The Vegan Slow Cooker

Many years ago, when I first started this blog and vegan cookbooks were scarce, I was sent a vegetarian slow cooker book to review. I hadn’t asked for it, and I didn’t receive any other communication from the publisher. I didn’t have a slow cooker, so I put it on the bookcase to live with my small cookbook collection.

Dennis remembered the book at Christmas time, and gifted me with a slow cooker. I had a little fun experimenting with it and cooking from the cookbook, but the novelty wore off, and pretty soon, the slow cooker started to gather dust. Until my friend Jen told me about The Vegan Slow Cooker by Kathy Hester. She said she had been cooking her way through it, and she thought I’d love it. And she was right! I cooked my way through it, too, and I loved every meal.

As much as I loved that slow cooker that Dennis gave me for Christmas years ago, I no longer have it. Two or three years ago he gave me an Instant Pot, so I now use it to slow cook. It works just as well as my slow cooker did, and I now have fewer gadgets cluttering my countertops.

Too Busy to Cook

The Vegan Slow Cooker, as well as Kathy’s book Vegan Slow Cooking for Two or Just for You, were my go-to books when I was still working in an office during the day and getting my health coaching business off the ground by night. I didn’t have much time to spend in the kitchen between the two jobs, so having a slow cooked meal waiting for me was a godsend. I always recommend both books to my health coaching clients who have busy schedules, too.

Revised and Expanded

Kathy’s back with a new revised and expanded edition of the book! The new edition features 20 new recipes, for a total of 160 recipes. She’s included new tricks for streamlining recipes, and she offers gluten-free, soy-free, and no oil options. The new edition features all-new mouthwatering photography, too.

If, like me all those years ago, you just received a slow cooker for Christmas, and you’re not sure what to do with it, Kathy offers tips to get you started. She also includes some slow cooking rules, tips for buying a slow cooker, and help with slow cooking in your Instant Pot. She’s also provided a list of ingredients to keep on hand and troubleshooting tips.

Super Easy Recipes

What I love about Kathy’s slow cooking recipes is that she makes everything super easy. She breaks down her recipes into simple steps so that you can prep your meal the night before and then get things cooking in the morning. And a hot dinner will be ready and waiting for you when you get home from work. What can be better than that?

In addition to dinner recipes, you’ll find recipes for soups, sandwich fillings, desserts, and even snacks. There’s a chapter devoted to breakfast, too, because the only thing better than dinner waiting for you when you get home from work is a hot breakfast waiting for you when you wake up. Since the first edition’s release of the book, I’ve become friends with Kathy, and she’s included my cannellini bean ratatouille in The Vegan Slow Cooker, Revised and Expanded, which seems pretty surreal.

Chapters in The Vegan Slow Cooker Include:

• Vegan Slow Cooker Basics
• No-Time-to-Prep Recipes
• Soups
• Stews
• Casseroles & Loaves
• Pasta & Grains
• Mains
• Sides
• Sandwich & Taco Fillings
• Breads
• Snacks & Appetizers
• Breakfasts
• Desserts
• Staples

If your schedule is hectic, and you’re in need of healthy meals options, The Vegan Slow Cooker is the book for you!

Coconut Soup with Mushrooms and Jackfruit

 

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This is my vegan version of a Thai chicken soup called Tom Kha Gai. I made mine mild, but you can add a little chili oil to spice yours up a bit. There are a few specialty ingredients in this soup, so you will need to find an Asian market where they will be inexpensive. Tamarind concentrate adds a tang, and the kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and galangal root are the heart of this aromatic soup. Trust me, it’s worth a trip to the market, and it comes together fast once you have the ingredients.

