Tamale Pie

Another crockpot creation.

The cookbook calls this Cornbread-topped Southwestern Potpie. Quite a mouthful. When I was growing up, my parents would make a savory pie with cornmeal as the crust and meat/potatoes/veggies as the filling. This recipe reminded me of that.





Ingredients:
onion, chopped
carrot, chopped
garlic, minced
frozen corn
2 oz canned green chilies
cooked, drained pinto beans
Sriracha sauce

Place everything in a slow cooker and add just enough water/broth to barely cover the veggies. Cook on low for about 6 hours.

1/2 cup cornmeal
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1 T oil
1 T maple syrup
1/4 cup non dairy milk

Mix all the topping ingredients together until a soft dough is formed. Spread over the top of the veggies in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for about 1 hour until the corn bread is cooked through.

This was incredibly tasty. The recipe called for it to be cooked for 5 hours and then add the cornbread topping. I was at school for about 8 hours and while the veggies were super duper soft, nothing was ruined. The slow cooker is pretty good like that.

Mediterranean Fest 2011!

A few days ago, I realized that I was craving falafel, so this week I put it into my menu plans and made it for dinner tonight. Dinner took about two hours to pull everything together, but it was delicious.

I wanted to add dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), but the two jars of grape leaves at the grocery store both expired in October and had weird white floating things inside. It is too bad, because I had a recipe for them in the slow cooker cook book. I plan on going to the natural food store some time this week and maybe they will have grape leaves.





The menu tonight, all homemade:
Flat bread
falafel
hummus
tabbouleh
tzatziki sauce

Flat Bread
(From Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads. This book is awesome. I bought it for $7 from Powell's and it has 750 pages full of bread recipes.)

2 cups white wheat flour
1 t active dry yeast
1 t salt
2 t olive oil
3/4 cup hot water (120F - 130F)
(I wish I had kneaded in some roasted garlic for a bit more flavor)

In a bowl combine half the flour, yeast, and salt. Add in the water and oil and combine. Keep adding flour 1/4 cup at a time until you are able to knead the bread easily.

On a lightly floured surface, knead the bread until it is soft and elastic. Do not add too much flour or the bread will be dry and dense.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough inside, turning once to cover it in oil. Cover tightly and set aside in a warm spot to rise. It took about 40 minutes to double in size.

Punch down the dough and divide into 4 parts. Roll the dough with your hands or a rolling pin, until it is about 8 inches in diameter.

Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat and add oil olive. Cook the flat bread for 3 - 4 minutes per side, or until brown and risen slightly. Cover with a damp towel to keep warm and moist while the other breads are cooking. Serve warm.


Falafel
(Adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance and Great Vegetarian Food)

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 T flour
1/2 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 green onion, chopped
1/4 t baking soda
cumin, ground
coriander, ground
cayenne pepper, ground
1/4 cup fresh parsley
salt
black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well mixed. You don't want it to be hummus, it should be small bits of food that hold together when pressed. Place in fridge for about 30 minutes.

Form into patties and cook in a bit of olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat.


Hummus

1 cup chickpeas
4 cloves garlic
1 T tahini
salt
black pepper
sriracha sauce
olive oil

Add everything, except the oil to the food processor. Blend until everything is combined. While the processor is running, slowly add oil until it looks smooth. Continue processing until a paste has formed. I meant to add lemon juice to the mixture, but I did not have a lemon.


Tabbouleh Salad
(Adapted from Great Vegetarian Food)

2 T bulgur wheat
boiling water
2/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped
1 T olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced (I didn't have a lemon on hand, but it would have added much more to the salad)

Place bulgur in a heat proof bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside for about 10 minutes. Drain and dry the bulgur. Add the bulgur to all the other ingredients and mix to combine. Alternatively, you can add everything to a food processor and pulse several times until it is the consistency you desire.


Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped
salt
pepper
1/2 lemon, juiced (I didn't add this and it came out fine)

Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until the cucumber is liquified. Chill until ready to use.






Oh my goodness, this was so deliciously good. And all the homemade items tasted fantastic. Neither my husband or myself like any of the hummus we can buy in the store, so making it from home is a necessity.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Another win for the slow cooker tonight. My friend was having a game night over at her house and I had decided to bring something snacky to share. She is trying out veganism for a month and every potluck dish was vegan, which is pretty awesome.

I have no picture, because it was devoured and it doesn't look that appetizing.

