Quick and Easy Vegan Slow Cooking (30 page)

1.
Combine the cherries through the stock in the slow cooker. The liquid will only just cover the other ingredients. You may need to push everything down with clean hands to ensure it is just covered, but please don’t be tempted to add more liquid since the cherries and bell peppers will release liquid as they cook.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 8 hours, or until the beans are tender.

3.
In a small bowl, whisk together the lime juice through cornstarch. Stir into the cooked chili to thicken; combine well.

4.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

Mushroom, Green Pepper, and Black Bean Chili

M
EDIUM SPICED AND
loaded with lots of yummy mushrooms, this chili is for the fungi lover in your life. I think black beans are the perfect bean to go with mushrooms as they both have an earthy quality. If you feel otherwise or have another bean you need to use up, by all means substitute. If you don’t have dried porcini mushrooms, substitute another dried mushroom, or just omit from the recipe. The final result won’t have the same deep earthy quality but will still be loaded with mushroom-y goodness. This isn’t the thickest of chilies, although it’s not thin either. If you like it thicker, after it has finished cooking make a slurry, add to the slow cooker, and cook for 5 minutes to thicken. The recipe does make a lot of chili! Plan to use the leftovers in other ways—see my examples (
page 88
).

Serves 6 to 8
Preparation time: 20 minutes

½ cup dried porcini mushrooms

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon Marmite

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1½ teaspoons liquid smoke

1 onion, finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped

14 medium mushrooms, roughly chopped (see Notes)

1 portobello cap, halved and sliced ¼-inch wide

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium green pepper, chopped (see Notes)

2 jalapeño peppers, minced, to taste

2 teaspoons cumin

1 teaspoon coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

½ teaspoon chile flakes or to taste

One 19-ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup dry black beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

2½ cups vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
In the bowl of a food processor or blender, combine the porcini mushrooms through the boiling water. Cover and let stand to soak at least 20 minutes. When soaked add the Marmite through the liquid smoke; pulse until somewhat smooth. Transfer to the slow cooker.

2.
Add the onion through the stock and stir to combine.

3.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 10 hours, or until the beans are tender.

4.
Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required. Let stand for 10 minutes prior to serving.

NOTE
:

Cut mushrooms to different sizes for interest in the final dish. You can use all cremini, all button, or a mixture, or even add in some shiitake or other mushrooms if you have them.

The long cooking time and heartiness of the mushrooms counteracts the usual bitterness of green pepper in a slow cooker.

Spicy Beets and Beans

T
HERE ARE SOME
foods I find so comforting that just thinking about eating them will warm and relax me. Almost. This recipe combines two of them—beans and beets—and highlights their earthiness with smoky, spicy chipotle. Serve with some plain brown rice and refreshing Pineapple Kale-Slaw (
page 232
) as a meal for four, or by itself for two hungry people. It’s not the most vibrantly colored dish, though the greens do provide a welcome lift and contrast. The recipe uses both the beets and the beet greens. Buy them attached but store them separately. The recipe needs finishing after cooking but just prior to serving, so the slow cooker portion can be done in advance and held in the refrigerator.

Serves 2 to 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes, divided

¾ cup dry black beans, soaked overnight, drained, and rinsed

2 medium beets, peeled and cut into ¼-inch pieces

2 chipotles in adobo, seeded and minced

1 bay leaf

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon ground fennel seeds

2 cups water or vegetable stock, store-bought or homemade (
page 43
)

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

½ red onion, thinly sliced

2 cups lightly packed shredded beet greens from 1 bunch beets (see Note)

Salt, black pepper, and hot sauce

*To ensure the dish is gluten free, if necessary, please check all packaged ingredients, as noted on
page 39
.

1.
Combine the beans through the stock in the slow cooker.

2.
Cover, set heat to LOW, and cook for 8 hours, or until the beets and beans are tender.

3.
Drain, discarding the cooking liquid and bay leaf and reserving the beets and beans.

4.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat.

5.
Add the garlic and allow to sizzle; add the onion and sauté until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes.

6.
Add the shredded greens, and sauté to wilt, 2 to 3 minutes.

7.
Stir through the reserved beets and beans until well combined. Taste and season with the salt, pepper, and hot sauce as required.

NOTE
: If you don’t have access to beet greens use another quick-cooking green such as fresh spinach or arugula.

Seitan and Vegetable Chili

N
OT EAT-IT-FOR-DESSERT SWEET,
just sweet as opposed to being spicy and overly savory. The vegetables are all what I call sweet vegetables, and the addition of molasses and chocolate gives the chili a depth of flavor that accentuates the sweetness while definitely leaving it a main course. It’s great served with the usual chili accompaniments. If you don’t believe
mild
and
chili
should ever be used in the same sentence, feel free to use chipotle (or another, hotter) chile powder instead of the ancho, and add some hot peppers with the bell peppers. The amount of corn kernels is roughly the amount you get from one decent-sized cob, so if you have access to fresh, please use it because it will be sweeter.