Author: Kathy Hester

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Thai

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 can (10 ounces, or 280 g) jackfruit, drained and shredded by hand
• 2 cups (140 g) chopped shiitake or button mushrooms
• 3 (3-inch, or 7.5-cm) pieces of fresh lemongrass
• 1 (2-inch, or 5-cm) piece galangal root, cut into slices
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 cups (705 ml) water
• 1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate (*use gluten-free soy sauce or **coconut aminos)
• 1 teaspoon brown or coconut sugar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce

Before Serving Ingredients

• 1 cup (235 ml) full-fat coconut milk (you can use light, but it won’t be as rich)
• ¼ cup (24 g) nutritional yeast
• 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 ml) lime juice, to taste
• Salt, to taste

Instructions

1. The night before: Shred the jackfruit. Cut the mushrooms, lemongrass, and galangal. Store in the fridge overnight.
2. In the morning: Add the shredded jackfruit, mushrooms, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, water, tamarind, sugar, and soy sauce to your slow cooker. Cook on low 7 to 9 hours.
3. 20 minutes before serving: Stir in the coconut milk and nutritional yeast. Add lime and salt to taste, and add garnishes (if using; see below).
4. Serving suggestion: Garnish with any of the following: chili oil, lime wedges, chopped cilantro, and shredded carrot.

Notes

gluten-free option* soy-free option** no oil added

Recipe reprinted with permission from The Vegan Slow Cooker, Revised and Expanded: Simply Set It and Go with 160 Recipes for Intensely Flavorful, Fuss-Free Fare Fresh from the Slow Cooker or Instant Pot® by Kathy Hester.

3.5.3226

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The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

I know that going vegan be tough. It’s a completely different way off eating, which comes along with unfamiliar ingredients and new ways of cooking. Fortunately, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is here to help!

The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is a massive compilation of over 600 recipes from Emily von Euw, Kathy Hester, Linda and Alex Meyer, Marie Reginato, Celine Steen, and Amber St. Peter. It contains recipes for pretty much any kind of food that you might have a hankering for.

Not Just a Cookbook

In addition to being a cookbook, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is also a guide to veganism for beginners. It contains handy information on how to get started with this way of eating along with lists of items that are helpful to have on hand in your vegan pantry.

The Recipes!

The recipes in The Ultimate Vegan Cookbookrange quick and easy to more elaborate. You’ll find recipes for both raw and cooked dishes, as well and meals made with appliances, such as the slow cooker, instant pot, and air fryer.

You’ll also find plenty of recipes to get you through the day, from breakfast dishes to soups and salads for lunch, as well as dinnertime main dishes. There are also recipes for appetizers and snacks, desserts, and sauces and spices.

The authors of The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook are sensitive to your food sensitivities, so you’ll find recipes for gluten-free, soy-free, dishes, and sugar-free.

Easy to Navigate

I have several other large cookbooks such as this one, I find that the can be so overwhelming, since they have so much info in them. The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook makes finding a recipe easy though, since each chapter is dedicated to a different type of dish. Also, the recipes are marked, letting you know if special equipment is needed or if it’s a quick prep dish.

The Chapters in The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook include:

• Main Dishes
• Slow Cooker, Instant Pot & Air Fryer
• 30 Minutes or Less
• Appetizers, Snacks & Sides
• Soups & Salads
• Desserts
• Breakfasts, Smoothies, and Drinks
• Sauces, Dressings, Pastes & Spices

Ultimate Vegan Cookbook is perfect for seasoned vegans looking to build their repertoires, cooks new to the basics of plant-based cuisine and curious meat-eaters on the hunt for new flavors.

