I’m so excited to be part of Robin Robertson’s virtual blog tour, which is stopping by my blog today. Robin not only has a fantastic new cookbook out on vegan slow cooking, but she has also generously agreed to be my guest blogger. Make sure to leave your name and email address (or a way for me to reach you) in the comment section (along with your favorite thing to make in the slow cooker), and enter to win your own copy of Fresh From The Vegan Slow Cooker. Trust me when I say that you’re going to love this book! Check back next week for the winner. A giant thank you to Harvard Common Press and Robin Robertson for the giveaway. So without further adue, I’m going to let Robin take it away from here.
A guest post by Robin Robertson, author of Fresh from the Vegan Slow Cooker (The Harvard Common Press, 2012)
The main reason people enjoy using a slow cooker is that you can “set it and forget it” until dinner time —something you wouldn’t do with most other cooking methods. With your main dish simmering in the slow cooker, you will have more time to be creative with side dishes, salads, or other accompaniments. Food doesn’t burn when left unattended because the heating coils in slow cookers cook food gently and evenly from the bottom and sides. The lid keeps the heat and moisture inside. So even though meals prepared in a slow cooker take longer to cook, they can actually save you time. Here’s a list of ten great reasons to use a slow cooker.
Ten Reasons to Use a Slow Cooker
• It’s a convenient way to prepare healthy home-cooked meals.
• It allows you to cook and serve in the same vessel so it saves cleanup.
• It can have dinner ready and waiting at the end of the day.
• The slow, gentle cooking adds a depth of flavor to foods.
• It keeps the kitchen cool on hot days.
• It’s an ideal way to cook beans and seitan from scratch.
• It performs as a chafing dish or hot punch bowl at parties.
• It’s economical because it uses less energy than oven-cooking and makes great leftovers.
• It can be used as a mini-oven to slow-bake cakes, casseroles, potatoes, and more.
• It frees up burners when cooking for a crowd on holidays.
This recipe for stuffed winter squash is a good example of the convenience and versatility of using a slow cooker – just set it and forget it (although the wonderful fragrance permeating your house as it cooks, may make it hard to ignore!)
Recipe: Moroccan-Inspired Stuffed Winter Squash
Serves 4
Slow Cooker Size: 5½- to 6-quart
Cook Time: 5½ to 7 hours on Low
Gluten-free
Soy-free
Ingredients
• 1 large kabocha or buttercup squash
• 2 teaspoons olive oil (optional)
• 1 large yellow onion, minced
• 2 celery ribs, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1½ teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• ½ cup hot water
• 1 cup chopped dried apricots or golden raisins
• ½ cup chopped toasted slivered almonds
• 2 cups cooked rice, couscous, or quinoa
• ¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
1. If you can fit two squash halves in your slow cooker, cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Use a sharp knife to make a flat bottom on the two halves so they sit evenly. If you can fit only the whole squash in your slow cooker, slice off the top of the squash and scrape out the seeds. Set aside.
2. For the best flavor, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Alternatively, omit the oil and sauté these ingredients in a few tablespoons of water or combine them in a microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, coriander, thyme, cinnamon, allspice, paprika, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute longer. Add the water, stirring to mix well.
3. Transfer the onion mixture to a large bowl. Add the apricots, almonds, rice, parsley, and lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper and mix well. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
4. Lightly pack the stuffing into the squash and place the squash inside the slow cooker. If cooking the squash whole, place the top back on the squash. Pour hot water into the slow cooker to come about ½ inch up the sides of the squash. Cover and cook on Low until the squash is tender, 5½ to 7 hours. Serve hot.
Recipe © 2012 by Robin Robertson and used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.
I’ve never owned a slow cooker but being a veterinary student with close to no time to cook, this book might just be the inspiration I need to get one!
I think Robin is fantastic – I just love how approachable her recipes are, and how she blends “everyday”, accessible ingredients into final dishes that are hearty, tasty, and comforting, as well as easy and thrifty!
