An Unexpected, Healthy Charoset Recipe!

Sometimes coincidences are simply too much to pass up as mere coincidences.  I have never made a fruit salad with these exact ingredients.  Perhaps it was the Moringa.  I think it has magical powers, and when combined with honey and juices from the rose apple, taste like a watered down Manischewitz.

Spring.  One of my favorite times of year.  Everything is fresh and new after being frozen and in hibernation for the winter months (in the Western hemisphere).  Living for a few years now overseas, I haven’t experienced this shift in seasons for a long time.  Do I miss it?  I suppose there are moments when I miss certain times, rituals, traditions.  Growing up and even in my adult years, one of the best things to do in the autumn was pick apples.  This year I was aching for a good hot cider and elephant’s ear at the apple-picking farm.  So strange.

Days roll into one another and are seemingly all the same, weather-wise, routine-wise, here, and many of the beloved traditions from childhood easily slip by.  My all-time favorites, however, are rarely forgotten. 

One of my favorite traditions is related to the Jewish holiday, Passover.  I do not celebrate the holiday in a religious fashion by any means; I am not religious.  The power of tradition and family was instilled in me from a young age.  Nowadays this concept has expanded to far ends of the world, as those I consider family span across the globe. 

Most years traveling I make a point of hosting a Passover gathering wherever I was in the world: India, San Francisco, Cleveland, Bali.  No, we don’t sit around and read from the Hagada.  Although my spiritual friends in India brought passages they thought we would read, but we really just sat around discussing the Kabbalah, yoga, and then giving each other massages.  After, of course, having a delicious meal, which always involves carrying on my favorite tradition: homemade charoset. 

The charoset is the centerpiece of the “holiday” for me.  Perhaps I simply come from a foodie family, but this was always my favorite dish growing up.  Of all-time.  I could eat it year-round if I chose.  Apples, walnuts, brown sugar, and Manischewitz.  Who doesn’t want that!?  I know you are wondering how in the world I found Manischewitz in India.  Well, as luck would have it, the only red wine they sell in the tiny liquor in Mysore happens to taste exactly like Manischewitz. 

Songkran Festivities

Last year I was living on an island during Passover, so we had a gathering.  This year I am in another new town, but frankly completely forgot the holiday --- or so I thought.  Today is the 3^rd day of the Thai New Year, Songkran.  Water blessing for the New Year when water is thrown upon others.  If you are outside, you will get soaked.  I made two attempts to drive out of town a bit to the grocery store and soaked by bucketful’s of water both times.  With all of this holiday madness on my mind; hiding out, how to remain dry, how to get food, Passover has completely slipped my mind.

Last night after a mad dash to the grocery store, I picked up fruit, nuts, and simple foods to eat for the next day.  I was thinking, “easy to carry, snacks, yummy”.  Nothing too fancy.  Then I made a fruit salad this morning out of my procurements from last night’s adventure.  Guava, dragonfruit, rose apples.  I figured I would throw my almonds in there to spice it up, along with some Moringa to keep me healthy, and honey for sweetness.  As I’m eating it, I have a flood of memories come back to me that condense into one thought: PASSOVER!  I was eating what tasted like Passover! 

How can this be!  I made a Thai fruit salad, but it tasted so similar to my charoset.  I blew own mind this morning!  Of course I immediately Googled “Passover 2014”, to discover the first night is, of course, today.   

Why, at the last minute, I picked up one rose apple for my "fruit salad", which no doubt completed the taste to make my breakfast taste eerily similar to my favorite Passover dish, I will never know.  Was it a deep connection to higher self, was it intuition, or was it mere chance?   All I know is that I’m quite happy to wish you all a very happy Songkran, and a very happy Passover.  

Healthy, Asian-Inspired Charoset Recipe:

- 2 Guava

- 2 Rose Apples

- 1 Dragonfruit

- 1-2 packs of smoked almonds (may substitute with walnuts)

- Moringa: 1-2 tbsp to taste

- Honey: 1-2 tbsp to taste

Let me know what you think!  It won't taste like your mom's charoset, but it will sure be good for you, and a nice, healthy substitute if away from home!!!

photo cred: Songkran2014.com