When Miriam over at Overtime Cook contacted me about participating in a Rosh Hashana Blog Party, I was excited, but then I thought, “hmmmm,  this seems like a food blog thing, and my blog isn’t really a food blog.”  I mean, I don’t take pretty pictures of food, and I don’t do recipes.  I just organize them.

But then I thought, well, hey, just because I mainly only organize recipes doesn’t mean I don’t have one or two tricks up my sleeve.  So I decided to participate, and I now am happy to present you with:

The First Ever Jewish Holiday Blog Party!!!

(hosted by Jessie of Taste and Miriam of Overtime Cook, and sponsored by Kitchen Aid!)

As you may know, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is coming up, and Jewish bloggers from all over the world are celebrating with all kinds of twists on traditional Rosh Hashanah foods.

To kick off the celebration, Levana Kirschenbaum is giving away a copy of her fabulous new book, The Whole Foods Kosher Kitchen to three lucky winners. To enter, leave a comment about your favorite kind of apple on this post. Limit one entry per reader per blog so click over to the other participating blogs below for your chance at additional entries!  Giveaway ends 5 am eastern time on September 11th, 2012.

Prize is sponsored by Levana and available to readers from all blogs participating in the Rosh Hashanah Blog Party. Prize can only be shipped within the US. 

This is the first of hopefully many exciting Holiday Blog Parties, so if you wanna be part of the party, please email holidayblogparties@gmail.com.

And now, for my recipe, the Super Salad.

This salad, which can come in many forms, was mainly inspired by my dear friend Maya, who was making super salads back in our seminary days.  She is an amazing cook and baker, and I am happy to be influenced by the little I remember about her delicious concoctions.  Salad is one of those things which can elicit a groan, as in, “ugh, I’m on a diet and all I can eat is salad.”  Maya’s salads never prompted any such sentiment.  Ever.  She has a real talent in making tantalizing and creatively delicious salads out of an otherwise boring dish.

One thing I learned from her is that adding roasted garlic to a salad is a fantastic idea.  I remember sitting in our dorm’s communal kitchen, watching her cut the top off the garlic, wrap it in foil and roast it in our precious toaster oven.  When it was finished, I would watch as she squeezed the hot garlic onto her already awesome salad to make it even more awesome.

My salads probably don’t resemble anything like hers, but I still think of her whenever I make a salad I consider to be super.  Here are my six requirements to make a super salad:

1.  Lettuce.  I know that not all salads require lettuce, but this one does.  Some people like iceberg, but personally, I like the flavor of Romaine.  Yes, it can be a pain to check it, so often I will buy it in a bag (because I live in Baltimore, where I can buy it with kosher certification.  I know, it’s awesome.  Sorry if you don’t have that option).

2.  Veggies.  These can be fresh, sauteed or roasted.  Lately, I’ve been going with the roasted (even though it’s been a million degrees – it’s a little crazy, I know).  I’ll roast some grape tomatoes with olive oil, and an eggplant, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then add them to the salad.  SO YUMMY.  Zucchini and yellow squash are also yummy additions, as are sliced olives.  And, of course, roasted garlic.

3.  Sweetness.  So, roasted tomatoes are kind of sweet, so that counts, but sometimes I also add Craisins, or raisins, or maybe some sliced up apples.  Mandarin oranges seem to get used in salads a lot, but I’ve never jumped on that wagon.  No reason, just haven’t done it.

4.  Protein.  This could be a sliced hard-boiled egg, cut up chicken (I like sauteed chicken, seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper), tuna, tofu, or beans.  Or a combination thereof.

5.  Crunch.  Croutons work, or sometimes I just crush some crackers and throw those in.  Also nuts are good, and if I use honey-coated pecans I satisfy my need for both sweetness AND crunch.  Win win!

6.  Dressing.  Most of the time I just use olive oil, a vinegar (lately I’ve been rocking the red-wine variety), salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, maybe some ground mustard, and a little honey.  Or I could go a different route and use sesame oil, rice vinegar and some soy sauce.  Or I could make a Caeserish dressing with mayo, mustard, olive oil, salt, pepper and parsley.  Whatever.  I just don’t use dressing in a bottle.

Back to the Blog Par-tay…

You know that I have my menu all planned out  already.  Even if you do, too, you should still stop by and check out some of these amazing Rosh Hashanah themed recipes on the following blogs:  

Challah and Bread:

• Marlene of The Jewish Hostess made Apple Challah
• Amanda of The Challah Blog made Pomegranate Challah
• Shelly of The Kosher Home made Apple, Honey and Pomegranate Challah!

Sides, Salads and Starters: 

• Sarah of Food, Words, Photos made Tzimmes (Rosh Hashanah Carrots)
• Tali of More Quiche, Please made Roasted Beets and Butternut Squash
• Roberta and Lois of Kosher Eye made Simanim Salad
• Chanie of Busy In Brooklyn made Pomegranate Coleslaw
• Rivki of Life in the Married Lane made Super Salad
• Hannah of Cooking Manager made Beets Marinated with Ginger and Garlic
• Sina of The Kosher Spoon made Pomegranate, Almond and Raisin Couscous
• Shulie of Food Wanderings made Rosh Hashanah Salad
• Hindy of Confident Cook-Hesitant Baker made Warm Roasted Beets with Farro
• Sarah of Kosher Street made Sweet Potato Apple Tzimmes

Main Dishes:

• Jessie of Taste made Smoked Salmon
• Samantha of The Little Ferraro Kitchen made Chicken with Dates
• Michele of Kosher Treif Cooking made Coconut Chicken Strips with two dipping sauces
• Melinda of Kitchen Tested made Key Lime Glazed Duck
• Stephanie and Jessica of The Kosher Foodies made Chicken Braised in Pomegranate
• Liz of The Lemon Bowl made Beef Brisket
• Estee of Anyone Interested? made Easy Breazy 5 Minute Brisket

Desserts and Drinks:

• Miriam of Overtime Cook made Mini Apples and Honey Tarts
• Laura of Pragmatic Attic made Fresh Ginger Honey Cake
• Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen made Honey Caramel Apple Galette
• Danielle of Hugs and Cookies xoxo made The World’s Best Rugelach
• Amy of What Jew Wanna Eat made an Apple and Honey Cocktail
• Nick of The Baking Process made Apple and Date Honey Squares
• Lisa of The Monday Morning Cooking Club made Honey Chiffon Cake and Traditional Honey Cake
• Leah of Cook Kosher made Pomegranate Ice Cream
• Nossi of The Kosher Gastronome made Non-dairy Key Lime Cheesecake Bar with Key Lime Caramel

So, go on now, have some fun at this fantastic Rosh Hashanah Blog Party!  And have a wonderful new year, filled with many, many good and sweet things.