Speedy Quick Matzo Ball Soup

Next week, in observance of Passover, Jewish people around the world will take a whole week off from eating bread, cookies, pasta, and any other foods with chometz, which is any food made with fermented grains, including bread, cookies, pretzels, etc. Lots of people, especially kids, find it challenging to change their diets this way for a whole week. When I was a kid, I thought the worst part of the holiday was taking unusual lunches to school because I couldn't eat regular sandwiches.

On the positive side, Passover is one of our favorite family gatherings and there are some delicious foods to enjoy while we set aside our usual favorites. Paying such careful attention to what passes our lips is also an excellent way to connect to thousands of years of Jewish history. As told in Exodus, a cruel ruler in Egypt enslaved the Jewish people and made them build his cities. After God brought ten plagues upon them, Pharoah relented and agreed to let the Israelites go, but they had to flee quickly before he changed his mind. They were in such a hurry that they could not let their bread rise overnight, so they had to eat unleavened bread on their journey. According to the Bible, they put their unleavened dough on their backs where it baked in the sun. Today, we call similar bread, which resembles a giant cracker, matzo, and it is one of the most common foods that Jewish people eat during Passover. My family especially likes it with butter and jelly at breakfasttime. On the first and second nights of Passover, families usually gather for a Seder, a ritual meal where we retell the story of Passover through stories, songs, and prayers. To start off the meal, many families enjoy matzo ball soup, which is traditionally a chicken and vegetable soup with dumplings made out of matzo meal (or ground matzo) (and which is usually the kid's favorite part of the dinner). 

When my family celebrates Passover, my mom asks each family member to take charge of one part of the meal. I usually get to make the matzo ball soup. Traditionally, matzo ball soup takes a couple of hours to cook and involves many pots, strained herbs and vegetables, and too many steps for a busy weeknight, While I follow the traditional method on Passover, this easy version takes only about 20 minutes of actual work and is a great recipe for beginners or the time-crunched among us. It can also work for vegetarians if you use vegetable broth rather than chicken broth.