The Vegan Slow Cooker: Simply Set It and Go with 150 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Everyone (Vegan or Not!) Will Devour
The Vegan Slow Cooker: Simply Set It and Go with 150 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Everyone (Vegan or Not!) Will Devour book cover

The Vegan Slow Cooker: Simply Set It and Go with 150 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Everyone (Vegan or Not!) Will Devour

Paperback – October 1, 2011

Price
$14.79
Format
Paperback
Pages
224
Publisher
Fair Winds Press
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1592334643
Dimensions
7.5 x 0.75 x 9.25 inches
Weight
1.41 pounds

Description

"Hester, who blogs at http://www.healthyslowcooking.com and http://www.busyvegan.com , has written a no-nonsense, easy-to-understand guide to vegan slow cooking. The first chapter is a brief introduction to the slow cooker, with an ingredient substitution list. In the next 12 chapters, readers learn how to make soups, stews, curries, casseroles, breads, party dips, and desserts, among other items. Hester draws her inspiration primarily from American (Chick’n Mushroom Casserole; Corn-Tastic Tex-Mex Loaf), Indian (Baigan Bharta; Easy Veggie Chickpea Biryani), and Asian (Ma Po Tofu; Thai Red Curry Tofu and Vegetables) cuisine, but many other culinary traditions are represented. Soy- and gluten-free dishes are clearly labeled, but a list of these dishes isn’t included in a separate index. Dishes are indexed by the main ingredient, so Tofu Bouillabaise and the Smoked Tofu and Stars soup recipe are both found under 'tofu.' In a larger cookbook, this would be detrimental; here, it is merely annoying. VERDICT: This is a great slow-cooker cookbook with scrumptious dishes featuring ingredients that are easy to find in any major grocery store." - Library Journal XPress Kathy Hester is the founder of the blog Healthy Slow Cooking ( http://www.healthyslowcooking.com ) and author of The Vegan Slow Cooker , Vegan Slow Cooking for One or Two , Oatrageous Oatmeals , The Great Vegan Bean Book , The Easy Vegan Cookbook , and The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot . She writes for various online health and cooking websites, including Bright Hub ( http://www.brighthub.com ), Divine Caroline ( http://www.divinecaroline.com ), Everything Mom ( http://www.everythingmom.com ), and The Healthy Hostess ( http://www.thehealthyhostess.com ). She lives in Durham, North Carolina. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Thai Red Curry Tofu and Veggies Thai curry paste can be found in most groceries, and most are vegan. Use less curry paste if you like milder foods and more if you like it fiery hot. INGREDIENTS: - 1 large onion, minced - 1 bell pepper, julienned - 1 can (8 ounces, or 225 g) bamboo shoots, drained and julienned - 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets - 1 1/2 packages (15 ounces, or 420 g each) extra-firm tofu, cubed - 1/2 head broccoli, cut into florets - 1 to 2 tablespoons (16 to 32 g) red curry paste - 2 cups (470 ml) water - Juice of 1 lime - 1 can (14 ounces, or 392 g) light coconut milk - Fresh Thai basil, for serving - 1 lime, sliced, for serving The Night Before: Store the cut-up onion, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, and cauliflower, and tofu in an airtight container in the fridge. Store the cut-up broccoli in a separate airtight container in the fridge. In the Morning: Combine the onion, bell pepper, bamboo shoots, cauliflower, tofu, curry paste, water, and lime juice in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. About 20 minutes before serving, add the coconut milk and broccoli. Cook until the broccoli is tender. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve topped with chopped Thai basil and a slice of lime. Yield: 6 servings Total Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Cooking Time: 6 to 8 hours Recipe Ideas & Variations: Swap out the veggies depending on the season. Zucchini, acorn squash, green beans, and kale, all make tasty additions. Read more

