Savoury Vegetable Bread Pudding

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Cooker, Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Press, 2004.

I didn’t quite know what to expect when I began this recipe. I guess I had the idea that it would be some kind of loaf that you could slice yet I had doubts about how this could be made in a slow cooker. I thought it would be worth trying to see what happened. 

I took a cup of haricot beans, poured boiling water over them and then put them in the microwave for 5 minutes. They were then drained and placed in a saucepan with some water to cook until soft. This took a little over an hour.

Now an onion was chopped and cooked slowly in a little oil in a large pan while the other vegetables were prepared. I chopped half a red capsicum; I grated a zucchini and a carrot and sliced a few button mushrooms. These now went into the pan with the onion that had now softened. They were seasoned with salt and pepper and a sprinkling of chilli flakes. The mixture was cooked for a few minutes until it had begun to soften. It was now left while the next stage was prepared. 

The cooked beans went into the blender with a little over a teaspoon Dijon mustard. A little more salt and two cups stock were added. They were blended until smooth and poured into the vegetable mixture. About 100g mozzarella was grated and added.

Now 4 slices of sour dough bread were sliced and cut into smaller pieces. A layer of bread went into the bottom of the slow cooker, then a layer of vegetables, layer of bread, layer of vegetables, layer of bread and final layer of vegetables. It was all pressed down a little and cooked on low for 4 hours.

This was a disappointing recipe. The mixture had firmed well but could not be turned out of the cooker in a block as I had anticipated. It had to be spooned out and plated and looked unappetising. It was rather dry and needed a sauce of some sort to enliven it. Tomato sauce and a hot green salsa were tried. Both improved it no end, though possibly the tomato sauce worked best.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

Sweet and Spicy Lentil Chilli

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Press, 2004.

This was a simple chilli to make and a particularly tasty one.

In a frying pan a chopped onion, a chopped red capsicum and two chopped garlic cloves were cooked with the lid on until tender. Two tablespoons of chilli powder were added and stirred in for about a minute. This mix was added to the slow cooker.

In also went about a cup and a half of brown lentils, a can of tomatoes,, about a quarter of a cup of molasses, a little ground allspice, a pinch of cayenne pepper and some salt and pepper. Two cups of water and one of apple juice were added. They were cooked at a low level for about eight hours.

This was a delicious chilli. When I want to make a chilli in future this is the one I would turn to. It was even better the next day.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Black Bean Soup

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker, Robin Robertson, Harvard Common Press, 2004.

There were black beans in the pantry that had been there perhaps a little longer than they should have so it was good to find this recipe for black bean soup. A soup, and a slow cooked one at that, seemed best suited to past-their-due-date beans.

The day before I wanted the soup a cup of beans was added together with water in the slow cooker and cooked for three hours. They were then drained and kept in the fridge.

The next day an onion, a carrot, a green capsicum and some garlic were fried, covered, until they had softened. They were then put into the slow cooker with the beans. Also into the cooker went a can of tomatoes together with stock, bay leaves, and flavourings (cayenne for heat, cumin and thyme). They were cooked on low for 8 hours.

At the end of this time the bay leaves were taken out and a stick blender was used to puree part of the soup. I just held it in until the soup looked as though it had thickened but still had some more solid content. The juice of half a lemon was added and seasonings.

It went very well with some freshly baked bread rings. A satisfying and pleasing way to use up some old beans.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Terrine

From Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cookeer, Robin Robertson, The Harvard Common Presss, 2004.

When you purchase some pâté knives it surely is incumbent upon you to make a pâté. I looked around and the first recipe in this book was for a terrine. It looked as though it would be pretty acceptable as a pâté so I thought I’d have a go at it.

I had never used this book before though it had been on the bookshelves for a while. I think it was the fact that it was a book of recipes for using the slow cooker. While I find the cooker is handy for some meals I’ve never been convinced about its general use for vegetarian meals. This one worked somewhat in changing my opinion. I’ll see whether further cooking from this book confirms this change.

The preparation was easy. Cook onion and garlic. Soak sun-dried tomatoes.

Add all the ingredients to a blender and puree. They were then placed in small containers and steamed in the slow cooker.

For a pâté it turned out to be a little crumbly (it was a terrine) but it was very tasty. For a party nibble it’s worthwhile because the preparation is so easy and then it’s up to waiting for the steaming (four hours) to be completed.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