Total cooktime: about 2 hours

Ingredients:
8 oz marinated artichoke hearts
10 oz frozen spinach
8 oz vegan cream cheese
juice from 1/2 a lemon
Sriracha sauce
salt and black pepper

Cook spinach according to package directions. Chop up the artichoke hearts to bite sized pieces. Add everything to the slow cooker and mix well. Cook on low for a few hours. I think we started to eat it after about an hour and it was heated through.

Served with some water crackers, it was delicious.

Black Bean Chili

Oh my goodness, this chili was fantastic. My husband refused to call it a chili until it had actual chilies in it. In the evening on my way home, I picked up a habanero and some random green chili at the grocery store to make it a proper chili.





In the morning I put the following in my 1.5 qt slow cooker:
black beans
onions
carrots
chili powder
cumin
garlic powder
water, just to cover

Cook on low for 6-8 hours. I came back and it had reduced to a very thick chili.

While I was making corn bread, I added frozen corn, above mentioned chilies, and adjusted the seasoning. To serve, garnish with cilantro.

This had my husband sweating a bit from the heat of the chili, but I thought it was perfect. I love spicy foods.

No Hurry Vegetable Curry

Tonight's dinner was pretty good. It was much too watery, so much so that I did not add the coconut milk called for because it would add too much to the liquid. Next time, much less water.





Into my slow cooker went:
potatoes, diced
celery, diced (I would have also added carrots, had I not just run out)
red chili
garlic
ginger
curry powder
coriander seeds, crushed
cayenne powder
Better than Bouillon Broth paste
Water

It cooked on low for about 8 hours.

I had chickpeas cooking in my other slow cooker and when I arrived home, I added about a cup to the curry. I also added a couple of hand fulls of kale and turned the curry up to high while the rice was cooking. I added a bit of cornstarch in the hopes it would thicken up the sauce, but it never got hot enough for that to happen. I need to start making a roux in the morning because my soups have not been very thick.



Dual slow cooker mania!


Our food lately has been really meh. Maybe I'll remake the hot and sour soup due to it being one of the best things I have made lately.

Mushroom Barley Soup

Another one from the slow cooker.

I was excited when I put this soup together this morning, but by the time I got home, I was less than thrilled to be eating it. I didn't take a picture of it, because it was not very photogenic. I am in awe of people that can take pictures of risotto or other grains and make them look appetizing.

This soup was good, not fantastic and I probably wouldn't make it again. It fulfilled my nutritional needs for the evening.

Mushroom Barley Soup
Adapted from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker

onions, chopped
carrots, chopped
celery, chopped
mushrooms, chopped
barley, rinsed (I added about 1/2 cup for my 1.5 qt slow cooker)
veggie broth
thyme
rosemary
hot pepper
hot sauce

Put everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours.

When I got home, the barley had expanded more than I had expected and had soaked up most of the liquid. The texture of the barley was, as my husband put it, slimy. I wasn't expecting it to be, not exactly gooey, so creamy. Once we added more hot sauce, the soup became much more palatable, but everything tastes better with hot sauce.

Savory Stuffed Wheat-Meat Roast

Another entry in the slow cooker challenge

This one sounded like it would be delicious. Overall, it was pretty good, but there are things I would change if I were to make it again.



Braaaaiinns, after marinating all night long


I made the seitan last night and allowed it to marinate over night. The recipe called for it to just marinate in soy sauce, but I used about half of the soy sauce called for, added some olive oil, and filled the rest with water. The resulting roast was very very salty. I might eliminate the soy sauce completely or at least limit it drastically next time I make it.




Gluten rolled out, stuffing and rolled up with stuffing


The gluten was a pain to roll out. I enlisted the help of my husband who has more upper body strength than I do. I wish we had rolled it thinner because the ends were a bit too thick.

The stuffing part was delicious. While it cooked, the stuffing seemed to have melted into the gluten.

I had some left over stuffing, so I cooked it in my other crock pot for about three hours.



Stuffing before and after cooking


Finally, the roast. It was much much too salty. The water drizzled over top of the roast had soy sauce in it as well. Next time, much much less soy sauce.




Before cooking, after cooking, Im gunna eat choo!, inside the roast.


Verdict? It was good and I am looking forward to eating the roast this week with a bit of gravy. My husband didn't like the chewy texture of the roast and compared the appearance to haggis, but I thought it tasted fine. I loved how brown the roast became cooking in the slow cooker. The stuffing really is the best part about this dish.

