I am told there are many people out there that serve the same cholent every week, every shabbat!! There is no regard to outside temperate and there is no interest for something different. Is it really true?
I understand the desire for an easy to prepare meal that fills everyone up and can stay warm all of Shabbat without overheating the kitchen, but I can’t understand two things.
One, I can’t imagine eating the same thing EVERY week.
And two, I don’t particularly enjoy the traditional meat and bean heavy cholent on a hot Summer day.
I know for some your family will revolt if you make any changes to the weekly routine, but I offer these suggestions to those brave enough to try something different this Summer.
These cholents are still hot and made in a slow cooker and they will still fill everyone up and they are by no means light. They are just a bit less heavy and wintry than traditional cholent, say Jamie’s Famous Cholent.
However, if you just can’t make the change, go ahead and try these easy to prep meals during the week, slow cookers sure beat having to stand in front of a hot stove on a hot Summer day.
Just throw everything in the pot in the morning and come home to a fully cooked dinner, no sweating for you.
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Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes
There’s something to be said for that infomercial that instructs you to “Set it and Forget …
This Lemon Lamb Cholent is the one that I am famous for. I have been making it for years and it never fails to impress. In the good ole days when I couldn’t afford lamb I used ground turkey meatballs, sometimes I add chicken and sometimes I just use lamb. Over Passover I made it with quinoa instead of rice and left out the chickpeas and everyone still raved. When I visited my Sister she begged me to make it and we tried it without meat, we added some carrots and we still loved it!! It is versatile like any good cholent should be and I find that although it is filling it is not too heavy and works very well in the Summer.
Hamin is the classic Sephardi cholent, distinguished by the way all the parts are kept in their own separate baggies. I like this for Summer because you can play around with what you include and keep the meat minimal, some recipes I have seen used ground beef, some use stew meat. It is a great cholent for those with picky eaters, everyone can make it their own.
The Tuscan White Bean Cholent is easy to keep as a flavorful hot bean side dish to a basic chicken meal or add chicken to the pot and enjoy a different kind of lunch.
Healthier Root Vegetable Cholent
The Healthier Root Vegetable Cholent is better for us and filled with veggies, even though they are Fall veggies, I find anything with more veg and less meat to be better in the Summer.
Cabbbage, Lentil and Sausage Slow Cooker Cholent
This Cabbbage, Lentil and Sausage Slow Cooker Cholent is a fun Summer time cholent. It is most flavorful made with sausage, but hot dogs will work to keep it on a budget if desired. I could almost imagine a BBQ where I could top a dog with sauerkraut and some baked lentils, this stew combines it all into one perfect cholent.
A lighter chicken cholent loaded with sweet potatoes, cauliflower and rice that won’t sit on you quite the same way as beef cholent.
One final recommendation is the Curried Cholent, something about adding coconut milk makes it feel Summery to me.
Let me know in the comments below – how many of you serve cholent every week?
WOW Lois!!! I am terribly sorry I missed this comment. I thank you so much for so generously sharing a glimpse of your life and story with us. It means so much to me that you are part of our happy cooking community and I just love knowing more about you. I will think of you now when I write. As for a more traditional ashkenazi cholent here is my family recipe: http://www.joyofkosher.com/recipes/family-heirloom-chulent/ in the JOY of KOSHER cookbook I share an excellent “Somewhat Sephardi Cholent” sending you lots of love and hugs!!!
Hi,Jamie ~
My husband was born in a reformed home where Jewish cooking was the style but kosher wasn’t even a consideration. I was raised in a semi-observant conservative home. My mother made my dad happy by never bringing seafood or pork into the house, but although she was an amazing cook she never kept strictly kosher, and she raised me to think it wasn’t especially important to “modern” Jews. My dad influenced the way I eat meat; he could never stand even a molecule of pink, and because I loved him so much and emulated everything he did, to this day I like my beef cooked black outside & brown inside! It wasn’t until many years after he passed that I understood he wouldn’t “eat the blood with the flesh”.
I tell you this because I’ve been subscribing to JOK for a while and have tried several of your recipes, and although I confess I’m still not keeping kosher, I’m adapting your recipes for the items I normally use… and they’re DELICIOUS! I’ve never made cholent either, but these recipes look fabulous and I intend to try all of them. Even though our Shabbat observance is limited to reading Tanakh and resting, the thought of a slow-cooked, one-pot meal that we can serve ourselves when ever we want is very appealing to me. I recently purchased the JOK Cookbook and I’m hoping to find a recipe for traditional cholent as well.
Congratulations on your sabra-to-be. What a blessing to you & your husband, and how wonderful that Bar/Bat Israel will be born into a family where Mommie & Daddy are honoring the traditions of our fathers and the commandments of Ha Shem.