Yesterday, I asked you guys for some help with a savory matzo kugel (thanks to all who commented and pointed me in the direction of recipes, I do appreciate the help). I want to return the favor by offering one of my very favorite Passover recipes, for charoset. Charoset appears on the Passover menu in order to represent the mortar that the Jews used to build structures during their enslavement.

However dark and unappealing the inspirational source, the resulting dish is delicious. It is a combination of chopped apples, almonds, walnuts, honey, spices and a little wine (or grape juice). You can make a little or a lot, and the leftovers are wonderful with some greek yogurt for breakfast or over a bed of baby greens for lunch. Check out my recipe after the jump, but know that you can adapt it to your own tastes (tossing a handful of raisins in is never a bad idea).

We already know that there are a lot of "commandments" that govern the Jewish holiday of Passover, which will be starting tomorrow evening. Many of are strict dietary rules. The first two nights of Passover are the most important because Jews hold a religious service in their homes with friends and family around the dinner table called the Seder. The Seder is a time when the Passover story is told from a book called the haggadah, and explains why the holiday even exists.

The word "seder" means "order," indicating that there is an "order" in which 15 things, or steps, take place. If you didn't figure it out by now, the Seder dinner can take a very long time. There are very detailed steps that include blessings, hand washings, asking of questions and recitals of answers, and storytelling.

Let's talk about Passover.

First off, technically, I'm not Jewish. However, you might as well call me Sarah J. Gimstein. I spent much of my childhood in a suburb that had a fairly big Jewish population, so most of my friends were Jewish. While my own mother never made matzo ball soup for me at home, I certainly got my fair share of matzo (oh, how I loved matzo smeared with butter) and latkes at friends' houses after school and on the weekends. And holidays? I knew all about the holidays when I would enviously wonder what my Jewish friends were doing on "their" holidays, absent from school. Lucky!

This recipe is taken from the New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer Greene. You don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the delicious recipes in this book. It's a wonderful addition to my cookbook collection.

Green says one of the best things about this recipce is that "it makes a lot of servings in a minimum of space." It can also be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen. It is one of Greene's favorite Seder dishes.

Orange-Glazed Chicken Breasts

Greene's note: Orange marmalade is generally available kosher.

1 1/2 cups matzah meal
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 to 4 extra-large egg whiles or 2 large eggs or 1/2 cup pareve egg substitute
3-4 pounds boned and skinned chicken breast halves (about 12)
1 12 ounce jar orange marmalade
1 cup white table wine (the type is your choice)
3 tablespoons canola or safflower oil