More Shavuot Recipes

Delicious recipes for Cantaloupe Soup, Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese & Glazed Pecans and Lemon Cheesecake.

By GOURMETKOSHERCOOKING.COM
The opportunity to cook dairy on a holiday is so rare that we have devoted two columns to recipes for Shavuot.  This fruit soup is a nice, refreshing beginning to any meal (Alternatively, stick it in a pitcher and serve it as a smoothie!) and the salad with goat cheese is one of my favorites.  The tang of the cheese with the sweet crunch of the nuts is the perfect combination.  And another cheesecake recipe; what could be bad?  This is simple, light (if you can use that word in the same sentence as cheesecake!) lemon version. Yum!
Cantaloupe Soup
3 cups apple or orange juice
1 banana
1 apple, peeled and chopped
½ teaspoon dried mint
Juice from 1 lemon
1 peach, peeled and chopped
2 cups cantaloupe, chopped
3 tablespoons honey
1 cup vanilla yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk
Dash of cinnamon
Dash of allspice
Dash of nutmeg
¼ cup sweet wine
2 tablespoons fresh ginger
Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Chill and serve.

Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Glazed Pecans
4 (6 ounce) bags baby spinach
4 ounces goat cheese, sliced thinly (if you can find the goat cheese that is covered with herbs, that’s even better)
½ cup glazed pecan pieces
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Place spinach, goat cheese and pecan pieces in a large salad bowl. Whisk together remaining ingredients until well blended.  Toss saladwith dressing and serve.
Lemon Cheesecake
Crust:
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted

Filling:
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1-1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
Topping:
2 cups sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine graham cracker crumbs and meltedbutter and press onto bottom of 10-inch springform pan.  Refrigeratewhile you prepare the topping.  Beat together cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well.  Stir in lemon juice and vanillaand pour into crust.  Bake for 55 minutes.  Remove from oven and letstand for 5 minutes while you prepare topping.  Stir together sourcream, sugar and vanilla and gently spread over top of cheesecake. Return to oven for an additional 5 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for 10minutes.  Garnish with fresh berries if desired.
Article provided by www.gourmetkoshercooking.com