Thursday, August 22 Chickpea Cutlets with Mustard Sauce, Roasted Potatoes and Asparagus; Rating: 4.5

Veganomicon was one of my first vegan cookbooks and the chickpea cutlets recipe was among the first I made from it. I wasn’t sure how Seth would like them since he’s never been a big fan of vegan meats and this seemed a little similar to that category. I’m so glad I took the chance, because he loved them. This is actually one of his favorite meals now and whenever I ask during meal planning if there are any requests, this is usually on top of the list. The first time I fried them as the recipe calls for, but it also includes baking instructions. After trying them both ways, we prefer them baked. The recipe is pretty simple to make, and is also pretty forgiving. I didn’t have a lemon to zest this time, so I sprinkled a few drops of lemon juice into the mixture instead. The mustard sauce is also really easy to make, but you really have to like mustard to appreciate it. About a year or so ago, I ran out of cooking sherry so I used regular white wine in place of it in the sauce. It was a happy substitution – we now always use it. The best way to do this meal is to get your cutlets made and put them in to bake and then make the sauce while they cook. I roasted the potatoes along with the cutlets, but started them sooner. Just a little bit of olive oil, salt & pepper to start and then I added pressed garlic and dried rosemary towards the end of the cooking time. Asparagus just goes in the grill pan once everything else is almost done. And it loves to be topped with mustard sauce too. I won’t lie, while none of this is complicated, the meal does take some time to make, so plan ahead. Also, the cutlets freeze really well. The mustard sauce does too, but it will only reheat well once or twice, so I’ve started making a half batch of sauce so it doesn’t go to waste.