slow cooker Archives - Feast of Plants

Leek & Potato Soup – Three Ways (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Feast of Plants — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 13:30:05 +0000

There are few things more comforting during cold, damp weather than a bowl of steaming hot soup. A few simple ingredients, cooked together to make something special. The best soups are ones you can throw together with a few kitchen basics and come out with something everyone will love. Leek and potato soup is one of those French classics that everyone has heard of. It’s incredibly simple and only a needs a few simple touches to make it a success that anyone can make. Lets a look at some of the important points here; Leeks – I’m not always a great fan of leeks since they’re so difficult to clean. You’ll likely find grit in between every layer. The easiest way to clean your leeks for this recipe is to half them lengthways first. You should then be able to fan out the leaves and rinse well. Potatoes – If you have a choice, floury potatoes work better in a soup than waxy version. They’re break down easier and make for a more cream soup while waxy potatoes can make it a little gloopy. Maris pipers are my favourites since they also make great roasties! Stock – you can make this with water if you really must but … don’t. A great vegetable stock is the secret to making so many dishes better and adding in that hint of depth. Bacon – this is a traditional base to the soup BUT this is a vegan blog and I haven’t had meat in a long time. I’ve found that adding smoked paprika adds same depth while keeping it vegan – and so much cheaper. Cream – Like so many French soups, this is creamy and would traditionally have plenty of cream and butter stirred through to make it rich. I whip up some tasty, savoury, cashew cream for the same effect. That’s all it takes! I’ve given you three cooking techniques here using the slow cooker, pressure cooker or hob. Slow cooker is my favourite but do what works best for you! Makes: Serves 4 Ingredients 150g Cashews 1800ml Good Vegetable Stock 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil 2 Large Leeks, dark green sections remove & washed 60ml White Wine Vinegar 850g Potatoes, peeled & chopped 1 Garlic Clove, minced 2 Bay Leaves 1 tsp Dried Thyme 1 tsp Dried Rosemary 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika Salt & Pepper to taste Directions For best results, I recommend soaking your cashews overnight but if you loose track of time then try to soak them for at least an hour in boiling water. Once soaked and soft to the touch, drain and blend with 300ml of the stock until completely smooth. Put to one side until needed. Quarter your leeks lengthways (remembering to wash them when halved), before chopping. Place a large pan onto a medium heat and melt the coconut oil. Add the leeks and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft. Deglaze the pan with the white wine vinegar, making sure to scrape up all those tasty brown bits. This is where our three cooking methods diverge. Slow Cooker: Add all your ingredients, apart from the cashew cream, to your slow cooker and stir well. Be a little heavy handled with the salt and pepper here. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. The potatoes should be soft and the leeks will melting away. Pressure Cooker/Instant pot: In most pressure cookers you should be able to sauté the leeks within the cooker – go for it! It’ll keep all the flavours in one place. Add all your ingredients, apart from the cashew cream, to the pressure cooker and stir well. Be a little heavy handled with the salt and pepper here. Seal and cook on high for 9 minutes. This is a soup so a quick release really isn’t a good idea – you want to do an intermittent pressure release. Carefully, open and close the pressure release valve in short intervals. This allows to the pressure to gradually release without the risk of being sprayed with boiling liquid. Hob Cooking: Skip the deglazing step for now. Add the potatoes to the pan and continue to cook until they just start to brown around the edges. Now deglaze with the vinegar, and scrape up all the lovely brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pan (apart from the cashew cream) and season very generously with the salt & pepper. Simmer on a low heat, partially covered, until the potatoes are soft and cooked through and meltingly soft. For all cooking methods, once your potatoes are meltingly soft, blend the soup with an immersion blender till smooth. Stir in most of the cashew cream (keep a tiny amount back for garnish). Now taste and season as needed, don’t be shy with adding more pepper if needed. Serve with a swirl of your reserved cashew cream with a side of crusty bread. Notes Allergy Notes; This is naturally vegan, gluten free and soy free. If nuts are an allergen for you then substitute your cashew cream with about a cup of soy cream instead.

