Cholent, Chickpea Sensation Patties, Roasted Kale, Kabocha, and Kahlua Cookies

It started with a few finds at the Asian market….



Coffee flavored peanuts, a kabocha squash (my first), and meatball sized veggie chunks.

I knew the veggie chunks had to be used to make Cholent. It just looks so good in Vcon. I made this a few days ago and enjoyed it very much. Cholent is a hearty, flavorful stew, even with my freakishly meaty veggie chunks.




For our Sunday dinner I made ED&BV Chickpea Sensation Patties. I made the patty mixture in the morning and let it firm up all day in the fridge. (I had to sub carrots for the icky celery.) I didn’t have any problem forming the patties and frying them up.



I did have a difficult time deciding whether to make these patties or the Chickpea Cutlets from Vcon. I went for Dreena’s gluten free version and served them with the Mustard Sauce from Vcon. These patties are truly sensational. And the Vcon cutlets are still on my “must make” list.

I was anxious to roast the kabocha squash I found at the Asian market. I love that you can eat the skin, and I love that you can enjoy the roasted wedges at room temperature. Before baking, I tossed the wedges with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, tamari, garlic, and rosemary. After 35 minutes at 375 degrees, it was absolutely fantastic.




As soon as the squash was out, I put in some chopped kale that I had tossed with a little olive oil, garlic, and salt & pepper. It doesn’t look like much in this picture, but it too was fantastic. Most of the leaves had crispy edges. Kind of like kale chips, but you could eat it with a fork. This only needed 15 minutes in the oven.

Sunday dinner turned out very nicely.

I thought and thought about how to use the coffee peanuts. I was thinking mocha and trying to stay away from cookies, but then I found a nearly empty bottle of Kahlua in the pantry and pulled out all of Dreena’s books to find a healthy treat recipe. I decided the easiest to adapt was Double Chocolate Pecan Chippers from The Everyday Vegan. I substituted Kahlua for the ¼ cup water, used ¼ cup sugar and 1/3 cup maple syrup instead of ¾ cup sugar, and used my coffee peanuts instead of pecans. I got extremely yummy Kahlua Cookies which looked like this….

I don’t think my pictures are very good for this post, but I hope they’re good enough to inspire you to make Cholent and Chickpea Sensation Patties, and try some roasted kale.

Because all of my wonderful blog buddies are the most compassionate and kindest people I know, I will share with you that I learned over the weekend that my father is very sick. I hope you will offer up all your best thoughts and prayers for my family, as this was quite unexpected and a shock for us. I may not have much enthusiasm or appetite or time for food while I deal with this, but I’ll be around as often as I can.