Slow Cooker Burrito

I have been thinking about slow cooking for a while now. Every spring summer I get to the point where I never want to touch a slow cooker again and I put it away for the summer... every fall, I start feeling the urge to slow cook again. I am not sure if it is the temperature drop or the hibernation factor and I think it is likely a bit of both... slow cooking just seems like a must.

Yes, this was done in a slow cooker... Super easy

I decided to stay away from the usual slow cooker meals and try something a little different... how about slow cook burritos? I came up with this from looking through some old cook books and I came across a few recipes that were rice and beans of some sort. Every time I saw it, I kept thinking how much I would love a burrito... So why not just cook all the filling at once and then it would be ready made meal? Seems like a good idea, so I am giving it a go.

I think the nicest thing about this dish is that I can have it as a burrito, or on its own or with nachos. It is kind of like 3 different meals packed into one recipe.

I used a lot of basic tex-mex type veggies in this dish, but as I was adding ingredients, I came across a stray Anaheim pepper in my fridge. Anaheim is such a good match with this, I needed to included it, but decided to roast it first. I have never roasted my own peppers before. It was always something I figured you needed a gas stove to do it best. However, I felt like since I was not sauteing any vegetables in advance that I needed to have this in my recipe.

Turns out, roasting peppers is so easy! I can't believe I used to buy these jarred for 3-4 times the price of doing it myself. It took little time and no effort. Next time you are using peppers, try roasting!

Roasting Peppers
15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Peppers (Anaheim, Jalapeno, Bell etc)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Set your oven to broil and put the rask to the top setting. Now, place the peppers on a cookie sheet. take the olive oil and spread and rub over the peppers.

Put it in the oven and cook about 10-15 minutes. Check them and turn them often. Once they are all blistered and/or blackened, they are ready. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off, remove the seeds and slice.

Ready to use or serve. Try them in sandwiches, stir fries and basically any dish you normally put peppers in.

Pepper - Oil it up

Roast for 10-15 minutes

Peel the skin and ready to use

So, now that we have roasted peppers, time to make some slow cooker burrito filling

Slow Cooker Burritos

5 hours, 10 minutes prep

• Dice the following:
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 1-2 ribs of celery
• 2-3 tomatoes (about a cup)
• 1 roasted anaheim pepper
• 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 cup of rice
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/3 cup green onion chopped
• 2 tsp cilantro, chopped
• Lime juice I Used a lot... but probably a tablespoon for those that are not lime crazy

Combine everything up to the rice (Don't put the rice in yet!) Stir it and cook on high for 4- 4 1/2 hours. Stir in the rice and cook for another 45 minutes or until the rice is tender. Finally add the remaining ingredients and you are ready! 

Dump everything into your slow cooker...

Let is simmer.... and then add the rice..

let is simmer.... wait wait wait...

I think the nicest thing about this is that I didn't have to cook things really before slow cooking. I know it helps with flavour, but I really hate messing up more than one pot! When you are the dishwasher and the cook.... you look for any way to spare dirtying a pan.

As soon as it is done, you can start making your burritos... add any other ingredient you want... vegan sour cream, guac, cilantro, whatever you want. You could also use this to make chips... add some salsa, guac and vegan shredded cheese. I am seeing maybe a layered dip in my future with this filling. I think that would be amazing.. I guarantee no one will be wondering where the meat is... these rice and beans hold their own!

Scoop and serve - Could use in a layered dip, nacho, burrito or
Quesadilla filling

I made my burrito with some jalapenos and cilantro and really nothing else. The filling was so packed with flavour that I didn't even think about the fact that I didn't have any cheese. I am planning to freeze some of this off for a rainy day... Going to be great to be able to have this hidden away for a quick dinner or snack.

Emptying the Fridge: Slow Cooker Style

Week one down!

Blogging everyday has caused me to have a lot of left over items in my fridge. More than a lot, actually. I decided to attempt getting rid of them by throwing as much as I could into my slow cooker and crossing my fingers.

To give it a Vegan MoFo twist, I decided to attempt a mole-esque sauce to go with it.

I don't slow cook very often in the summer. To me, slow cooking is for fall and winter. When you are busy and tired all the time and just need something to be ready for dinner when you get home. If you are like this, get a slow cooker. There is nothing greater than just throwing things into a pot, going to work and having dinner ready when you come home.

Here is what I made:

Sweet Potato Cocoa Stew

• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 Anaheim pepper, diced (I ended up only using half)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 Tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced about 2" cubes
• 2-3 red potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 2 vegan sausages, chopped
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
• salt and pepper

So, a lot of ingredients, but easy to make. First get out a big frying pan and heat with the oil on medium. Next, toss in the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and the peppers and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add in the spices (not the cocoa though!) and cook for a few more minutes until everything is softened up.

Slow Cooker Step one: Brown aromatics (onions, peppers, garlic etc)

Put this and all remaining ingredients into your slow cooker. Stir it and set on low for 6-8 hours.

Step two: Dump everything in the slow cooker.
Step three: turn it on and go about your day.

That's it! I love slow cooking. I decided to step it up a notch and cook up some collards to go with my stew. It was a perfect addition. All I did was chop up some collards and add them to a hot pan with a Tsp of oil. Let it cook for 5 minutes them add some balsamic vinegar and cook a few more minutes.

and serve.. I love when I can get dinner on the table within 15 minutes of landing at home!

I have to be honest. Normally when I attempt to just randomly dump left overs together into a dish, I screw it up. This stew tastes very classic. The cocoa gives it a little something, something that works so well with the sweet potatoes. If you don't have all the ingredients at home, don't worry about it. Just work with what you have. I am so glad it tastes good, because I made enough to feed a small army! Laura... if you're reading this, I will be bringing some by for you guys to try :)

Slow Cooker Porridge

Last night, I stayed in and it was fabulous. I watched a couple bad movies, hung out with the guinea pigs, read, and went to bed at a somewhat reasonable hour. I was bored out of my mind!! So, around midnight last night, I started looking through cookbooks to find something special to make for breakfast.

I was thinking of vegan quiche, or french toast... Then I came upon a recipe for an Irish porridge that sounded so good that I had to try it.

This is a slow cooker recipe and I found it in this cookbook called the Little Vegan Slow Cooker.  I have tried a couple things out of this book before and they were awful, but this sounded so simple, I figured you couldn't go wrong. I made a couple of additions to the recipe because it seemed a bit lacking.

Slow Cooker Porridge

•  1 cup steel cut oats
•  4 cups water
•  1/2 cup brown sugar, plus extra for topping
•  1 Tbsp cinnamon
•  1/2 tsp salt
•  1 cup of fruit
•  vegan margarine
•  non-dairy milk

Put the oats, water, brown sugar and cinnamon into the slow cooker and stir really well. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Good to bed.

In the morning, give the porridge a stir and add the fruit (I used canned peaches) and let cook for 15 more minutes. Serve with a bit of milk (I used my homemade almond milk), vegan margarine, brown sugar and whatever else you think may work.

It doesn't take the prettiest picture, but the taste was excellent!

The original recipe did not have the fruit in it or the salt. You can make it without, but I think the fruit is a great addition. There is a quite a bit of sugar in this, so I wouldn't say it is the most healthy, but it is warm and filling. A good way to start the day without any real effort in the A.M.

The slow cooker is the lazy person's best friend. Dump things into it, turn it on and that's it! Before I went vegan, I used my slow cooker all the time. Most of the recipes I had were very meat-based, so when I switched to a vegan diet, I sort of stopped using it. I think it is time to start using it again.