Lentil Shepherd's Pie

The recipe for this slow cooker Lentil Shepherd's Pie came from a new cookbook I got for Christmas, 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes. It was yummy... got thumbs up from both myself and my omni hubby. Turned out more like shepherd's mush than pie, but we still devoured it! The prep time was longer than I liked because I made mashed potatoes from scratch, not from a box as suggested in the book. Still, I would make this again... but probably on a weekend when I have more time for the prep.

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In other news... this is going to be my second to last post as the "Vegetarian Cookster." I've been struggling for awhile now to find some motivation to keep this blog going. There are so many great blogs out there... fancier pics, better writing, original recipes... I've been wondering where mine fits in and if it's worth the effort to continue with it.

I've decided to put Vegetarian Cookster to rest and start fresh... I have an idea for a new veggie blog, one that is more focused and relevant to my current lifestyle. On New Year's Eve, it seems fitting to go out with the old and bring in the new... so tomorrow I'll reveal my new blog and its URL.

Many thanks to everyone who's taken the time to comment here at VC. I value your input immensely. I plan to leave VC up as an archive since I'll probably refer to it here and there on the new blog.

Have a wonderful and safe New Year's Eve everyone! :)

Sweet & Spicy Lentil Chili ... Tomato Soup

Another quick post... have been so busy with unpacking from the move and the upcoming holidays, but I really want to make the effort to post and get back into a blogging groove. Please bear with me with these briefs posts I've done lately.

Both of these dishes were crockpot meals from the book, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I really enjoyed the Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chili... my hubby, not so much. He didn't care for the lentils. He said he preferred my regular vegetarian chili. I would make this again though, even if I'm the only one who eats it... more for me, more for me! Muhahahahah! ;-p The Tomato Soup was supposed to be pureed and poured over Israeli couscous. I had the couscous but I'm such a sucker for elbow macaroni noodles in tomato soup that we chose to add those instead. And, my hubby wanted it chunky, not pureed. So, there you go. We both enjoyed this recipe though. Both dishes were perfect this week during the cold weather we've been having lately... winter is definitely here in my neck of the woods!

Vegan "Corn Chowder in Winter"

I made this soup in the crockpot earlier this week, and it fed me a nice big bowl for dinner that night, as well as several lunches during the rest of the week. The recipe is from the book, Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, which I think will become my Bible for cooking during the week.

I'm officially moved in with my hubby and have a longer commute to and from work now... which means I get home later... which means now by the time I cook, the evening is almost over! I hope to find some decent vegetarian crockpot recipes and perfect them to save time on weeknight dinners. I love slow cooking and don't do enough of it, but this is great inspiration so that I have more quality time with my hubby in the evenings. :)

It's also great inspiration to get back into food blogging so I can chronicle my adventures in learning to cook for our dual (vegetarian/omnivore) household.

As for this soup... it was yummy.. and vegan since it doesn't use any cream or milk... it relies on the pureeing of part of the soup mixture to thicken it.

I've got some great recipes lined up for this weekend... my hubby is returning from a work-related trip, and I wanted to make sure he had some good home-cooked vegetarian food to welcome his omni belly home. ;) So stay tuned...

Moroccan Lentil Stew

The last of the crockpot dishes for this week!

(And I definitely need the break... I've made WAY more food than one girl can handle in a week... I'm hoping all this stuff freezes well!)

This veggie stew was really good. Lots of good stuff in it to fill ya up! This is certainly one of those prep recipes tho, since it took more than 30 minutes for me to cut up the squash, potatoes, onion, etc. and get everything in the pot. Still, it was nice to come home to a cooked meal after a long day at work. :)

Moroccan Lentil Stew

1 c. dried lentils, rinsed and sorted
1 lb. butternut squash, peeled and cubed
10 small red potatoes, cubed
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 c. water
8 oz. package frozen cut green beans, thawed

Put everything except the green beans in the crockpot and simmer on low for 8-10 hours (or until all the veggies are tender). Then, switch the setting to high and toss in the green beans, stirring to combine with the rest of the stew. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the beans and the entire stew is thoroughly heated. Enjoy!

Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Soup ... veganized!

If you like your pumpkin with punch, then have I got a soup for you!

This is a recipe I found in a non-vegetarian crockpot book. It seemed easy enough to veganize--I replaced the chicken broth with veggie broth, and the three tablespoons honey became three tablespoons agave nectar. The book says it serves five to six people. It took me about 20 minutes to prep the ingredients for the slow cooker. I saved a bit of time by using packaged shredded carrots instead of peeling and chopping my own.

I thought this soup was delicious! It almost had too much of a kick for me (I used one jalapeno), but I'm the person who thinks mild spice at Thai places is too "hot." LOL Personally, next time I'll only use half a jalapeno, but foodies who like it hot should definitely enjoy this dish! I had my omni sis sample this soup, too, during our Halloween pasta night, and she agreed it was tasty. She saved some for her hubby to try; she thought the spice temp would be perfect for him--lucky her, he likes it hot! ;-p

This cooked all day (nine hours) in the crockpot without crusting up the sides. :) I have leftovers for lunches later in the week... good thing, too, because it's supposed to get cold 'round these parts.

