Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking (34 page)

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon ancho chili powder

1 bay leaf

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

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

2 tablespoons tomato paste

½ cup red wine or vegetable stock

1 cup canned diced tomatoes, undrained
 

¼ cup finely chopped cilantro, or to taste

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 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

3.
Drain the beans, remove the bay leaf, and return the mixture to the slow cooker. Mash with a potato masher until no whole beans remain.

4.
Add the tomato paste through the diced tomatoes; mash well to combine.

5.
Cover, set heat to HIGH, and cook for 1 hour for the flavors to meld. Uncover and continue to cook on HIGH for 30 to 45 minutes, stirring occasionally until the beans reach your preferred consistency. The top of the mixture may have liquid pooling, but the bottom may be sticking. Cook a shorter time for saucier beans, a longer time for a firmer consistency. The time will vary due to your preference and the amount of juice in the tomatoes.

6.
Stir the cilantro through, taste, and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

Bean Taco Filling

T
HIS IS A
little like refried beans but with no frying (or refrying) in sight, and no mashing, either. It’s a thick, comforting, aromatic bean dish, perfect for loading on your tacos or in your burritos. There’s not many veggies, so I expect you to be loading your tacos or burritos with lots of fresh raw goodness and maybe even some Pineapple Kale-Slaw (
page 232
). The first step of cooking the beans can be done in advance and the second step (when the kidney beans are added) at a later time in a skillet on the stovetop, if preferred. If you use the stovetop to finish the dish, everything will need to cook for about 20 minutes over medium heat.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes, divided

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds

¾ teaspoon chile flakes, or to taste
 

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stalk

¾ cup dry black beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

2½ cups water
 

2 cups cooked red kidney beans, or one 19-ounce can, drained and rinsed if canned (see warning on
page 24
)

2 roasted red peppers (
page 20
), finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper
 

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.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add the cumin seeds through the chile flakes, and toast until brown and very aromatic, 1 to 2 minutes. Take care not to burn them.

2.
Add the onion through the cilantro stalk and sauté until the onion just starts to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to the slow cooker and add the black beans and water. Stir to combine.

3.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

4.
Drain the slow cooker contents, reserving ½ cup cooking liquid. Transfer everything back into the slow cooker, including the reserved ½ cup cooking liquid.

5.
Add the kidney beans through the black pepper; stir well to combine.

6.
Uncover, set heat to HIGH, and cook, stirring every ½ or ¾ hour if possible for 2½ hours, or until all the liquid is absorbed or evaporated and the flavors are well melded.

7.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

VARIATION:

Add ¼ cup chopped cilantro leaves with the kidney beans, or stir through just prior to serving if you are a cilantro lover.

Casseroles and Roasts

Lemon Tofu and Beans

Leek, Potato, and Celeriac Crumble

Potato Casserole

Potato and Kale Frittata

No-Crust Southwestern Onion Quiche

No-Crust Roast Fennel and Red Pepper Quiche

Bobotie

“Not-Meat” Loaf

Nut Roast

Stuffed and Rolled Seitan Roast

I
N THIS CHAPTER
I included dishes that mostly could have been cooked conventionally in the oven. The slow cooker is essentially a casserole dish, and the surrounding heat is like the heat of an oven (though longer, slower, and less likely to heat your house). Many of these recipes need the slow cooker to be lined (instructions will be in each recipe) because the items would stick otherwise and be difficult to remove for serving, especially if the result is meant to be firm and sliceable.

The sliceable recipes, made by lining the slow cooker before filling, will often accumulate a little water under the lining as the food cooks. This is normal and is due to the moist cooking environment that doesn’t let the excess water escape. Just discard as directed in each recipe.

I like to serve these recipes with lots of the dishes from To Serve With (
page 211
). I give suggestions with many of the recipes since they all suit different dishes—potatoes, grains, gravies, salads, vegetables, even savory baking. One quick hint: Nut Roast (
page 164
) and “Not-Meat” Loaf (
page 162
) are really delicious sliced, pan fried, and sandwiched between whole grain bread with some ketchup!

A lot of the casseroles are good served hot or cold, which makes using leftovers a breeze. Take them to work for lunch because there is no need to reheat. If you do reheat, however, in an oven or microwave, make sure the item is piping hot before eating. All the firmer, sliceable items can be sliced, cooled, and then frozen in slices for easy portion control when retrieving from the freezer.

Lemon Tofu and Beans

A
LOVELY GARLIC AND
lemon pairing, perfect if served over plain rice, polenta, or Coconut Rice (
page 216
). I have also been known to eat it, by itself, as lunch! I haven’t used much salt in the recipe because the lemon pepper seasoning I have is salty enough. If yours isn’t salted or you are a real salt fiend, add ½ teaspoon with the dry ingredients and taste and season just prior to serving. Speaking of taste, how much do you like green beans? I often add more, sometimes up to a pound (but that is a little excessive), so add as much as you think will work for you. Leftovers are great cold in a wrap or heated through in a hot skillet to crisp a little.

Serves 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Zest from 2 lemons (2 tablespoons)

Juice from 1 to 2 lemons (3 to 4 tablespoons, or more to taste)

1 cup canned coconut milk

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons lemon pepper seasoning

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon salt
 

1 pound extra-firm tofu, well drained, pressed, and cut into ½-inch cubes

10 to 12 ounces green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch lengths
 

Salt and black pepper

1.
Combine the zest through the salt in the slow cooker.

2.
Add the tofu and toss to combine.

3.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 6 hours, or until the tofu is very tender.

4.
Add the beans, stir, cover, and set heat to HIGH. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the beans are tender but still have a little bite.

Leek, Potato, and Celeriac Crumble

C
ELERIAC (A.K.A. CELERY
root), has a mild, celery-like flavor, dense off-white flesh, and a creamy texture once cooked. The knobbly, somewhat tough outer skin needs to be sliced off and discarded prior to use. If you don’t like celeriac, or can’t see yourself using the other half, use an equal weight of parsnips instead, peeled and with any hard woody middle bits removed. Celeriac is also great, however, in a mixed root vegetable roast or Winter Vegetables and Quinoa (
page 202
).

For this recipe I use the high setting to get the vegetables a little caramelized prior to topping and again for the crumble to cook and the sides to brown. Serve with gravy such as Mushroom Gravy (
page 238
) on the side and you have dinner, unless you want to be a little fancier and add more vegetable sides. Or you can make the crumble your side, along with, for example, a seared tofu.

Serves 4 to 6
Preparation time: 30 minutes, divided

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons water

3 medium white potatoes cut into ¼-inch dice, peeling optional

½ medium celeriac (celery root), peeled and cut into ¼-inch dice

4 medium leeks, trimmed, rinsed, cut in half lengthwise then into ½-inch slices

4 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

SAUCE

2 tablespoons vegan margarine

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced
 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon prepared yellow mustard

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley
 

1 cup plain soymilk

½ cup vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)
 

Salt and black pepper

TOPPING

½ cup whole wheat pastry flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats (not instant)

½ teaspoon salt