Sunday, July 15, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Homemade Veggie Broth
Lately I've been experimenting with making my own vegetable broth in the crock-pot. Vegetable bullion has a lot of added salt and can be expensive if you use it a lot in cooking. Instead of composting those carrot tops, onion skins, kale stems, broccoli stalks and garlic peels, I throw them in the freezer. When I have a full tupperware full, I put the frozen veggies in the crock-pot with 8 cups of water. You can spices like peppercorns and a bay leaf too but might not be necessary. 6-8 hours later, you have a nice pot of homemade broth. Press out the veggies through a sieve or colander. I usually freeze and label in 2-3 cup portions so next time I make soup, bulger or rice, I just have to defrost.
Some friends were over and mentioned they were juicing a lot of fruits and vegetables lately. I think the pulp leftover from juicing could be used in the same way to make broth.
Dueling Crock-Pots!
Soon after we bought our house, Patrick found a "new" crock-pot at a garage sale last summer.
So I borrowed Katie's vegetarian slow cooker cookbook and made a few soups this winter. Both were simple and tasty.
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| Kidney Bean and Sweet Potato Stew |
So I borrowed Katie's vegetarian slow cooker cookbook and made a few soups this winter. Both were simple and tasty.
 |
| Tortilla-Tomato Soup served with avocado and fresh cilantro |
3 Dishes in 4 Days
Thursday.
I still had lots of lentils on my shelf, so I decided to make the "What a Dal" recipe from my vegetarian slow cooker book. I had all the spices, but it just wasn't that tasty. I'm not sure why. It also wasn't what I thought of as typical dal. This had brown lentils & beans, not soupy at all. It was a little better as leftovers, but truthfully the best thing about it was the cornbread I ate it with.
Saturday.
Dessert!
This recipe was super easy & would be a great use of rice left over from a previous dinner.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups milk or vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup golden raisins or other dried fruit
1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1. Combine all but raisins & almonds in lightly oiled slow cooker, stirring to mix well. Cover & cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring once halfway through & add raisins.
2. Serve warm & garnish with toasted almonds.
Sunday.
Sweet & Sour Cabbage. This was another super easy & tasty dish. It only takes 10 minutes to prep & is a good way to get another winter vegetable in your diet. It is perfectly sweet & sour. I served it with veggie burgers, but the book suggests vegetarian sausage links mixed in. I might try that next.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 medium-size head red cabbage, cored & shredded
1 mediun-size cooking apple, like Granny Smith or Rome Beauty, peeled, cored & chopped
Salt & pepper
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cover & cook until soft ~5min. Add flour & cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add water, stirring until smooth.
2. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker & stir in vinegar & brown sugar. Add cabbage & apple, season with salt & pepper, stir to combine. Cover & cook on low for 5-6 hours, until tender. Taste to adjust seasonings, serve hot.
I still had lots of lentils on my shelf, so I decided to make the "What a Dal" recipe from my vegetarian slow cooker book. I had all the spices, but it just wasn't that tasty. I'm not sure why. It also wasn't what I thought of as typical dal. This had brown lentils & beans, not soupy at all. It was a little better as leftovers, but truthfully the best thing about it was the cornbread I ate it with.
Saturday.
Dessert!
 |
| Brown Rice Pudding with Golden Raisins and Toasted Almonds |
This recipe was super easy & would be a great use of rice left over from a previous dinner.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 1/2 cups milk or vanilla soy milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup golden raisins or other dried fruit
1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1. Combine all but raisins & almonds in lightly oiled slow cooker, stirring to mix well. Cover & cook on low for 3-4 hours, stirring once halfway through & add raisins.
2. Serve warm & garnish with toasted almonds.
Sunday.
Sweet & Sour Cabbage. This was another super easy & tasty dish. It only takes 10 minutes to prep & is a good way to get another winter vegetable in your diet. It is perfectly sweet & sour. I served it with veggie burgers, but the book suggests vegetarian sausage links mixed in. I might try that next.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, minced
2 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 medium-size head red cabbage, cored & shredded
1 mediun-size cooking apple, like Granny Smith or Rome Beauty, peeled, cored & chopped
Salt & pepper
1. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, cover & cook until soft ~5min. Add flour & cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add water, stirring until smooth.
2. Transfer onion mixture to slow cooker & stir in vinegar & brown sugar. Add cabbage & apple, season with salt & pepper, stir to combine. Cover & cook on low for 5-6 hours, until tender. Taste to adjust seasonings, serve hot.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tomato Soup
So glad I had this to come home to after a cold, rainy spring day.
All I had to do was blend it up & add some Israeli couscous. Put together with a fresh salad & dinner is done!
To make: saute a chopped, medium onion & a minced clove of garlic in olive oil. Add to crockpot. Add 3 cups veggie broth, lg can of chopped tomatoes (I used a quart of canned garden tomatoes), 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup, 2 bay leaves, a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaves. Blend in food processor or blender or better yet, use immersion blender right in the crockpot. Add more salt & pepper if desired. Eat!