Baked Potato

Here is another recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker.

I had wanted to make the "Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast", but I didn't start early enough to get it done by dinner, so I was flipping through the book trying to find something else that I could make with the ingredients in my apartment. Baked Potatoes! Perfect, I have a whole bag of potatoes I just bought.

Ingredients:
Potatoes (I used yukon gold because they are my favorite)

Scrub the potatoes and remove any eyes or weird spots. Rub the potatoes with butter like substitute and sprinkle with salt. Take a fork and stab the potato all over to allow steam to vent. Wrap in foil and place in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 - 8 hours. Mine took just about 6 hours. They were tender and delicious.



Hmm, really roasted garlic


While perusing the Vegetarian Slow Cooker blog a few weeks ago I had found the post about roasted garlic in the slow cooker. When I decided on putting in the potatoes, I thought now would be the perfect time to try roasting garlic as well. I only had about 1/2 head of garlic, but it still came out roasty and fantastic. Next time, I am going to make two heads so that my husband and I can each have our own. I mushed the garlic into a paste and used it as a spread on the potatoes.

Next, came the chili. I didn't know quite what to put on top of the potatoes and I wanted to just use things in my pantry. I came up with this concoction.

1/2 cup TVP
1 15oz can pinto beans
1/4 cup tomato pasta sauce
1/2 cup water
chili powder
cumin
chipotle powder
habanero hot sauce
salt and pepper

I put everything into a small saucepan and simmered until about half of the liquid had evaporated. Not the best chili I have made, but it worked really well to get dinner to the table quick like.



Baked Potato with roasted garlic, chili, tofutti cream cheese, and green onions


We both gave this recipe two thumbs up. The potatoes were tender and everything else was fine. I am looking forward to making the potatoes more during the coming semester because they were crazy easy to do.

I made the seitan tonight for the Savory Stuffed Wheat Meat Roast and it is currently looking like a brain and marinating in my fridge.





I am really excited about this recipe. It is marinated seitan (I used the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance) rolled into a rectangle, topped with stuffing, rolled up like a swiss roll and cooked in the slow cooker for 6 - 8 hours. I hope it will be good!

Mushroom Risotto

Another recipe from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Click here to see all my posts about recipes from this book.

I had really high hopes for this recipe. I really enjoy risotto and I thought that the method of cooking it in the slow cooker would make it easier and delicious.

This turned out to not be the case.

I don't know if it was the porcini mushrooms I bought or if making risotto in the slow cooker is not a good idea, but this came out tasting terrible. The mushrooms smelled a bit like human feces. I had never bought dried porcinis before, is this normal? After about 1.5 hours in the slow cooker this was a gelatinous goo and not creamy risotto.





I think I am going to try this recipe again, but without the mushrooms and maybe see what it looks like after an hour.

It was a good thing we bought rolls at the grocery store - mini sandwiches for dinner. I toasted my bread and put on tofutti cream cheese, sriracha, pickles, lettuce, and onions. It went perfectly with my tortilla chips.

Slow Cooker Challenge

I was reading through my copy of Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker last night and I thought I would try to cook through as many of the recipes as possible. I'll keep updating this post with links to all my cooking. I am not going to post the recipes, but I'll write out my notes and how I changed the recipe to fit into my slow cooker.


Page Recipe

Appetizers and Snacks
15 White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine
16 Savory Spinach Pate with Garlic and Pine Nuts
17 Vegetarian Country-Style Pate
18 Chutney-Topped Tofu Appetizer Cheesecake
19 Thyme-Scented Duxelles Crostini
20 Slow Stuffed Grape Leaves
21 Caponata
22 Tempeh and Shallot Confit
23 Spicy Chili Dip
24 Artichoke Dip with a Kick
25 Ragin' Cajun Pecans
26 Ginger-Spiced Walnuts
27 Tamari Almonds
28 Santa Fe Trail Mix
29 Asian-Style Party Mix