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Slow Cooker Lasagne Soup

Feast of Plants — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Lasagne soup was completely foreign to me until recently thanks to some browsing on social media. It seems to be an american invention but what a great idea it is! All the elements of a great lasagne but with almost none of the work since, in my version, most of the cooking is done in the slow cooker. I like to serve mine with an easy homemade vegan ricotta which serves as a great counterpoint to the rich tomato sauce. This recipe works great for a crowd, uses mostly pantry stables, and is really quite hands off so is ideal for these days were so many people are working from home and trying not to go shopping so much. Remember – #Stayathome and enjoy some good food while you’re at it! Makes: Serves 4-6 Ingredients For the Soup: 1.2 ltr Vegetable Stock 1 Large Onion 2 Sticks of Celery 2 Carrots 1 Green Pepper 3 Garlic Cloves 150g Lentils* 1 tsp Crushed Chillies 2 Tbsp Vegan Worcester sauce 2 tsp Basil 2 tsp oregano 1 tsp Thyme 2 tins Chopped Tomatoes 8 Lasagne Pasta Sheets** 250g Frozen Spinach Salt & Pepper to taste For the Cashew Ricotta: 225g Cashews 150ml Plant based Milk (I like oat or almond milk) 1Tbsp Lemon Juice 1Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive OIl 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast 1Tbsp Vegan Pesto (optional) Directions For best results, I recommend soaking your cashews overnight or a long as possible but if you loose track of time then try to soak them for at least an hour in boiling water. Chop all your veg into small dice and place into your slow cooker with minced garlic, herbs, lentils and stock. Cook on high for 2 hours (or on low for 4 hours), if you’re using brown lentils they should be ever so slightly firm. Add your tomatoes and worcester sauce, stir well and cook on high for another 2 hours (or on low for another 4 hours). While your slow cooker is bubbling away you can whip together your ricotta. Place all the ricotta ingredients except the pesto into a blender and blitz until completely smooth. If using the pesto, swirl it into your ricotto and taste – add salt if you feel it’s needed and place in the fridge till ready to serve. Finally, break up your pasta into easily manageable chunks and stir through along with your frozen spinach. Leave cooking for another 15 minutes or so, or until the pasta is fully cooked. Season to taste (seriously here, you haven’t added any salt to your soup by this point so do taste and season as needed, don’t season before hand as salt can inhibit the cooking for lentils). Serve with a healthy dollop of ricotta on top and enjoy! Notes * I like to use a 2:1 balance of brown lentils to red but this works equally well with just brown lentils. ** We use Gluten free pasta but this should work with normal pasta too Allergy Notes; To make this gluten free, just use GF pasta per the note above. If cashew nuts are a problem for you then there are plenty of tofu based ricotta recipes

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Slow Cooker Potato and Corn Chowder

Feast of Plants — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 13:33:11 +0000

I’ve had a slow cooker ever since I left university, I’d like to say I’ve had one since before they were cool but lets be honest, I don’t think slow cookers ever have been cool. They are however amazingly useful. After university I landed a job working in the city which, as a rule, meant long hours and a long commute. My slow cooker meant that there were days I could come home to a delicious smell and a meal waiting for me. While I was ill and my endo was flaring, the slow cooker was equally invaluable as it meant on bad days I could shuffle down stairs, throw food into the cooker and go back to bed. By the time Kenny got home, dinner would be mostly ready. These days my instant pot is my slow cooker and with its timer function it’s even more useful than the old one I used to have. I’ve been using different versions of my potato and corn chowder recipe for years, even before I became vegan. However, now that I am vegan, its taken me a while to find a version I’m happy with. This week I finally cracked it. This soup is amazingly creamy, flavorful and yet you spend less than 10 mins paying it any attention, the rest of the time it spends in the loving arms of the slow cooker while it happily cooks you dinner. Don’t you want to come home to dinner already made? Serves: 4 as main course Ingredients 700g Potatoes 500g Frozen Sweetcorn 3 tbsp Gram Flour 1.5 Ltr Vegetable Stock 1 tsp dried Thyme 1 tsp dried Rosemary 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder 1/2 tsp Onion Powder 250ml Oat Milk (or as needed) 2 tbsp Vegan Butter 1/4 cup Oat Creme Fraiche Salt & Pepper, to taste Fresh Parsley (Optional) Directions Directions Roughly dice your potatoes and add your sweetcorn, toss them both with the gram flour and seasonings. Add the stock, season with some salt and plenty of pepper and leave in the loving arms of your slow cooker – either on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. When you come back to your slow cooker at the end of the time, add the butter, creme fraiche, and as much milk as is needed – the milk is to help the soup feel creamy but also to ensure its not too thick so add gradually. Depending on your potatoes you may need the full amount or slightly less. Gently stir until everything is fully mixed, season to taste (I like plenty of pepper with mine), top with plenty of fresh parsley and serve with some fresh crusty bread. Wasn’t that easy?

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