I’ve got a combined pressure cooker/slow cooker – and I have to admit, we only every use the pressure cooker. I’m a little bit intimidated by the slow cooker – but I can just imagine how fantastic the slow cooker seitan with veg would be from Vegan Diner, and anything where the umami-ness of the protein blends into some nice, juicy, chunky veg, with a silky, gravy-ish sauce.. *drool*.
I love the convenience of the slow cooker and I love Robin’s cookbooks…my fav thing to make in the slow cooker is Caribbean red beans and rice.
My favorite thing to make in the slow cooker is stew (well, I call it stew, the husband says it’s soup) – potatoes, carrots, peas, veg broth, pepper. Super simple, but really tasty.
My favorite thing to make in the slow cooker (this week anyway) is palak paneer, made with tofu instead of paneer cheese.
Beans!! Saves me so much money to buy them in bulk and slow cook them before using/freezing.
Love my slow cooker.
I like to make a curry with chickpeas, spinach, potatoes (yukon gold potatoes make it really creamy), canned diced tomatoes, coconut milk and curry powder. I add sri racha to taste when it is done cooking and serve it over rice.
I love split pea soup, bean soup, and potato dishes! I love Robin books and grateful our library has many!
What a great giveaway — I love Robin’s books, and I’ve just started using a slow cooker. So far I’ve mostly used it to cook dried beans (chickpeas are my favorite!), but I’d love to try some new slow cooker recipes! 🙂
Our crock pot used to be one of my favorite kitchen appliances. But since becoming vegan we have shelved our slow cooker as we haven’t found recipes that “need” or would benefit from using it. I would love to bring it out and put it to work again and look forward to some tasty recipes to try!!
I haven’t used my slow cooker much since becoming vegan, but with all these great tips from Robin I’m going to have to bring it back out! My favorite recipe to make in a slow cooker is chili.
Beans! I cook with my slow cooker fairly often when it’s soup/stew/chili season but the very best use is to cook beans. The second most frequent thing I use it for is, uh, well, dyeing yarn. With Kool-Aid. Makes your kitchen smell like a trailer park on a summer day! But really, I do cook with it too.
My slow cooker makes the best beans ever. I can hardly tolerate canned beans any more. Soak them overnight and they cook to perfection. Love it!
My favorite is overnight oatmeal…so many easy variations. Thanks!
I have a slow cooker that is gathering dust. I used to make chili in it but somehow I lost my enthusiasm for slow cooking. A new book might be just what I need to get it out, dust it off, and start slow cooking again. I love the smell in the house when I have something on the go.
I love my slow cooker but only recently started using one. I love making stews and curries in it. Then you can smell the delicious aroma all over the house!
I am always in a rush between working 1st and 3rd shifts, my child’s daycare and potty training, my other child’s school and soccer, not to mention cooking and cleaning, my sanity….what sleep? I think that having a slow cooker and cookbook would lighten up the load a tad. This busy, but happy momma is looking for some relief! =D
I don’t have a slower cooker, but it’s on my Santa wish list along with a waffle iron! However, living in the South, I would swoon to have a slower cooker because it is way too hot to use an oven during the summer. I would love to be able to make pizza, fruity desserts, and stews in a slow cooker.
As a professional chef of over 25 years and a new vegan I find your slow cooker recipes fun and easy to put together. But more than anything they are very flavorful I look forward to trying more recipes! Thank you Robin
Max
I have yet to use my slow cooker since we became vegan. I am really interested in learning more recipes for what used to be my favorite time saving device. I miss using that wonderful thing!!!
Hello! I love Robin’s other books, and I can’t wait to get my hands on this one! I often cook dry beans in my slow cooler; they always come out so much more moist that way. I also use my slow cooler as a warmer for vegan queso at parties.
My favorite thing to make in the slow cooker is New Orleans style Red Beans and Rice with vegan sausage. It is a great recipe because the beans start out dried – no soaking required! Hmmm, I think I will put that on next week’s menu! Thanks for this new recipe!
Oh! This recipe sounds fantastic! I associate slow cookers with fall/winter so I am excited to pull mine out in the next few months! Can’t wait to try some of the recipes in this book!
