If you didn’t get one for Christmas, get one in the sales, because slow cookers are THE way to cook your veggies and make delicious vegetarian dishes.
It is actually quite surprising what you can cook in a slow cooker and because of the cooking time, everything tastes extra delicious. Slow simmering achieves a richer more complex flavour which is why for pasta sauces and curries you’re going to get a taste explosion you don’t usually get with the stove.
First things first, if you are just getting started, the best vegetarian slow cooker recipes are soups and chillies – we’ll give you a terrific recipe further down. But something you might want to try is simple roast veggies. I love to do roast veggies but quite often if I have just got in from work, I won’t bother because they take a little too long in the oven. By using a slow cooker, I can quite literally leave everything to cook whilst I’m at work. This recipe takes about 8 – 9 hours to cook.
All you need to do is throw carrots and potatoes in your slow cooker, add a chopped tomato, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tbsp water, 3 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper, stir it all up and leave on a low heat for 8 hours or until veg is tender. Remember to experiment with other veg too, I love throwing in parsnips.
For a great slow cooker chilli, follow this recipe found on allrecipes.com:
- 2 green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 (15 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 4 onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 (15.5 ounce) cans black beans, drained
- 1 (14 ounce) package firm tofu, drained and cubed
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 6 tablespoons chilli powder
- 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon liquid hot pepper sauce, such as Tabasco™
Directions – So Simple!!
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions; cook and stir until they start to become soft. Add the green peppers, red peppers, garlic and tofu; cook and stir until vegetables are lightly browned and tender, the whole process should take about 10 minutes.
- Pour the black beans into the slow cooker and set to Low. Stir in the vegetables and tomatoes. Season with salt, pepper, cumin, chilli powder, oregano, vinegar and hot pepper sauce. Stir gently and cover. Cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Once you have simple soups and chilli down, you can build up a pretty good slow cooker recipe list. I love to make sauces in my slow cooker. The beauty of the slow cooker is that the flavours are enhanced and maintained so food is tastier than ever before, plus you can throw it all in and walk away – bonus!
Here’s an easy slow cooker tomato sauce for pasta, try and tell me you don’t love it as much as I do! You can use canned tomatoes if you don’t have fresh or don’t have a blender.
- 10 ripe tomatoes or 3 cans of tomatoes (put tomatoes in boiling water for one minute to loosen skins, then put on ice until they are cool, this makes them easy to peel and seed. Blend in blender.)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced -
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 cup Burgundy wine
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
Directions:
1. Cook onion, bell pepper, carrot and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften.
2. Pour all ingredients in slow cooker, cook on low 7 – 9 hours.
