Dried Black Bean Slow Cooker Chili

I read in a cookbook about cooking beans from dried in a slow cooker, directly without any soaking, and I wanted to try it. It worked! I am very impressed by the ease of this as it takes one more step away when using beans. The result was super yummy too.

Black Bean Chili

1 lb dried black beans
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup chili powder
28 oz can diced tomatoes with liquid or 12 frozen roma tomatoes, peeled
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda (this apparently prevents the beans from bursting but some say it's not necessary)
2 3/4 cups water

Sort the black beans. Spread them out on a cookie sheet and check for small stones. Trust me, you want to do this. Corey and I have seen how beans are dried on the side of the road. It's not surprising that a few stones will get into the mix.

Put everything into the slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. At the half-way point, check that there is still liquid in the slow cooker. Add more if needed. You could also add frozen corn or other veggies at this point if you wanted to.

I served this on chopped lettuce with an avocado and tomato salsa. I chopped two avocados and 1 tomato into chunks, added 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili flakes, and salt then mixed that together.











Did you know that 2016 is the international year of pulses as named by the UN? Check it out at fao.org.


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Slow Cooker Brownies

Yes, these are indeed cooked in the slow cooker. We found them to be a little under-chocolatey but maybe adding a bit more cocoa will help next time. We'd certainly eat them again!

This is a double batch for a large crockpot. If you have a small crockpot for 2, make half the recipe.

I used chia seeds and water but you could also use ground flax seed. If you use chia seeds, there are little seeds in your brownies. Doesn't change the flavour, just the look.

Adapted from Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just You

In a medium bowl, mix:
1.5 cups flour (I used spelt)
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

In a large measuring jug, mix:
4 tbsp chia seeds and 1/2 cup warm water and let sit a couple minutes until it starts to get gluey

Add to the chia mixture:
1 cup non-dairy milk (I used coconut)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp vanilla

Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix well. Add chocolate chips or nuts if you want.

Spray your crockpot then pour the batter in and spread it out to be even. Put a teatowel under the lid to collect the moisture as it cooks.

Bake 45-90 minutes on high depending on your crockpot. Mine took 90 minutes. The top should be firm. Let cool and enjoy!






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Drunken Beans

I like my slow cooker. I like finding recipes that are vegan for my slow cooker. No matter how lousy I feel, it takes little effort to throw things into the pot and turn it on for a cooked meal later in the day. That way if I feel better then the food is cooked and if I still feel lousy the food is cooked. Win-win situation.

This makes a small portion so next time I would double the recipe. That would require a lot of rum but never mind! We ate this on noodles but you could serve it on any starch or even have it on a salad to make like a taco salad or in lettuce wraps or in tacos. It's not very soupy so it won't drip everywhere if you do eat it with your hands.

Drunken Beans (adapted from The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester)

1 small onion, chopped
3 cups cooked beans pinto-black-garbanzo etc (or 2 cans of  beans if you don't have your own in the freezer)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup rum
1/2 tsp cumin
1 cube "chicken" stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all in the crockpot! Mix, cook on low 6-8 hours and enjoy.

Yoga Slow Cooker Curry

When I got home today, I needed to make something that would be ready to eat when Corey and I returned from yoga. I didn't have a lot of time before we left and I didn't want to leave anything simmering on the stove so I decided a "quick" curry in the slow cooker would be ideal. Easy to make and leave and yummy when we returned. Nice and hot to warm us up after our walk home in -7 degrees. Beautiful night with a clear sky and a fabulous full moon.

I used a Chinese eggplant and green beans but you could use any veggies like broccoli and cauliflower, carrots, frozen peas and corn, but nothing that will become too soft. Potato wouldn't cook long enough to be ready.

Brown, green or blue lentils are best because they keep their shape. Red lentils will make a mush.

Yoga Curry

1 cup brown rice (mine is mixed with a wild rice blend)
1/2 cup lentils (Check these for rocks. I have seen how they are dried in China. Don't skip this step.)
4 cups veggie stock
2 cups coconut milk (one can with water added to make 2 cups or one package powder with 2 cups boiling water)
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cups chopped raw veggies
1 chopped onion in cubes
salt
pepper
1 tbsp lemon juice

In the slow cooker, mix the rice, lentils, stock, coconut milk, curry powder, veggies and onion. Cover and let cook on high for 3 hours (or on low for 6-8 hours if you have all day). Just  before eating, stir in the lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Mix together and add more boiling veggie stock if necessary just before eating to make it as you prefer for texture. Depending on how long you let it cook, it might be a bit tight. You may even want to add more salt and lemon juice.

We ate this with a squeeze of HP sauce which is like a chutney but in a sauce form. It was delicious!