Soups and Chowders
34 Light and Easy Vegetable Stock
35 Vegetable Super-Stock
36 Black Bean Soup
37 Tuscan White Bean and Escarole Soup
38 French White Bean and Cabbage Soup
39 Lentil Soup with Ribbons of Kale
40 Moroccan-Style Lentil and Chickpea Soup
42 Split Pea and Parsnip Soup
43 Very Vegetable Gumbo
44 Old-Fashioned Vegetable Soup
45 All-Day Minestrone
46 Carrot and Parsnip Bisque with a Hint of Orange
47 Curried Cauliflower Soup with Chutney and Cashews
48 Corn Chowder in Winter
49 Winter Squash and Sweet Potato Soup
50 Chipotle-Potato Soup with Frizzled Leeks
51 Pesto-Potato Soup with Toasted Pine Nuts
52 French Onion Soup with Cheesy Bruschetta
53 "Seeing Red" Borscht
54 Tortilla Tomato Soup
55 Creamy Tomato Soup with Israeli Couscous
56 Mushroom Barley Soup
57 Slow Pho
58 Hot and Sour Soup
59 Chinese Hot Pot

Chilis and Stews
63 Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chili
64 Farm Stand Chili with Chickpeas
65 Black Bean Chili
66 Three-Bean Chili with Chive-Flecked Cornmeal Dumplings
68 Chipotle-Kissed Red Bean and Sweet Potato Chili
69 Perfect Hominy White Bean Chili
70 Spicy White Bean and Sweet Potato Stew with Collards
71 Pesto-Infused White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Stew
72 Ready and Waiting Bean and Vegetable Ragout
73 Almost Irish Stew
74 Red, White, and Blue Stew
75 Indian Cauliflower and Kidney Bean Stew with Coconut Milk
76 Moroccan-Inspired Vegetable and Chickpea Stew
78 Veggie Jambalaya
79 Mediterranean Vegetable Stew
80 Vindaloo Vegetables
82 Vegetarian Pot au Feu
83 Slow and Easy Mushroom and Green Bean Stroganoff
84 Millet and Burdock Root Stew
85 Tempeh Etouffee
86 Hungarian Goulash with Tempeh
87 Slow-Simmered Seitan Stifado
88 Vegetarian Bollito Misto with Salsa Verde
90 Wheat-Meat Cacciatore

Beans and Grains
95 Basic Beans
96 Magic Beans
98 Maple Baked Beans
99 Orange and Bourbon Baked Beans
100 Slow Beans Bourguignon
101 Greek Big Beans
102 Slow and Easy White Bean Cassoulet
103 What a Dal
104 Sloppy Lentils
105 Pintos Picadillo
106 Spicy Black Beans and Rice with Mangoes
107 Slow Spanish Beans and Rice
108 Vegetarian Hoppin' John
109 Wild Rice Pilaf with Peas, Lemon Zest, and Tarragon
110 Mushroom Risotto
111 White Beans and Spelt with Escarole
112 Garlicky Polenta with Wild Mushrooms
114 Kamut with Root Vegetables and Cranberries

Potpies, Pastas, and Other Main Dishes
117 Farmhouse Fricassee
118 Miso-Braised Tofu and Shallots
119 Five-Layer Vegetable Strata with Pesto
120 Tempeh Choucroute Garnie
121 Arroz non Pollo
122 Vegetarian Paella
124 No Hurry Vegetable Curry
125 South African Slow-Cooked Bobotie
126 Slow-Fashioned Potpie with Biscuit Crust
127 Cornbread-Topped Southwestern Potpie
128 Enchilada-Inspired Polenta Pie
129 Seitan from Scratch
130 Not Your Mama's Pot Roast
131 Braised Seitan with Red Wine and Mushrooms
132 Barbecued Seitan and Layered Vegetables
133 Slow-Cooked Tomato Sauce for Pasta
134 Fettuccine with Lentil Bolongese Sauce
135 Slow-Cooked Ziti Casserole
136 Vegetable Lasagna (I might make this again, because I didn't use the recipe from the slow cooker cookbook)
138 Mac and Cheese Florentine
140 Black-Eyed Peas and Chard with Soba Noodles

The Stuffing and the Stuffed
144 Wild Mushroom Stuffing
145 Cranberry-Walnut Stuffing
146 Chestnut and Apple Stuffing
147 Wild Rice and Dried Fruit Stuffing
148 Old-Fashioned Bread Stuffing
149 Spicy Basque Stuffing
150 Savory Vegetable Bread Pudding
151 Bell Peppers Stuffed with Salsa Rice and Beans
152 Bell Peppers Stuffed with Israeli Couscous and Lentils
153 Bell Peppers Stuffed with Coconut Rice and Mangoes
154 Golden-Glow Stuffed Squash
155 Winter Squash Stuffed with Couscous, Apricots, and Pistachios
156 Zucchini Stuffed with Tomato, White Beans, and Pesto
157 Chipotle Rice-Stuffed Zucchini
158 Bulgur and Lentil-Stuffed Eggplant
159 Vidalia Onions with Shiitake-Hoisin Stuffing
160 Rice and Raisin-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
161 Tempeh and Barley-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
162 Yuba-Wrapped Vegetarian Haggis
164 Wine-Braised Seitan Braciole
166 Savory Stuffed Wheat-Meat Roast
168 Cheesy Garlic-Stuffed Artichokes