Butternut Squash Okra Gumb

 

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This is a Cajun gumbo, so it does not contain any tomatoes. The roux is what thickens the gumbo and gives it a deeper flavor. Butternut squash isn’t a traditional ingredient, but I think it works well. I used my homemade vegan andouille sausage recipe from my book, The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot[/i], but you can sub your favorite store-bought sausage

Author: Kathy Hester

Recipe type: Main Dish

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

Roux

• ¼ cup (60 ml) avocado oil (or other mild oil)
• 1 cup (120 g) unbleached white flour (or you can use white whole wheat)

Sauté

• ¾ cup (112.5 g) minced onion
• ¾ cup (131 g) minced bell pepper
• 2 teaspoon (6 g) minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon (7 g) smoked paprika
• 1 tablespoon (5 g) dried oregano
• 2 teaspoon (4 g) regular paprika
• 1½ teaspoon (2 g) dried thyme
• 1½ teaspoon (9 g) salt (or to taste)
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)
• ½ teaspoon–1 tablespoon (3–5 g) ground cayenne pepper, to taste

Simmer

• 8 cups (1.9 L) water
• 3 cups (300 g) sliced okra
• 2 cups (280 g) cubed butternut squash
• 2 cups (460 g) chopped vegan andouille sausage
• or your favorite cooked beans

Serving

• About 4 cups (644 g) cooked brown rice (½ cup [80 g] per serving)
• Tabasco, or other vinegar-based hot sauce

Instructions

For the Roux

1. In a large soup pot over low heat, add the oil and flour; mix well. You will slowly toast this mixture. It will start out a pale white, and then after about 15 minutes, it will be a light brown. After 15 more, it will be more maple colored.
2. The most important thing is to not let this burn, so stir often throughout the roux cooking process. If you burn it, you must throw it out and start again. So go low and slow. Since this process takes about 30 minutes, I like to prep my veggies while this is cooking. Cut a little, stir the roux, cut some more, etc.

For the Sauté

1. Once the roux is a medium brown and begins to smell almost like toasted nuts, add the onion, bell pepper and garlic. Turn up the heat to medium-low; stir and sauté until the veggies begin to soften, about 10 minutes.
2. Add the herbs and spices. You can leave the salt, pepper and cayenne to add before serving if you want. Or start small and add more at the end if you’re not sure how you like it yet.

For the Simmer

1. Add the water, okra, butternut squash and andouille (or beans). Cover and let it cook over medium-low heat until the okra and squash are soft, about 20 minutes.
2. Taste and reseason with salt, pepper and cayenne as needed. I make ours very mild since I’m the only one in my household who likes spicy food. I just add lots of hot sauce to my bowl.

For Serving

1. Serve topped with rice and hot sauce on the side.

Notes

Recipe reprinted with permission from [i]The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook by Emily von Euw, Kathy Hester, Amber St. Peter, Marie Reginato, Celine Steen, Linda Meyer, and Alex Meyer.

3.5.3226

Other recipes from The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook include:

• Roasted Acorn Squash Slices with Garam Masala
• Chocolate-Gingersnap Fall Bars

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Dennis gave me an air fryer for Christmas in 2015. I was super excited to receive it, but once I got it unpacked and set up on the kitchen counter, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. Its maiden voyage was taken while heating up a package of Trader Joe’s vegetable spring rolls. After that I occasionally used it for packaged frozen snacks and French fries, but I wasn’t too sure what else I could do with it. Then my friend Kathy Hester reached out and said she was working on an air fryer cookbook and asked if I’d be interested in recipe testing for it. I jumped at the chance to learn more creative ways to use my handy new gadget.

Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer

Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer is now available, and I’m super excited to share it with you today along with Kathy’s Nutty French Toast recipe!

If you’re new to using an air fryer, Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer will help you get started. Kathy includes lots of tips and tricks, and she answers just about any question you might have about it. She also shares resources for her favorite air fryer accessories.

If you’re an air fryer pro and want to dive right into cooking, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a wide variety of recipes in Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer. Recipes range from easy breakfast dishes, such as the Quick and Easy Tofu Breakfast Sandwich and Mixed Veggie Hash, to main dish options, including Cajun French Fry Po’ Boys and Country-Fried Cauliflower Steaks –two of my favorite recipes from the book.

Did you know that you can bake in your air fryer? You can! I loved the Blueberry Cake for 2 and the Carrot Cake in a Mug. Kathy includes a lot of DIY pantry staples, too, including Extra-Tangy Cashew Cheese and Savory Onion Cream.