All I had to do was blend it up & add some Israeli couscous. Put together with a fresh salad & dinner is done!
To make: saute a chopped, medium onion & a minced clove of garlic in olive oil. Add to crockpot. Add 3 cups veggie broth, lg can of chopped tomatoes (I used a quart of canned garden tomatoes), 1 tbsp tomato paste or ketchup, 2 bay leaves, a pinch of sugar, salt & pepper to taste. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove bay leaves. Blend in food processor or blender or better yet, use immersion blender right in the crockpot. Add more salt & pepper if desired. Eat!
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Sloppy Lentils
3.1.12
I knew Thursday afternoon/evening was going to be busy, so I found this recipe & prepped the onion & pepper the night before. That way, I could go to yoga, come home, eat dinner, go to the neighborhood meeting & check out some friend's bands. All without cooking!
This might be one of the best dishes to come from the slow cooker yet. It was super easy, I even overslept & got it all ready before heading to work on time. And it was super tasty. I used tomatoes from my mother's garden that I had canned last summer which made it a little extra juicy. Served with slider rolls & crisp lettuce. As leftovers, I ate it as soup with slices of tomatoes on top.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
1 small red or green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
1.5 cups brown lentils, picked over & rinsed
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion & pepper, cook until softened ~5 min. Add chili powder, stirring to coat.
2. Transfer to slow cooker. Add lentil, tomatoes, water, tamari, mustard, brown sugar, salt & pepper to taste & stir to combine. Cover & cook on low for 8 hours.
Serves 6.
I knew Thursday afternoon/evening was going to be busy, so I found this recipe & prepped the onion & pepper the night before. That way, I could go to yoga, come home, eat dinner, go to the neighborhood meeting & check out some friend's bands. All without cooking!
This might be one of the best dishes to come from the slow cooker yet. It was super easy, I even overslept & got it all ready before heading to work on time. And it was super tasty. I used tomatoes from my mother's garden that I had canned last summer which made it a little extra juicy. Served with slider rolls & crisp lettuce. As leftovers, I ate it as soup with slices of tomatoes on top.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium-size yellow onion, chopped
1 small red or green bell pepper, seeded & chopped
1 tbsp chili powder
1.5 cups brown lentils, picked over & rinsed
14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1. Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion & pepper, cook until softened ~5 min. Add chili powder, stirring to coat.
2. Transfer to slow cooker. Add lentil, tomatoes, water, tamari, mustard, brown sugar, salt & pepper to taste & stir to combine. Cover & cook on low for 8 hours.
Serves 6.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sauerkraut, Winter Squash and Posole
No, I did not put all those ingredients in the crock pot together. But I have to catch up on the last couple times the slow cooker made it's appearance on our table.
3.9.11
We had an abundance of sauerkraut at our house (probably not an issue at many other people's homes) but I turned to the slow cooker to find a recipe to liven up our options. I made Tempeh Choucroute Garnie. I don't know the history of this dish, but it had tempeh, vegetarian sausage links and potatoes seasoned with caraway seeds and juniper berries. It turned out pretty good.
2.23.11
To make my Three Sisters Baked Beans I adapted a regular recipe to use in the slow cooker. The three sisters refer to a Native American garden where beans, corn and squash are grown together--the corn provides structure for the beans to grow, the beans provide nitrogen to the soil and the squash spread out along the ground to provide shade and keep weeds from growing. In my dish, I used pintos (cooked from dry in the slow cooker), posole and butternut squash along with adobe sauce for a little bit of spice. Adjusting to the slow cooker just meant added a bit more water to keep everything moist for 6 hours of cooking on low. The squash totally melted away into the beans and posole and I would definitely make this recipe again! The picture really doesn't do it justice.
3.9.11
We had an abundance of sauerkraut at our house (probably not an issue at many other people's homes) but I turned to the slow cooker to find a recipe to liven up our options. I made Tempeh Choucroute Garnie. I don't know the history of this dish, but it had tempeh, vegetarian sausage links and potatoes seasoned with caraway seeds and juniper berries. It turned out pretty good.
2.23.11
To make my Three Sisters Baked Beans I adapted a regular recipe to use in the slow cooker. The three sisters refer to a Native American garden where beans, corn and squash are grown together--the corn provides structure for the beans to grow, the beans provide nitrogen to the soil and the squash spread out along the ground to provide shade and keep weeds from growing. In my dish, I used pintos (cooked from dry in the slow cooker), posole and butternut squash along with adobe sauce for a little bit of spice. Adjusting to the slow cooker just meant added a bit more water to keep everything moist for 6 hours of cooking on low. The squash totally melted away into the beans and posole and I would definitely make this recipe again! The picture really doesn't do it justice.
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