Vegetables
171 Half-Day Ratatouille
172 Vegetable Tian with Herbes de Provence
173 "Messa" Collards
174 Baked Potato
175 Rustic Mashed Potatoes
176 Layered Pesto Potatoes with Sun-Dried Tomatoes
177 New Potatoes, Fennel, and Radicchio with Kalamata Olives and Basil
176 Slow-Baked Sweet Potatoes
179 Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Dried Cranberries
180 Sweet Potato Casserole with Pineapple and Coconut
181 Maple-Glazed Winter Squash with Garlic and Ginger
182 Balsamic-Braised Root Vegetables
183 Three Orange-Flavored Beets
184 Provencal Green Beans
185 Green Bean and White Bean Casserole
186 Sweet and Sour Cipollini Onions with Walnuts and Golden Raisins
187 Slow-Simmered Bok Choy
188 Sweet and Sour Cabbage
189 Vermouth-Braised Celery
190 Stewed Tomatoes
191 Slow-Cooked Artichokes
192 Herb-Infused Corn on the Cob

Condiments
195 Slow-Cooked Fresh Pear and Dried Fruit Chutney
196 Ginger-Pineapple Chutney with Cranberries
197 Green Tomato Chutney
198 Peach-Date Chutney
199 Mango-Apple Chutney with Lime
200 Cranberry Cabernet Conserve
201 Homestyle Applesauce
202 All-Day Apple Butter
203 Peach Butter
204 Pumpkin Butter
205 Ginger-Pear Butter

Desserts
210 Apple-Pecan Spice Cake
211 Spiced Banana Tea Cake with Dried Cherries
212 Chocolate-Peanut Butter Dream Cake
214 Chocolate-Coconut Cake
216 Tiramisu-Inspired Tofu Cheesecake
218 Lemon-Lime Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust
220 Worth-the-Wait Chocolate-Almond Cheesecake
222 Peach-Blueberry Tumble
223 Blueberry Cobbler
224 Pieless Apples a la Mode
225 Brandy-Laced Pear Brown Betty
226 Ginger-Pineapple Bread Pudding
227 Bourbon-Spiked Pumpkin Bread Pudding
228 Brown Rice Pudding with Golden Raisins and Toasted Almonds
229 Vanilla-Scented White-Rice Pudding with White Chocolate Curls
230 Fudgy Chocolate Pudding Cake
231 Chocolate Fantasy Fondue
232 Slow-Baked Apples
233 Apples Stuffed with Cranberries and Almond Butter
234 Slow Cooker Poached Pears

Breakfast and Bread
237 Granola
238 Old-Fashioned Apple-Raisin Oatmeal
239 Barley and Kamut Breakfast Pilaf
240 Cream of Wheat Berries with Cranberries and Cardamom
241 Good Morning Millet Melange
242 Congee Anytime
243 Cornmeal Porridge with Almonds and Dates
244 Breakfast Bread Pudding
245 Slow Fruit Compote
246 Boston Brown Bread
247 Pumpkin-Pecan Bread
248 Maple-Sweetened Cornbread
249 Cranberry-Walnut Breakfast Bread

Hot Drinks
253 Spiced Hot Mocha
254 Ginger-Peach Spiked Tea
255 Hot Cranberry Punch
256 Hot Spiced Cider
257 Mulled Wine
258 Slow Cooker Swedish Glogg
259 Lemon-Ginger Sake-Toddy
260 Holiday Wassail
261 Alcohol-Free Wassail Punch

Corn Chowder

So the yogurt experiment did not go over so well and I am going to try it again by using the method outlined by Midwest Vegan. I need to get a thermometer before my experiment can occur. Maybe next weekend.





Last night for dinner was Corn Chowder. Not Chowdah. Chowder. People really talk like that, it is amazing to me.

onion
garlic
potato
fresh chili
broth
corn
seasoning (I used rosemary, thyme, black pepper, and salt)


Sauté garlic and onion in a bit of olive oil until softened. Add chopped potatoes, chili, and broth. Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft. Add frozen corn and allow to warm through. Puree about half of the mixture in a food processor or blender or with an immersion blender (I really want one!). Reheat to desired temperature, taste and adjust for seasoning and garnish with green onions. I added a squirt or two of sriracha sauce, but you can assume I add that to pretty much everything.