The chapters in Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer include:

• Make It Yourself
• Healthy Snacks
• Mains
• Side Dishes and Appetizers
• Breakfasts
• Desserts

Nutty French Toast

French toast was a favorite of mine years ago, before I went vegan. I gave it up briefly after I made the transition to veganism, as I didn’t know how to make it without eggs. Since then I’ve discovered just how easy it is to make, and Kathy makes it even easier with this recipe for Nutty French Toast. I absolutely love the addition of pecans!

If you have an air fryer, you need Vegan Cooking in Your Air Fryer!

Air Fryer Nutty French Toast

 

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French toast is a perfect way to start a weekend. This recipe takes it over the top with crunchy pecans and crispy oats. You can cut the bread into fingers to make them even more fun to eat!

Author: Kathy Hester

Yield: Makes a little over 2 cups - enough for 10 - 12 pieces of toast

Ingredients

• 1 cup (99g) rolled oats
• 1 cup (113g) pecans, or nut of your choice
• 2 tablespoons (12g) ground flax seed
• 1 teaspoon (2g) ground cinnamon
• 8 pieces of whole grain vegan bread, regular or cinnamon raisin (*use gluten-free bread)
• ¾ cup nondairy milk (plain or vanilla)
• maple syrup, for serving

Instructions

1. Make the topping by adding the oats, nuts, flax seed and cinnamon to your food processor and pulse until it looks similar to bread crumbs. Do not over blend. Pour into a shallow pan that's large enough to dip your bread slices in.
2. Add the nondairy milk to a second container, then soak one or two pieces of the bread for about 15 seconds, turn and soak the other side. You don't want to leave it long enough to become mushy.
3. Place the amount that fits into your air fryer basket at once time without overlapping. Cook at 350 degrees for 3 minutes, then flip the bread and cook 3 more minutes.
4. Repeat until all the bread is coated and cooked.
5. Serve topped with maple syrup.

Notes

gluten-free option*, soy-free, no oil added

Recipe by Kathy Hester. Reprinted by permission of Page Street Publishing

3.5.3226

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Shortly after I started my foray into Instant Pot cooking, Kathy Hester announced that she was working a vegan Instant Pot cookbook, and she said she needed testers. I signed up, because I wanted more recipes to add to my pressure-cooking arsenal.

The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot: 80 Easy and Delicious Plant-Based Recipes That You Can Make in Half the Time by Kathy Hester just hit bookshelves this week, but because I was a recipe tester, I’ve already made quite a lot of the recipes. This book is a must-have for anyone who has an Instant Pot!

For Instant Pot newbies, Kathy starts the book with the ins and outs of pressure-cooking. She explains how to use an Instant Pot, and well as how to care for it, and what all of those buttons on the front actually do. At the back of the book, she also shares some of her favorite accessories along with pressure-cooking resources. The book also contains handy charts for pressure-cooking beans and grains.

The recipes in The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot cover the gamut of everything you could possibly need a day – breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, and even DIY staples. You’ll find comforting soups and stews, vegetable side dishes, pasta dishes, tamales, bean burgers, and even cakes. I didn’t know it was possible to make cake in an Instant Pot, but the Zucchini Lemon Spelt Snack Cake cooked up light and fluffy, and it didn’t require turning the oven on, which was a plus in the hot summer weather.

While recipe testing, I became a big fan of Kathy’s layered dinners – meal components layered in the Instant Pot so that everything for your meal is ready at the same time. I had no idea that this was even a possibility! You can just set the Instant Pot, and do something else while dinner cooks. The One-Pot Burrito Bowls, Southern Breakfast, and CSA Layered Indian Dinner were among my favorite recipes from the book.

If you have an Instant Pot you need to add The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot to your cookbook collection!

