Galilee Green “Cholent” Soup

Shabbat lunch at our home during cold winter days often includes Cholent.

Cholent is the Yiddish word for a traditional Jewish stew prepared on Friday. It is usually simmered overnight for 12 hours or more, and eaten for lunch on Shabbat.

Most people make cholent with potatoes, barley, beans and beef, and it was developed over the centuries to conform with Jewish laws that prohibit cooking on the Sabbath. The pot is brought to a boil on Friday before the Sabbath begins, and kept on a hot plate, or placed in a slow cooker or crock pot, until the next day.

Cholent can be heavy on the stomach and is usually blamed for the sleepiness that befalls me on Shabbat afternoon.  So we sometimes make a less heavy soup instead for Shabbat lunch.

Here is what I came up with:

Combine equal amounts of Cumin, Curry and Tumeric to make a simple version of Hawaij

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes
• 1 celery stalk
• 1 cooking onion
• 1 sweet potato
• ½ butternut squash
• 2 carrots
• 3 chicken drumsticks
• 2 tablespoons of Galilee Green Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoons Hawaij (see caption under photo)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• small bunch of dill
• water to cover – about 8 cups

Directions:

1. Clean and chop vegetables into bite size chunks
2. Place chicken, garlic and Galilee Green Olive oil into the crock pot
3. Next, add the chopped vegetables to the pot
4. Add water to cover the vegetables until 1 inch below the top of the crock pot
5. Mix in spices and stir
6. Switch on the crock pot to the HIGH setting
7. Cook until 10 minutes before lighting Shabbos candles
8. Lower the temperature to LOW
9. Enjoy the next day for Shabbat lunch

The soup was really delicious.  Its broth was rich with chicken and vegetables with a Yemenite flavor due to the Hawaij spices.  This would also be great for a one-pot dinner on any cold winter evening.

Everything tastes better with
Galilee Green Extra Virgin Olive Oil

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