A Cold Winter's Night

I'm not exactly sure what prompted me to make such a huge dinner, but I'm guessing it has something to do with the bitter cold we're experiencing here in the North East. The vegetables took a while to chop, but the meal wasn't difficult to prepare at all. Dinner consisted of roasted butternut squash, roasted Brussels sprouts, sautéed broccoli with mushrooms and onions and chickpea croquettes.

Brussels sprouts used to be one of the few veggies I disliked, but I discovered that roasting them makes them delicious. I used to roast them with slivered almonds, but they're off the menu now and that's okay, because they're good on their own. I used to roast squash with lots of garlic, black pepper and salt, but since I can't do that again for a while, I used sea salt and red pepper flakes. Red pepper gives the food a good flavor and is a nice substitute for black.

The chickpea croquettes recipe was in the October issue of Vegetarian Times. I've made several types of chickpea patties before, and I think this recipe is by far the best. Dennis said that they were so good "they should be served in restaurants"! The croquettes are held together with chickpea flour, which acts as a nice binder. I used chickpea flour earlier in the week in Wild Mushroom Socca, and it's quickly becoming my favorite to cook with. I'm going to have to look for more recipes that use it.

This was the perfect hot meal for a cold winter's night!