Good Friday Easter Recipe Round Up
I’ll be honest, Good Friday has never meant more to me than “Oh good, it’s Friday!” and from that perspective, I suppose every Friday is Good. But this Friday is the Friday before Easter, and Easter to me has always meant family and food. Jelly beans, and chocolate bunnies, macaroni and cheese and baked ham. Oh, and more jelly beans and some chocolate eggs.
My family has never been a particularly religious bunch, although I think I can recall going to church on Easter Sunday back in the days that I wore Easter bonnets and blond curls. But we’ve never lacked traditions. When I was young, my mom would lay trails of jelly beans one by one throughout our entire house leading to hidden gifts. It would stop at the book shelf, where I would find a new book, continue up onto the piano, where I might find a new Zwib, and onward it would go until it lead to a basket of candy from Ye Goodie Shoppe. Then off we would go to my Grandparent’s house, where I would be handed a plastic egg with my first clue. Each rhyming clue was written in my grandmother’s perfect handwriting, leading me to my next clue until I found my second Easter basket, filled with toys and chocolate. I was a lucky kid for sure, but I don’t measure that by toys or chocolate eggs. These traditions were filled with time, thought and creativity. They were labors of love.
As I got older, the traditions evolved. First I traded married parents for a third Easter basket. Then the jelly bean trail eventually fell by the wayside when we got our first dog Lance, a tradeoff I embraced much more readily. When I outgrew my personal egg hunt (probably around the age of 16), my Grandmother replaced the clues with cash, and the whole family eagerly searched. This tradition fell to the wayside the year a few members of our family searched a little too eagerly.
Going off to college didn’t stop the Easter baskets from arriving… I’ll never forget the package I opened around Easter my Freshman year. It was a box filled with dove dark chocolate eggs (my favorite!) and a card picturing a giant cartoon Easter bunny that read “Remember when you believed in the Easter bunny?” (open) “That’s before you knew about sex.” I brought it with me to the cafeteria and my friends erupted in laughter.
And this was last year’s basket: dark chocolate bacon bark, a dark chocolate donkey and Jesus breath mints.
Regardless of whether Easter for you is more about religion, tradition, or Cadbury eggs, I hope it’s filled with good foods and people you love. Be it an Easter brunch with family after church, a picnic in the park, or an Easter supper with fellow D.C. transplants, I’ve put together a round up of recipes for the occasion.
For an Easter Brunch
Morning Glory Muffins
What I said about them: I decided on the one below, probably because they looked so much like my Whole Foods favorites. These are just as moist, but they get their moisture from the apples and carrots, not from oil. These muffins aren’t just a low fat alternative, they actually have a great deal of nutritional value (see below). They aren’t quite as sweet as the originals, but they taste great!
Vegan Banana Bread (with Chickpeas!)
What I said about it: “an awesome new twist on banana bread!”
Triple-Cheese Spinach Strata with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Roasted Red Peppers and Gruyere
Strawberry Banana Quick Bread
What I said about it: It was delicious for breakfast topped with Greek yogurt and maple syrup. I really enjoyed the texture. The Greek yogurt make it particularly moist and chewy.
For an Easter Picnic
Curried Quinoa Wrap with Avo-Citrus Slaw
What I said about it: Do you know what speaks highly for this recipe? It’s Friday, and I am just as much looking forward to devouring one of these wraps at lunch time today as I was on Monday.
Indian Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
For an Easter Supper
Savory Chicken and Peach Cobbler with Caramelized Onions and Fresh Thyme
What I said about it: Samples of fresh peaches prompted me to go with a dish I’ve been dreaming up for a while now: a savory take on a peach cobbler. I served it with a field green salad with ripe heirloom tomatoes, goat cheese and basil.
Maryland Crab Casserole
What I said about it: It’s from Self Magazine, but it was so gloriously rich you would never know. As you might not guess judging from my terrible photos, this was delicious, and I will definitely be making it again.
Spring Vegetable and Goat Cheese Lasagna
What I said about it: It’s colorful, healthy and packed with fresh veggies. Oh, and it’s also delicious.
And Whatever You Do, You’re Going to Need Dessert!
Honey-Fig Goat Cheese Cheesecake
What I said about it: It is not actually humanly possible to make a dessert that the birthday girl would like better than a straight block of chèvre, but we knew that from square. But she enjoyed it enough to finish a square (and when it comes to Em eating sweets, that is a great success!)
Armenian Nazook
What I said about it: I would compare it to a filled croissant. Mine were not nearly as pretty as others I have seen, but I have zero complaints about the taste!
Raspberry Chocolate Pie
What I said about it: This recipe requires a bit of work and some the ingredients aren’t cheap if you don’t already have them on hand , but oh man is it worth it.
