more Easters I should know about?
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