But how about some 21st-century Passover recipes—if not for a seder, then for the other five days? There are more than 60 modern, creative Passover recipes in a new cookbook, Passover Made Easy. Some of the recipes that are calling out to us:

There’s plenty of time to pick up a copy and plan for Passover. Photo courtesy Passover Made Easy.

Pick up a copy for yourself or as a gift: it’s just $10.87 on Amazon.com. There are fascinating culinary tidbits, useful preparation tips, full-color photos for each dish, step-by-step plating and food styling secrets, and a wine pairings and Seder wine guide.

As a bonus, all but four of the 60 recipes in the book are gluten-free. And of course, the recipes can be enjoyed all year long. Here’s one recipes from Passover Made Easy to start you off; next week, we’ll publish Matzaroni, the mac-and-cheese alternative:

Eggplant-wrapped chicken, one of the
modern recipe alternatives. Photo courtesy
Passover Made Easy.

RECIPE: EGGPLANT WRAPPED CHICKEN

Ingredients

Eggplant

 
Meat Mixture

 
Chiken

1. PREHEAT oven to broil. Grease a baking sheet. Cut eggplant lengthwise, 1/4-inch thick, to get 6 or 7 slices. Reserve remaining eggplant scraps. Place eggplant slices on prepared baking sheet. Brush slices with oil and season with salt and pepper. Broil 5 minutes per side, until second side is beginning to brown. The slices should appear as if they were fried. Remove and set aside.

2. PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Peel and finely dice remaining eggplant to obtain ½ cup diced eggplant. Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and diced eggplant and sauté until soft, about 5-7 minutes.

3. COMBINE onion mixture with ground meat in a small bowl. Season with salt and garlic powder.

4. SEASON chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Place a tablespoon of the meat mixture into each thigh and roll up to close. Roll an eggplant slice around each stuffed chicken thigh. Place, seam side down and close together, in a baking pan. Cover and bake for 2½ hours.

Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite Passover-approved grain,* and your favorite green vegetable, steamed or sauteed lightly with garlic.

*Grains forbidden during passover include barley and all types of wheat. Grains such as quinoa and rice were not known during biblical times so are not forbidden. Extremely religious people will avoid any grain.

It’s every entrepreneur’s dream: A mega-star stumbles upon your product and likes it so much, she invests in the company and creates an ad.

Katy Perry discovered Popchips* while on tour last summer. Hungry after a show, she found a bag of Popchips in her hotel room’s minibar and liked them so much she tweeted about them. In July she became an investor; then she created her own flavor, inspired by her favorite childhood snack.

Katy’s Kettle Corn is available in .8-ounce single serve portions and 3.5-ounce shareable bags.

The flavor has been an exclusive at Target since January, with distribution to other retailers beginning in May. We like the single-serve bags as a healthier treat in Easter baskets. If you can’t find them locally, we found the large bags on Amazon.com.

THE NIBBLE discovered Popchips years ago: It has been a Top Pick Of The Week twice, first in 2007. Read our review.

Kettle corn is sweet-and-salty popcorn flavor. A Colonial invention, the corn was popped in iron kettles and then sweetened with sugar, honey, and sometimes molasses before adding salt. It is less sweet than caramel corn and appeals to those who like a sweet-and-salty flavor profile. We’ve got your number, Katy Perry!

Popchips are crunchy snacks with half the fat of fried chips and nothing artificial. They are neither fried (unhealthy) nor baked (undelicious) but popped. Wholesome (corn is a whole grain) corn kernels are placed under pressure, which “pops” the chip.

The snack has 130 calories per one-ounce serving (about 16 chips) and is certified gluten free and kosher (KOF-K).

Katy’s Kettle Corn is less sweet than conventional kettle corn—no doubt a deliberate choice to keep the the calories down. If you want more sweetness, stir your favorite non-caloric sweetener nonfat Greek yogurt and dip away!

CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF POPCORN & WHAT MAKES POPCORN “POP.”

*The company spells the product’s name with a small “p”, but THE NIBBLE’s style sheet—every publication’s individual rules used for consistent editing—requires that we capitalize it. Our style sheet focuses on preventing the deconstruction of the English language for reasons of style.
  

In Japan, the arrival of the spring season is welcomed with hanami celebrations, otherwise known as cherry blossom parties. Flowering cherry trees produce breathtaking white and pink cherry blossoms, which bloom for a brief month each spring.

Celebrations include sipping saké or picnicking with friends, underneath the glorious blossoming trees in public parks. And what a tradition: The practice of hanami began in the eighth century!

You cam see photos of the beautiful blossoms, and download wallpaper, from National Geographic.

The U.S. has its own celebration: An annual Cherry Blossom Festival is held in Washington, D.C. The opening ceremony is March 23, 2013, and the festival runs through April 20th.

The D.C. trees are celebrating their 101st anniversary. In 1912, the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York donated two thousand Japanese Flowering Cherry trees to New York City. Most of the trees were planted in our nation’s capital as a symbol of friendship between the two countries.

Otherwise, seek out a nearby flowering cherry tree and plan a picnic or a simple snack, perhaps with a cherry soda (since public places typically don’t allow the consumption of alcohol). Get ready for the next warm day and prepare to enjoy the fresh air and the blossoms.

By the way, there are some 1,000 different varieties of cherry tree. All of them blossom in the spring, but most, including the Japanese Flowering Cherry tree bears no fruit. Those varieties that do bear fruit from late May through August, depending on their location. Chew on some cherry history, facts and cherry trivia.

HAVE A CHERRY BLOSSOM COCKTAIL PARTY

Here are two delicious cherry cocktail recipes from Haru Japanese restaurant (haru means “spring” in Japanese; sakura means “cherry blossom”). The Sakura Breeze is on the menu from March 1, 2013 through April 30, 2013; the Cherry Blossom is available year-round.
 
 
CHERRY COCKTAIL RECIPE #1: CHERRY BLOSSOM COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

 
*You can buy cherry purée, make it by pulsing frozen cherries in the food processor or blender, or purée cherry pie filling. Use fresh peaches in season.

Preparation

1. COMBINE ingredients in a shaker over ice. Shake vigorously.

2 STRAIN and served straight up in a Champagne coupe or “Cosmo glass”; garnish as desired.

Sakura Breeze Cocktail. Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry. (photo © Haru Sushi | NYC).

CHERRY COCKTAIL RECIPE #2: SAKURA BREEZE COCKTAIL

Ingredients Per Drink

 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE shiso leaf in a mixing glass. Add remaining ingredients and ice in a shaker, and shake vigorously for 8-10 seconds.

2. FILL pilsner or other tall glass with ice; strain cocktail into ice-filled glass.

3. TOP off with club soda. Garnish with a shiso leaf or other garnish.