I WANT THIS BOOK SO BADLY!!I love Robin’s cookbooks and I am dying to have more vegan slow cooker recipes. My favorite thing to make in the slow cooker has go to be soups – split pea soups, great northern bean soups, etc. Love them!
I just tried Robin’s recipe for slow cooked seitan pot roast from Vegan on the Cheap, and I am SO pleased with the results. It was much easier to make seitan from scratch than I expected, and I prefer the texture to that of the store-bought kind. I then used my leftover pot roast to make the Wheat Meat Tortilla Wraps from Robin’s Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook. Fantastic! Can’t wait to see what awaits in the new book!
I am addicted to using my slow cooker(s) now. I made a wonderful breakfast casserole with hash browns and tofu that was a big hit. This cookbook is definitely one I need to own.
My go-to slow cooker meal is chili, but I’m really interested in the pizza and dessert recipes she’s included in this new book.
Right now I’m using my cookers to make diced tomatoes for the freezer and cooking large amounts of dried beans, also to freeze. So easy and I love not having to use cans.
Right now I am getting into soup and chili mode for my slow cookers. Finally getting cool enough to enjoy hot food.
how cool! I’ve tried some vegan slow cooker recipes, but they never turned out right. I’ll have to look into this book! ^.^
I like making homemade apple butter in the fall with the slow cooker. I am so excited about this book, I would love to use my slow cooker more!
Living in Arizona, a slow cooker is wonderful for keeping the kitchen cool. I use my cooker for mostly beans and soups. The best thing I’ve made was the maple pumpkin butter! I would love to have more vegan ideas to use in my slow cooker. Thanks!!
dunno if fans from overseas (netherlands) can also enter.
I would love a slowcooker and some inspiration from one of my favorite authors!
I would love a copy of this book! Those tacos on the cover look so dope.
I have been vegan for over 3 years but have not used a slow-cooker in over a decade…All of my old ‘favorite’ recipes involves those ingredients whose name I will not mention… 🙂 I would love to learn to use one, vegan style! I have several of Robin’s cookbooks and love each and every one. This would be an excellent addition to my growing collection!
Love Robins cookbooks. 1000 Vegan Recipes is my to go to for everything. The slow cooker cook book is a must have.
My favorite thing to make in the slow cooker lately is bbq jackfruit sandwich filling. Love the stuffed squash idea 🙂
Steel-cut oats. I make them for every Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast in my small crockpot. I add different flavours, fruits or nuts and it comes out more like a dessert than breakfast. My favourite at the moment: chocolate cherry. Saves me sitting by the stove for half an hour. I love my crocks.
Would love to win this! I don’t have a slow cooker yet but I’d like to get one.
My favorite things to cook is chili and/or meatballs in the slow cooker. Its the thing to cook for a weekend of eating.I have had to adopt Vegan eating d/t kidney disease and this book would help – Thanks for the offer
I have been holding off on getting a slow cooker because I have no idea what I could make in it. This book might give me the inspiration that I need!
I would love to win this book! My favorite thing to make in a slowcooker is veggie stew. My husband is good at it too, and he often makes it while I’m at work…great to come home to 🙂
This cookbook is just what I need to lengthen my recipe list for my slow cooker! Right now I use it to make a chili, but with bbq sauce to serve over rice as well as dal. Both make great lunches for my husband and are perfect for the cold weather months.
I have two slow cookers, one big and one little… There are any number of things that I enjoy making in them, but the top two have to be home cooked beans (for hummus!) and brown rice breakfast pudding. Yum!
Would love to win the book. I love Robin’s recipes already and would definitely appreciate some which use my neglected slow cooker. I got it thinking it would be a great time-saver but it only gets used for steel-cut oats!
Valerie Hartzer vhartzer@gmail.com
y favorite thing to make in my slow cooker is tempeh pot roast. Like traditional pot roast you get enough leftovers to slice as sandwiches or make shepherd’s pie or stew out of a day or two later. A great two for!!
My 2 favorite things to make in the slow cooker are 17 bean soup and steel cut oats. Looking forward to more ideas!
I love stew made in slow cookers!
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