Convince Me Crockpots are Great
I just taught a Gluten-Free cooking class for the Upper Valley Food Coop this past week. There was a great turnout of enthusiastic participants. We began to talk about a potential theme for my next class and we settled on Pressure Cooking. I LOVE my pressure cooker and use it multiple times per week.
The conversation almost inevitably drifted to crockpot cooking. A few shared that they enjoy using their crockpots, but I had to admit to them that as much as I’ve experimented with recipes and cooking appliances, I have not gotten very excited about vegetarian crockpot cooking. Back in our Standard American Diet days all those crockpot recipes that consisted of 1 lb. hamburg, 1 lb. cheese and 1 can of cream of something soup seemed pretty tasty (though deathly bad for us), but the vegan crockpot recipes I’ve tried seem to all taste alike.
So- here’s your challenge. Convince me crockpots are great by emailing me (kim@simplynaturalhealth.com) your favorite crockpot/slow cooker recipes.
You see here a picture of my “new” crockpot (picked up at the local thriftstore for a great $2.75!). – ready to take your recipe for a test drive. It wasn’t that I didn’t already have a crockpot (I actually have two) but I thought maybe they’re somehow defective considering my recipes don’t come out very good in them. So I figured it was worth the splurge to get a “new” one to try!
This post was also submitted to the Blog Carnival at Whole New Mom: http://wholenewmom.com/traditional-tuesday/traditional-tuesdays-nutritious-and-delicious-october-4-2011/#more-7251
12 Responses to “Convince Me Crockpots are Great”
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Kim Wilson has spent over 12 years developing recipes based on whole, natural ingredients. She has seven diet and health books currently in print and still enjoys working on recipes to satisfy a variety of needs. She is particularly motivated to develop recipes that help those dealing with food allergies and conditions like candida. If you are looking for tasty recipes that avoid animal products, wheat, soy, dairy, eggs, yeast and other problematic foods, you've come to the right place. It's Kim's sincere hope that you find some highly enjoyable, highly beneficial foods on this blog. You can check out more articles as well as information on her books at www.simplynaturalhealth.com
i have made many of your soups in a crock pot
I saute in a crock pot
I would love to come to your pressure cooker class as I agreee with you the crockpot is no competition to the pressure cooker. I love the pressure cooker and would love to learn some new ways to use it.
Molly
This is really a great concept, Kim! Also, to this very point, there really is nothing like coming home after a day away and smelling the aromas wafting out of the CrockPot. If you thought you were hungry before….LOOK OUT!
I use my Crock Pot for all soups, including your amazing Bean Chili. We lead a very busy life and it is nice to come home to the wonderful smells of dinner. My Crock Pot is one of my most used gadgets.
Hi Kim,
The only thing I use my crock pot for is to keep my vegan soups & chili warm when serving a large number of guests.
I remember now you mentioning that previously. To saute do you just put the slow cooker on high and allow it to come to temperature before adding the ingredients? I’ve always thought that was one thing lacking with crockpot use- that you add raw ingredients are aren’t able to deepen their flavors by sauteing. Thanks!
Would love to see you at the class. Check the UVFC for the date ( I suggested late Nov. or early Dec.).
Okay, Betty Jean- you’ve got me salivating, but I need some recipes to back up this concept. You and Normie have any favorites? (You can avoid typing them out by slipping them to me at church!).
A few people like you have mentioned using their crockpot for my soup/chili recipes. Looks like I should explore this a bit. I’m soon going to be working on new editions of EWE and my RAW book, so maybe I should consider adding crockpot instructions where appropriate.
That’s about all I’ve successfully put mine to use for. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like reserving its space in my cupboard!
The only thing vegetarian I use my crock pot for is to make applesauce. The whole house smells wonderful and it’s so easy. Otherwise I use my crock-pot mostly for prep work. I’ll fill the pot with bone-in chicken meat and cook with a bit of water. Then I cut off the meat and stash it in the freezer for use during the week. The bones go back in with water and veggies to make stock.
I’ll also make a giant batch of meatballs and cook them in the crock pot. You might think you’d get just a giant lump of cooked meat but they stay formed and cook up nicely. Then I package and freeze the meatballs in meal-sized batches and save the cooking juice for flavoring sauces and stews.
This is my favorite resource for crock pot cooking:
http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/
Back in 2008 the author used her crock pot every day for an entire year. All the recipes are here, and they’re all gluten-free.
They’re probably more useful for slow cooking cheaper cuts of meat, I can’t think of any vegetable that you need to cook for that long! I use mine for casseroles and stews.