Features & Highlights

  • "Kathy’s stellar recipes and straightforward instructions will have you creating hot, fresh, gourmet meals in just minutes a day. No more slaving away in the kitchen. With
  • The Vegan Slow Cooker
  • , you’ll be eating like a queen with just the flip of a switch!"—Rory Freedman, author of the #1
  • New York Times
  • bestseller
  • Skinny Bitch
  • "This book might just revolutionize vegan cooking! Kathy Hester's recipes are ridiculously fast and easy, unbelievably delicious, and believe it or not—cheap. Bravo, Kathy!"—Kathy Freston,
  • New York Times
  • best-selling author of
  • Veganist, Quantum Wellness,
  • and
  • The Quantum Wellness Cleanse
  • "
  • The Vegan Slow Cooker
  • is a fantastic collection of mouthwatering, fuss-free, easy-to-make vegan recipes. From curries, dals, and steamy stews to casseroles, breads, and decadent desserts, you'll be serving up delicious slow-cooked meals every day of the week."—Julie Hasson, author of
  • Vegan Diner
  • "The health advantages of a plant-strong diet are compelling and well proven. But preparing yummy meals that are wholesome can be time consuming. That's where this book comes in. Slow cookers can be huge labor and time savers, if you know how to use them. This is the book that will show you how."—John Robbins, author of
  • The Food Revolution, The New Good Life,
  • and
  • Diet for a New America
  • If you want to prepare hot, nutritious, home-cooked meals for your family and friends, but feel like time is never on your side, think again!
  • The Vegan Slow Cooker
  • shows you how to create fresh, nourishing cuisine in just two simple steps, using all the healthiest produce, whole grains, and vegan-friendly ingredients found at your local market or farm stand (or home garden!).Author and slow cooker expert Kathy Hester, founder of the blog Healthy Slow Cooking (
  • www.healthyslowcooking.com
  • ), will show you how simple it is to 1.) Prep your ingredients the night before, in just a few minutes' time, and 2.) Assemble everything in the slow cooker in the morning, right before you head to work.The results vary from one-dish meals that are hot and ready as soon as you walk in the door to dishes that are ready in less than 3 hours. There are even recipes for staples like bouillon, apple sage sausage and seitans that you can make once and store in the freezer to use all month long.From your favorite comforting casseroles to fresh and exciting new stews, and even desserts and quick breads—all veganized!—you find recipes that cover every meal and a wide variety of cuisines, including:—Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal—Exotic Cardamom Hot Chocolate—Chick’n and Dumplings—Mushroom Lasagna with a Garlic-Tofu Sauce—Chili Relleno Casserole—Tempeh Braised with Figs and Port Wine—Kung Pao Chick’n—Turkish Delight Tapioca PuddingWith
  • The Vegan Slow Cooker
  • , you’ll find all the tasty inspiration you need to pull that neglected crock pot out of storage and get start creating compassionate, crave-worthy meals today. Home cooking has never been more easy, or delicious.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(139)
★★★★
25%
(116)
★★★
15%
(69)
★★
7%
(32)
23%
(106)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Save your money; just read your slow cooker manual

I have never written a bad review for a cookbook before, but every time I look over at this one, I feel so ripped off. I have over 140 vegan cookbooks and this has to be the very worst I have ever seen.

Page 17, Dried beans from scratch: 1 pound beans, water, cook overnight. That's it! And that's not all: Page 18, Everyday rice: basmati rice, water, pinch of salt, cook. Page 25, Preserve-the-harvest diced tomatoes: "tomatoes to fill your crock," cook, freeze. Page 26, Beyond Easy Baked Potatoes: you guessed it; put potatoes in slow cooker and cook. Page 27, All-Occasion Roasted Garlic: Add 4 to 6 heads garlic and cook. Really? A whole slow cooker to cook 4 heads of garlic? Page 35, Brandied Cranberry Sauce: brandy, cranberries, sweetener, cook.

Page 59, Creamy Potato Soup: potatoes, water, non-dairy milk, 1 clove garlic, and a little seasoning. Couldn't anyone come up with that on their own? Even the Cheater Chili another reviewer mentioned, is a joke: 3 cans beans, 1 can corn, 1 can tomatoes, and chili flavorings. Anyone could do that on top of the stove in less time than it would take to clean the slow cooker!

Page 131, Sweet Herbed Beets: beets, water, herbs. Page 142, Southern-Style Green Beans: green beans, water, seasoning. Page 143 Vodka and Dill-Glazed Baby Carrots: carrots, water, vodka, seasoning. Page 189, Big Pot of Grits: grits, water, margarine. Page 190, Big Pot of Oatmeal: oats, water, non-dairy milk. Page 191, Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal: See previous recipe and add pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spices. Also, two other recipes wasted on changing the flavor of oatmeal. Page 211 Earl Grey Poached Pears: pears, tea, sweetener. Page 216, Spiced cider: apple cider and spice, duh. Page 217, Cardamom Hot Chocolate: non-dairy milk, chocolate, cardamom, sugar.

I don't consider these to be vegan recipes. They are foods everyone prepares, whether they are vegan or omnivore. These so called recipes have not been adapted for vegans . . . they never, ever, contained animal products!

True, there are other more extensive recipes, but it is advertised as having 150 recipes. I think that is very misleading. And as other reviewers have mentioned, the more extensive recipes just say to add faux meat.

I only paid $11.00 for the book and got free shipping so it's not worth the trouble to send it back, but if I had looked through the book before purchasing it, it would not be a part of my collection. Any other slower cooker book would serve better; just substitute faux meat, non-dairy milk, and margarine when the original ingredients are specified.
562 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Simple, nutritious slow cooker recipes you'll love - vegan or not!

