The Vegan Slow Cooker

I'm finally trying to get myself better with the weekly menu planning and decided to blog from now on, which book I will cook from in the current week!

For this week I've picked Kathy Hester's "The Vegan Slow Cooker".

I love the convenience of being able to put everything in one pot (some prepping steps before don't bother me) and have it all ready a few hours later.  

Even though we have A/C in the house here, I still appreciate not heating up my kitchen, so using a crock pot/slow cooker is another big plus right now in the summer time!

I've already made 2 things from the book; the 'Foolproof Focaccia' bread (page 161) as well as the Chickeny Bouillon (page 19). 

The Focaccia bread was delicious; maybe a tad too thick for my liking.. I've used the entire dough this time. Kathy suggests one can do so *or* split the dough in half for 2 thinner Focaccias, which I'll try next time! The taste was great though and again, the convenience of the CP just perfect! 

I didn't grease the CP well enough *blush* so I had to split the bread while it was still in the CP in order to get it out!

The fresh Focaccia bread in 'action' with some faux tuna as well as sun dried tomato & white bean mix as well as some pickled artichoke hearts fresh from the market! :)

I currently have the Balsamic Onion Marmalade (page 30) in the CP; it'll be ready for tonight's pizza and smells divine!!!

I'll keep this blog updated with the dishes I'll be cooking! =)

Update: The Balsamic Onion Marmalade:

Soo good on pizza!

Alright, next up is the Eggplant Tofu-Ricotta Casserole! (Pg. 94)

I actually forgot to plug the crock pot in yesterday and only realized it late afternoon! *duh!!!* Clearly it was too late for having this for dinner that very evening but luckily it was done cooking before I went to bed!
Well.. I guess because of having kept it in the fridge over night, the sauce got soaked up a bit, so it wasn't as saucy as it would have been freshly out of the CP, but the flavors were still great! 

The tofu-ricotta made it all thicker than my Norma sauce (tomato sauce with eggplant) and I'm sure I'll use this tofu-ricotta mix for many other dishes in the future as well! ;)

MIA again!

I know, I know, I've been MIA for way too long!.. Mea culpa! Life just got busy and after Vegan MoFo was over I just slacked posting!

I'm thinking I might try it on a weekly basis instead of daily.. We'll see if that works better!

But for now, let me make it up to you and post a lot of pics and recipes at once! :)

First the savory dishes! 

An online friend of mine told me about Isa's Mac 'n Shews and being a big fan of comfort food but especially anything that involves baked pasta, I had to immediately try it! [Thank you, Christine, for telling me about it! :)]

It requires a bit more prepping time and if you don't like the taste of Sauerkraut, you can skip this one right away.. but I absolutely loved it!!! (Not to mention my Hubby who wouldn't stop raving while eating it! *lol*)

The more I'm cooking any of Isa's dishes, the more I'm thinking this woman doesn't ever create something that doesn't taste good! Seriously, she's my hero! :) Thank you, Isa, for constantly coming up with awesome creations!!!

Next we have simple Mushroom Stroganoff which I've come up with after combining a few vegan Stroganoff recipes.

~*Simple vegan Stroganoff*~

Ingredients:

*1/2 onion (big one, otherwise 1 whole)

*2 tsp minced garlic

*1 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

*5 oz (about 2 caps) Portobello mushrooms, diced

*1 c veggie broth 

*10 oz vegan sour cream (I used Silken soft tofu with a splash of lemon juice)

*Salt and pepper to taste

*Pasta

Directions:

-Sautee onion and garlic until soft

-Add diced mushrooms and let simmer for ~10 min

-Cook pasta according to the package

-Add broth, simmer again for another 5-10 min

-Take off the heat and add vegan sour cream (tofu w/lemon juice)

Done! =)

We didn't have any no-egg 'egg noodles' available nor did I have any other kind but Rigatoni in the house..

It was still mighty tasty! ;-)

Next is a Lentil Loaf which recipe I've come across on a vegan (& vegetarian) forum. The person who posted it, mentioned she got it from following site The Magical Loaf Studio which is really cool as you can pick and chose your own ingredients and create your recipe! [Thank you for sharing, Catnip!]

~*Lentil Loaf*~ 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pecans [I used walnuts as I had no pecans]

2 TB olive oil

One onion, diced

One large garlic clove, minced

One large carrot, peeled and grated

One cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped [I used a red bell pepper instead as I had no mushrooms]

2 cups cooked lentils

1 cup dry whole wheat bread crumbs

1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed

1 heaping TB flaxseed meal

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp paprika

2 tsp. dried sage

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

Several dashes vegetarian Worcestershire Sauce

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 TB soy sauce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).

Grind the pecans into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.

Sautee any vegetables you've chosen in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.

Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.

Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.

Cold leftover slices of make a great sandwich filling.

It was awesome!!! Any lentil lover will love this dish, I guarantee it! :)

Now on to the sweet dishes! 

Finally I had some successes again! The disastrous Lemon bunt cake still fresh in my mind, it was a huge relief! ;)

Sticky Cinnamon Buns, who doesn't love them!?  I found them here Vegan Baking and though mine looked rather 'unprofessional' compared to the pics on the site, they were freakin' awesome and drool worthy!!!

I only made a few with walnuts and raisins after my family requested to have them 'pure'! *lol* I liked either version!

And last not least a vegan German Applecake I fell in love with instantly!

The recipe is from 'The Joy of Vegan Baking' by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, only slightly alternated.

~*German Applecake*~

Ingredients [cake]:

3 Apples peeled and cut into slices

1/2 cup non dairy butter (I used coconut oil)

1/2 cup vegan sugar

1/2 unsweetened applesauce

2 tbsp non dairy milk

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

Ingredients[Topping]:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnnamon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. lightly grease 9 inch round pan. mix butter & sugar. Add applesauce & milk. Finally add flour & baking powder. Stir until just combined.

Add the batter to pan and arrange apple slices in a circle on the top of cake. Mix together the 3 topping ingredients and sprinkle over cake.

Bake 30-40 minutes, wait 15 minutes before unmolding from cake pan.

I served it with coconut milk (cream), which was originally supposed to be whipped cream consistency but I didn't prep it in advance (1 day before in the fridge) so it had to be rather runny... The taste was still out of this world!!!

~*~*~

Now, I hope you'll enjoy all those posted recipes and forgive me my lack of posts these previous weeks! ;)

Guten Appetit!