I served with herb toast.

Hot and Sour Soup for the Slow Cooker

I adapted this recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. This cookbook has been fantastic for my recent slow cooker addiction. The recipes are great, not too much prep, and make my apartment smell wonderful.

Total time: 6 - 8 hours (I put this on about 10:30 and came home a bit after 19:00 and nothing was ruined)



Soup and fried wontons


When I adapt crock pot recipes to my 1.5 qt pot, I usually keep putting ingredients in the pot until it is about 2/3 - 3/4 full and then add water or broth to cover. Your vegetables might vary. Adjust accordingly.

3 fresh oyster mushrooms, cut roughly
about 10 bamboo shoots from a can of bamboo shoots. (I am going to need to find uses for the rest of that can)
garlic, minced (I used about 4 cloves, but I love love love garlic)
fresh ginger, minced (Again, I love ginger. I think I used about a 2 inch piece of ginger)
1 T rice vinegar
1 T soy sauce (I used Bragg's)
1 t chile paste (I should have used a bit more. I like my food extra hot)
veggie broth to cover
----------------------
1 T cornstarch
1 green onion, diced
1/3 block of tofu, diced
frozen corn, edamame, peas, etc

Put all the ingredients through the broth into the slow cooker. Cover, cook on low, until you get home. The soup was not thick at all like hot and sour soups should be, so when I got home I whisked 1 T cornstarch with a small amount of cold water until dissolved. I mixed that into the soup and set it to high for about 30 minutes. I then added the diced tofu and had I remembered I would have added frozen corn and edamame directly after adding the cornstarch slurry. Garnish with the green onion and serve hot.

Both my husband and I agree that this was super duper tasty. The ginger developed a really deep flavor by cooking all day. This is definitely a keeper.

While waiting for the soup to thicken a bit, I made fried wontons. I had picked up some Tofutti cream cheese at the grocery store and mixing that with a bit of sriracha sauce, we had awesome wontons.

Granola

I adapted this recipe from Robin Robertson's cookbook Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. Most of the recipes in the book are for much bigger slow cookers than my 1.5qt, but I adjust the proportions and things usually turn out nicely.



Before cooking


This is more of a guideline than hard and fast recipe. Feel free to experiment with flavor combinations, ingredients, sweeteners, etc.

Total time: 3.5 hours

For the 1.5 qt I used

2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup slivered almonds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
some random dried cranberries I had in the pantry

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 T vegetable oil

Combine everything in a lightly oiled slow cooker. Cook on high, uncovered for 1.5 hours. Stir every 20 - 30 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered for 2 hours. Again, stir every 20 - 30 minutes. Cook until the oats are nice and toasty. This will not clump up like some granola. It is also very very dry. I want to try different fruits, nuts, and sweeteners. I saw a blog the other day that made PB&J granola - that might be my next project.



After toasting


Spread the granola on a baking sheet to cool completely. I lined mine with foil for easy clean up. Store in an airtight container, if you have any left.



Who can resist a macro shot, not I.


While this was cooking, both my husband or I would stir and eat a bit. At first, the taste was a bit off, but as it was toasting, the flavored mellowed and became really delicious. I am serving this tomorrow for breakfast (if we will stop eating it) with yogurt that is in my other slow cooker.



The yogurt, yogurtizing. I'll report back if it worked or if I'll chalk it up as a failure.

First Post!

I am recreating my blog over here from CouscousCarol on livejournal. I really like the layout of blogger better than livejournal. There aren't ads that pop up randomly and I can keep track of how many people come by and look at my food.

Anyway, I am in a way reinventing the blog. I was recently married and have been feeling very domestic ever since, so this blog will be a chronicle into our eating habits. I'm vegan-ish (dairy bothers my stomach, but I still eat it sometimes) and my husband is an omnivore, but all of the recipes here will be a part of my vegan adventures in the kitchen.

We are both in grad school and super busy, thus our meals must be easy to prepare, delicious, and there must be no left overs. We always have good intentions of eating leftovers, but never do. We are also on a grad student salary and meals are prepared as cheaply as possible with fantastic, hippy ingredients.

I hope you enjoy browsing around. Happy eating!