Before I begin, let me make this clear: my husband and I are not vegans, or even vegetarians. So I hope you're pleasantly surprised to hear that upon opening this book for the first time, I literally bookmarked at least 15 recipes and couldn't decide what to make first. And even moreso, that our experiences thus far have been great. We've enjoyed the Italian Eggplant Casserole with Cashew-Tofu Ricotta and Pantry Pot Pie so much that we fight over leftovers. Last night I made the Whole Wheat Pumpkin Gingerbread and had a little sliver this morning - fantastic!

For a long time, I was not the biggest fan of the slow cooker because most of the recipes I found were comprised of processed ingredients and just plain boring and bland. And let's not forget the slow cooker recipes that require a zillion preparation steps, thus defeating the purpose of an appliance that is meant to save some time. Recently, though, that's been changing, as I've been compiling and developing a lot more recipes that fit my desire for flavorful, healthy recipes using wholesome ingredients. And that are quite easy to throw together. This book is a wonderful piece of that collection and I can't wait to try more of the recipes, because they all meet exactly what I'm looking for.

Besides great food, Hester delivers others requirements of a great cookbook: simple ingredient lists; clear, concise instructions (that even highlight the steps which can be completed the night before); and options for substitutions to meet various dietary needs.
369 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

My new favorite cookbook!

You won't be sorry if you buy this one! Not only does this book contain simple, delicious, and nutritious, 100% vegan receipes, but it is also put together extremely well. The arrangement of the ingredients and instructions on each page makes each recipe easy to follow. All recipes are limited to one page, with the ingredients in the left column, and instructions in the right.

I own another cookbook (Viva Vegan by Terry Hope Romero), and while it contains tasty recipes, I rarely use it because there are multiple recipes on single pages, requiring you to turn the pages to see the remainder of many of the recipes... Which is not a good thing because you have to stop what you're doing to wash food off your hands, remove the book from the stand, turn the page, and place the book back in the stand before you can continue with the recipe. A 2nd problem I find with the arrangement of the Viva Vegan book is it's simply hard to follow with my eyes. Every time I look away (to do the next step), it takes me several seconds to find and "refocus" on the correct place on the page. So I really appreciate the user-friendly format of THIS book by Kathy Hester!

There are so many great recipes in this book, that I had a difficult time deciding what to try first. I decided to go with the "Chik'n Cacciatore" (made with seitan), and my family LOVED it! Over the next couple of days, I made the "Mix-and-Match Jambalaya", and the "Baigan Bharta" (eggplant curry).... and both were followed by rave reviews!

Some prep time is required in the recipes (chopping and sauteing), but Kathy makes it a cinch, by breaking up the instructions between "The Night Before", and "In the Morning". This helps tremendously if you want to toss everything in the crockpot on your way out to work in the morning. That being said, you don't have to do anything the night before; if you have a few additional minutes to spare in the morning, you can do everything at once.

Simply put, this is an EXCELLENT cookbook, whether you are a new vegan looking for simple, yet tasty and satisfying recipes that do not contain hard-to-find ingredients (which is common in vegan cookbooks)... or whether you're a long-term vegan, looking for a nice variety of easy to prepare, delectable dishes!
203 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

too much fake meat in almost every recipe

I just got this cookbook, looked at it for one day and I just returned it. Almost every recipe uses fake meat or tofu. I did not make any of the recipes so I am not commenting on taste, just was not expecting a slow cooker cookbook to use fake meat in most of the recipes. I am not a fan of fake meat and I appreciate fruits, vegetables, beans and grains for their own merit...not trying to be some meat substitute.
114 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Too many fake-meat based recipes

This book falls in to a trap that lots of vegan cookbooks do: using soy, seitan, and tempeh meat substitutes in a big chunk of the recipes. I bought this cookbook hoping to find a lot of veggie-based stew, soup, and sides recipes and instead found page after page of recipes calling for fake chicken, sausage, and beef. It feels as if the author took regular slow-cooker recipes and just subbed in the faux versions. I just thumbed through the book again and found 7 recipes that center around fake sausage/chorizo, 2 for fake beef, 10 for chick'n, 6 for tempeh, 12 for tofu, and 3 for seitan - basically a huge proportion of the recipes that aren't breakfast, desserts, or sides.

The recipes that don't call for meat substitutes look wonderful - the Pumpkin and White Bean Lasagna looks great, as do the Fall Harvest Fruit Butter, Mango Coconut Rice Pudding, and the Easy Veggie Chickpea Biryani. I wish there were a lot more recipes like these, instead of dishes that focus on fake meat.
61 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Definitely not "set it and go" nor "fuss-free"

I hate to leave a bad review for something that apparently a lot of other people love, but it just didn't work for me. Here's why:

1) Recipes require more than one day of prep. At the beginning of the book are some recipes for special crockpot-ready "chicken" and "beef" seitan. The reason they're at the front of the book? Almost every other recipe in the book calls for using one of these meat substitutes. The author recommends setting aside a day and making a huge batch of seitan to store and use for the recipes. I'm not knocking cooking in bulk, but it's really frustrating to try to use a cookbook only to see that the recipe that you want to try requires a main ingredient that you should have made some other day. And heaven help you if you do take her advice and spend a day making a huge batch of seitan and then have it not turn out correctly. To make it more annoying, the seitan that her recipes produce are for use in the crockpot only and not recommended for grilling or frying.

