Vegan Cholent - An old Jewish stew that's not traditionally vegan

I was raised Jewish. Both my parents are Jewish, I went to Sunday school and I had a Bat Mitzvah. Now compared to others we really weren't that Jewish. I mean, we went to temple on the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I don't remember my parents ever fasting on Yom Kippur, I've only done it once or twice. Occasionally we went to temple on Shabbat, but hardly ever and we really never celebrated Shabbat. As kids, because we went to Hebrew school on Sundays and then on both Sunday and Wednesday, we celebrated almost all the Jewish holidays or were at least aware of them.
Traditional Jewish foods were served mostly during holidays. Once-in-awhile my mom or grandmother would make a kugel or matzoh brie (my family calls it "fried matzoh") on a random day. Brisket or chicken was a given at all family gatherings as was lox and bagels (yes, I know that's not really "Jewish cuisine" per se).

During Passover I started looking around for interesting recipes that maybe I could incorporate into our family Seder next year.
I came across a recipe for Cholent in both Veganomicon and my granny's old "Jewish Home Beautiful" book at the same time.
As I have mentioned in previous posts I am just fascinated by old cookbooks. This book in particular is interesting to me because not only does it have old recipes for dishes I am familiar with, it also has some recipes I have never heard of and an interesting introduction and fore ward about how a "Jewess", yes a "Jewess" always keeps a beautiful home and displays a beautiful table no matter how fancy or casual it may be. There are even pictures of how your table should look for each holiday!

Now maybe my mother or one of my grandmothers have made Cholent for me before and either didn't call it by it's name or I just wasn't paying attention. Who knows.
The name "Cholent" doesn't exactly make one's mouth water upon first glance either.
But when I came across the recipe in both books I thought it may have been fate or at least a sign that I needed to read the recipe.

Traditionally, Cholent is a beef stew that is slow cooked in the oven over night. It is prepared Friday before Shabbat begins and eaten Saturday afternoon. Women put eggs in their shells into the mixture to let them hard boil, the juices and flavorings seeping right in. Before serving the Cholent, the eggs were eaten.
You can read more about Cholent here.

The following recipe is from Veganomicon with a few changes made. The original recipe calls for TVP chunks but I used ground soy. I also didn't have lima beans so I used the butter beans and kidney beans that I had.
This is the kind of stew that just gets better day after day. It's a cheap and easy way to eat a filling and healthy dinner all week without having to cook every night.
Serve with a small salad and some crusty bread.



CHOLENT
adapted from Veganomicon
serves 6

You will need:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, cut into medium dice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp tarragon
1 tsp caraway seeds (if you don't have them, 1/4 tsp fennel seeds, rye seeds or leave them out all together)
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup red cooking wine, water or vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup French lentils, rinsed (I used 1 cup)
1 cup peeled, sliced carrots (about 1/2" thick)
4 medium sized potatoes (1 1/4 pounds +/-), peeled and medium to small dice
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce (just a nice plain tomato sauce)
3 cups water
1 cup TVP chunks (I used ground soy)
1 cup frozen or canned and drained lima beans (I used butter beans) *if you hate lima beans, use green peas or any other big bean that you like
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
a large soup pot
crusty bread
a salad

In a large soup pot heat the oil over medium heat
Saute the onion until translucent.
add the garlic, tarragon, caraway seeds, salt and pepper
saute until the garlic is fragrant
deglaze the pot with the red wine (or water, veg broth...)
add the bay leaves, lentil, carrots, potatoes, tomato sauce, water and TVP or ground soy.
Bring to a boil
cover and simmer 30 minutes until the carrots and potatoes are tender
add the beans and simmer until the stew has thickened and the beans are heated through.

serve warm.

enjoy!
xoxo