Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking (32 page)

½ cup quinoa

¼ cup amaranth

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ teaspoon salt
 

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
Combine the onion through the stock in the slow cooker.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 10 hours, or until the beans and potatoes are tender. At this stage the chili will look very liquid-y.

3.
Add the quinoa through the salt, cover, and cook for 1 to 1½ hours, until the grains are cooked.

4.
Remove the bay leaf, taste, and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

NOTE
:

If you have access to purple potatoes, use them for an interesting color contrast.

Choose serrano peppers instead of jalapeño and chipotle chile powder instead of ancho chile powder for more intense spice.

Soy Curl and Soybean Chili

T
HIS ASIAN-INFLUENCED CHILI
is a bit chunky textured, so good for eating as a bowl of goodness alongside Corn-bread Scones (
page 243
) or another favorite dipper. I made it a little spicy (though not too much); as always, reduce or increase the heat level to taste. The black soybeans won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I like the fusion hints they bring to the chili.

Serves 4 to 6
Preparation time: 10 minutes

1 cup soy curls

Two 15-ounce cans cooked black soybeans, drained and rinsed (see Note)

1½ tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 serrano chile, seeded and minced

1 teaspoon liquid smoke

1½ teaspoons hot sauce, or to taste

5 fresh Roma tomatoes, seeded and roughly chopped

1½ cups tomato juice
 

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
Combine the soy curls through the tomato juice in the slow cooker.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 6 hours, or until the soy curls are very tender.

3.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

NOTE
: Use already-cooked canned soybeans; using dry soybeans takes a very long time to cook. If you can’t find them, or don’t like them, substitute 3 cups cooked adzuki beans or even black beans.

Three Bean and Whole Grain Chili

O
H MY, THIS
is a hearty, almost meaty thick chili without a fake meat product in sight. Hooray! Don’t be put off by the length of the ingredients list: The recipe is very simple, and everything comes together really quickly. If you would like to use a different type of bean, like chickpeas, then go right ahead; just ensure you have at least three types of beans (for the title) and a total of 1½ cups. Changing the beans may change the cooking time, however, so be warned—you may have to cook the chili longer to get the beans tender. Soaking works best using separate containers so that the black beans don’t turn everything purple (sorry to fill your fridge with containers overnight). The first part of this recipe, where the beans and oats are cooked together, is perfect for overnight cooking if serving this dish for lunch.

Serves 6 to 8
Preparation time: 15 minutes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

¼ cup cilantro stalks and leaves, finely chopped

1½ cups corn kernels

1 medium chopped red pepper

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1½ teaspoons smoked paprika

1½ teaspoons chipotle chile powder

¼ teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

½ cup dry navy beans, soaked, drained, and rinsed

½ cup dry black beans, soaked, drained, and rinsed

½ cup dry pinto beans, soaked, drained, and rinsed

¾ cup steel-cut oats

2½ cups dark vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)
 

1 cup diced tomatoes in juice, undrained

3 tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons semisweet vegan chocolate chips

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 or 2 chipotles in adobo, seeded and minced

½ teaspoon chile flakes

½ teaspoon salt
 

¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped

2 tablespoons lime juice
 

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce to taste

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
Combine the onion through stock in the slow cooker. Stir well.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 8 hours, or until the beans and oats are just tender. The chili will be thick.

3.
Add the tomatoes through the salt, stir well, and cook for 2 hours, still on LOW, or until flavors meld.

4.
Stir in the cilantro and lime juice, taste, and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

5.
Let stand 10 minutes prior to serving.

Smoky BBQ Chili

A
VEGETABLE-LESS CHILI FOR
those who prefer their chili to be just “meat and beans,” though in this case, it’s meatless too! I made this one smoky, rich, and thick. I like to serve it as the filling for nachos topped with some melted vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, and Classic Guacamole (
page 236
), but it is great used wherever you’d use chili. The cooking time is long because I added all the acidic ingredients with the beans, so they need this extra time to become tender. On the other hand, the cooking time also thickens the sauce nicely, so don’t worry when you see how liquid-y it is as you put everything in the slow cooker. I like it as it is, but if you feel it needs a little something to cut through the heaviness, add a tablespoon of lime juice just prior to serving.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes

2½ tablespoons tomato paste

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon liquid smoke (see Notes)

1½ teaspoons blackstrap molasses

1½ teaspoons hot sauce, more to taste

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ cup TVP granules

½ cup dry black beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

½ cup dry pinto beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

One 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

3 cups vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)
 

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
Combine the tomato paste through the stock in the slow cooker; stir well.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 10 hours, or until the beans are very tender and the sauce has thickened.

3.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

NOTE
: I am a huge fan of liquid smoke. If you aren’t, perhaps start with half the amount and add more later.

Orange Pumpkin BBQ Lentils