2) The book relies far too heavily on meat substitutes. There's a lot you can do with a crockpot and some grains and veggies, but this author uses fake meat heavily as a crutch in her recipes. I'm not opposed to meat substitutes in general. I love some Morning Star sausage patties now and then. But reliance on fake meat instead of offering up one of the many other protein-rich vegetarian ingredients out there is lazy and a turn-off for a lot of vegetarians.

3) This cookbook claims to be a "low fuss" and "set it and go" cookbook. That's 2 lies for the price of 1 right there. While there are your standard breakfast casseroles and oatmeal concoctions designed for overnight cooking, many of the recipes here have a 2,3, or 4-hour cook time that won't work for anyone looking for dishes that can be left unattended for 6-8 hours. It's my impression that a lot of people who use slow cookers are looking for recipes that can be tossed in the pot and left to cook overnight or during the workday. You simply can't do this with most of these recipes. Many also require extra fussing like stirring and adding ingredients throughout the cooking process. If someone has the time and willingness to cook a dish that needs a lot of supervision, why not just use the oven/stovetop, especially given that most of these recipes would take far less time if done that way?

4) Cook times are longer than listed...a lot longer. I have a newer slow cooker, which the author states generally tends to cook food faster than the older models she was basing her cook time on. I found that the recipes I cooked took far longer than she indicated, usually at least 2 hours longer.

5) When all was said and done, the recipes I tried just weren't that good. They were mushy and/or watery and generally not very flavorful.

Sorry that I can't give a more positive review because I really wanted to love this cookbook. Sadly, it fell far short of what I was looking for.
51 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Vegans and carnivores alike will adore the recipes in this book!

This book is a MUST have for anyone seeking easy to prepare, delicious and healthy meals (the fact that they are vegan is the non dairy icing on the cake). I was given a slow cooker over a year ago and was not inspired to plug it in until I purchased this book. In the week and a half that I have owned the book, I have already made several recipes with great success (Thai Curry Tofu, Creamy Corn Chowder, and Chana Saag-oh my!).I am especially fond of the way the recipes are set up and tasks divided into "the night before" and "in the morning". On busy days, I usually settle for a quick, cold sandwich for dinner. No longer. I am giving copies of this book to friends and family. Vegan and carnivores (and every possibility in between) alike will adore this book!
36 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Not my style

I was in the market for a vegan slow cooker cook book when I bought this a couple years ago. There weren't that many to choose from and I picked this one for the high ratings. I made several things from it and they were all flops. I stopped using it after I realized the author's taste buds differ too much from ours. I was also disappointed in the heavy dependance on fake meats. Fake meat and cheese is not my thing and if you don't like them either stay clear of this one.
34 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Not a fan of this book at all

I am pretty unhappy with this book.

Basically it is all about using meat replacement soy and gluten products.

Nothing very inventive about vegetables and other vegan options.
27 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

I love this cookbook!

This has got to be my favorite cookbook in years.

I packed away my crockpot when I stopped eating meat 15 years ago. Over the years I've looked for vegetarian or vegan slow-cooker recipe books, but was seriously disappointed by the offerings -- nothing very interesting or creative. Lots of beans and chili and soup, but not much else.

When I found this book, I was thrilled. Not only are there tasty recipes for things you would anticipate (the aforementioned beans and chili and soup) but there are oodles of recipes for things you probably hadn't guessed you could veganize in your crockpot. Lasagna? Check. Bread? Check. Granola? Check. Enchiladas? Check. Pasta dishes? Check. And on and on and on...

I've made many recipes from this book, and every single one has been delicious. Main dishes, side dishes, and more. Yesterday I slow-cooked a batch of "Fall Harvest Fruit Butter" (apple/pear/pumpkin). The house smelled incredible all day long, and the end result was fantastic.

I noticed that some other reviewers complained that the book is too reliant on "fake meat." Um, folks, if you don't like fake meat, leave it out. Or substitute tofu/tempeh/seitan. Some other reviews mention that some of the soups were too watery. I agree; I've been reducing the water by a cup or two when I make soup. Again, it's easy to adjust to your preferences.

If you like to eat, and you're a vegan, and you have a slow-cooker, you should get this book. Really, just do it.
26 people found this helpful