Crockpot Sweet-Hot Pumpkin Soup

1 - 16 oz. can pumpkin
4 cups (32 oz. carton) vegetable broth
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 tablespoons watercress, chopped
1 or 2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and chopped
3 tablespoons agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Sauterne wine
watercress leaves for garnish

Combine all ingredients (except garnish) in crockpot and simmer on low for 9 to 9.5 hours, or until vegetables are soft. Puree soup in a blender or food processor. Reheat if needed or garnish with watercress and serve! Enjoy! :)

Up next: a lentil stew in the crockpot.

Vegan Barley Casserole Via Crockpot

The first recipe I chose to make for Crockpot Week is "Barley Casserole," which I found online. The recipe was simple enough; I made it easier by using a package of pre-cut mixed celery/onion I purchased at Meijer, adding in a little bit more onion (again, pre-chopped but from the freezer section!). Also, I didn't use fresh garlic, but the pre-minced kind in a jar. The only real prep work I had to do was chop a green pepper. Everything else was open and pour. :)

Overall this meal was pretty good, palatable to my omni fiance, too. It was kind of like a real thick tomato-based soup. We ate it with some rosemary olive oil bread. However, we both agreed the dish needs... je ne sais quoi. Something needs to be added to take this dish from "pretty good" to "Wow." It definitely has potential and I hope to fool around with it someday to make it better.

Vegan Barley Casserole

Prep Time: 20 minutes. Cook Time: 8 hours.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup uncooked pearl barley
• 1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
  
• 1/8 tsp. white pepper
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 green or red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 oz. can ready-to-serve vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts

Keep the pine nuts/walnuts aside, but place all other ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on low for up to 8 hours or until the barley and veggies are tender. Top with the pine nuts/walnuts before serving.

A few of my personal cooking notes about this meal: The estimated prep time was 20 minutes, which I found to be about right. Cook time was stated as 8 hours, though I thought the casserole looked done around 5-6 hours. It got really thick so I thinned it out with more veggie broth as well as some water. I should've kept track of how much additional broth I used; I'll be more careful about that next time. If you chose to make this, you may want to do it on a day when you'll be around to check on it and add in some extra broth here and there.

And, apologies for the crappy photo; now that it's getting darker earlier in the evening, I need to figure out the best lighting to use for my photos. I have a homemade lightbox that I've used to take photos of things I've sold on eBay, but my current space restrictions don't allow for that to be set up as often as I take food photos.

My sister has invited me to take part in her "Halloween Pasta Night" on Wednesday. I plan to make my next crockpot meal--a pumpkin soup--that evening to go with the pasta. Come back to see how it all turns out! :)

Get Ready for Crockpot Week!

Heh.

I've decided to make mostly crockpot dinners this week. Something about coming home from work and having a DONE meal turns me on. Seriously. A previous BF of mine once gave me a crockpot for Valentine's Day. I was a little miffed at first, but once he explained that having our meals cooked when we got home would leave time for other things.... *wink, wink* ... well, let's just say I warmed up to the idea quickly. :)

Besides, I don't use my slow cooker nearly enough as I should. Mainly, I use it to make my veggie chili. But, I know there's a whole world of slow cooking out there. It's time to become part of it.

I've picked out three recipes and purchased ingredients for them. I'm making the first meal tonight (actually it's cooking as I type!). Check back tomorrow and the remainder of the week for stew, soup and casserole recipes a la crockpot.

Vegetarian chili, topped with veggie cheese

I had hoped to explore more adventurous recipes, but since starting this blog, I've been crunched for time. I have a vendor showcase coming up for my candles, which I'm really excited about because it's my first local showcase. But my focus has been about getting ready for that rather than which new recipe I'm going to try. I've been relying on a lot of my standard veggie favorites lately, including my veggie chili.

I've been making this chili recipe ever since I went veg. It's based on a recipe in one of my mom's cookbooks. (Can't remember the cookbook name at the moment; if I find out, I'll post it here.) I've modified the recipe in various ways over the years--the original recipe didn't use a 'meat' substitute, but I've been adding one in. Sometimes I'll add in a can of tomato soup. Basically, the recipe has evolved into a concoction of whatever I have on hand. Sometimes I put corn in it. Last night, I put some yellow and green peppers in it because I had some in the fridge that were going to go bad. Yet, my chili recipe does have some basic ingredients that make it into every batch, and I'll be posting my recipe over at veggieboards.com. The photo featured here shows the chili topped with veggie cheese.

What I especially love about chili is that I can cook it in the crockpot while I'm at work, and come home to a hot meal--ready to eat! AND, this particular recipe freezes extremely well so I always package up the leftovers, which then become lunches that I can grab from the freezer while heading out the door to work. :)

Irish Stew, Vegetarian Style

Mmm, made this yummy Irish Stew yesterday. The original recipe was meat-based, but I substituted the Morningstar Farms Grillers Recipe Crumbles. Best of all, I was able to cook this recipe in my crookpot/slow cooker, so with a little prep time the night before, I had a delicious, hot vegetarian meal waiting for me after work. And this particular one hit the spot because it's been so cold here in Michigan lately.

My boyfriend--a meat eater--enjoyed this one too, though he did say he liked my veggie chili better because the chili has more spice. But, he said this particular meal hit the spot yesterday... it's one of those comfort foods. Nice and hot on a bitterly cold winter day. :)

I posted this recipe over at VeggieBoards.com