Winter One-Pot Lentils and Rice

 

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Author: Kathy Hester

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

SAUTÉ INGREDIENTS

• 1 tbsp (15 ml) oil (or *dry sauté or add a little water/vegetable broth)
• ½ cup (80 g) chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

PRESSURE COOKER INGREDIENTS

• 3½ cups (820 ml) water
• 1½ cups (278 g) brown rice
• 1 cup (192 g) brown lentils
• 1 cup (160 g) peeled and diced rutabaga (or turnip or potato)
• 2" (5-cm) sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 tbsp (2 g) dried marjoram (or thyme)
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. For the sauté, use the sauté setting over normal, or medium heat, and heat the oil or broth. Add the onion and sauté until transparent, 5 minutes. Then add the garlic and sauté a minute more.
2. For the pressure cooker, add the water, brown rice, lentils, rutabaga, rosemary and marjoram to the onion mixture and stir to combine. Put the lid on and make sure that the vent is sealed. Cook on manual setting at high pressure and set for 23 minutes.
3. Let the pressure release naturally. Season with salt and pepper before serving and add more marjoram and ground rosemary as needed.

Notes

From The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook for Your Instant Pot by Kathy Hester. Printed with permission from Page St. Publishing.

3.5.3226

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With The Ghoulish Gourmet so you can invite all your friends over and have a spooky soiree. The book contains 25 unique Halloween recipes that all ages will love. There are a couple of cocktail recipes thrown in for the grown-ups, but even they can be made without the alcohol. Most recipes have options to be made gluten-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free.

The Ghoulish Gourmet is available for Kindle from Amazon or as a pdf that you can read on your computer, iPad or phone. You can also open the pdf using the free Kindle or iBook software on your mobile device.

Vegan Halloween Dessert: Gruesome Forbidden Rice Mousse

This is a wholesome chocolate dessert that’s simply made with chocolate chips, coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla and black forbidden rice. It cooks in your slow cooker and thickens up a ton in the fridge. Nothing to be frightened of here, unless it eats you first.

Ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can full-fat coconut milk
• ¼ to ½ cup forbidden rice (use less to make thinner pudding)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

In a 1½ to 2 quart slow cooker, add all the ingredients and cook on high for 2½ to 3 hours.

It will still be runny and the black rice will not be as soft as white rice would be in the pudding – it will be more al dente.

Chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours, so the mixture thickens

Recipe by Kathy Hester from The Ghoulish Gourmet: A Bewitching Collection of Vegan Halloween Recipes copyright 2016 printed with permission

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Creepy Bats and Cats Chocolate Graham Crackers

makes 6 to 8 servings

Dry Ingredients:

• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder (like Hershey’s Special Dark)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients:

• ¼ cup maple syrup
• ¼ cup mild oil (I used an avocado-coconut blend)
• ¼ cup nondairy milk

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°. Prepare 2 large cookie sheets by oiling or covering with parchment paper.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and cut in with a pastry cutter or 2 forks. Use your hands to make a ball. If the dough is too crumbly, add another tablespoon of nondairy milk and try again.

Roll out ¼ of the dough at a time on a floured work surface into a medium thickness. Use bat and cat cookie cutters to cut out shapes and gently place them on the baking sheet.
Repeat until all the dough is used. If you use medium-sized cookie cutters, these will need to bake for about 10 minutes. The cookies will be crunchy.

Recipe from The Ghoulish Gourmet by Kathy Hester. Photos by Kathy Hester.

The Ghoulish Gourmet is available for purchase here: http://tinyurl.com/GhoulGourmet

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Make it easier on everyone by hosting your own ghoulish gathering. You will know what’s in everything and you’ll be able to accommodate any other special dietary needs.

My pumpkin juice recipe is sweetened with dried apricots only and even has pumpkin puree mixed in. Best of all is that it’s lightly spiced with the flavors of autumn.

This is just one of the 25 spooky recipes you’ll find in The Ghoulish Gourmet Halloween e-Cookbook.

Pumpkin Juice

There’s more to pumpkin juice than just breaking into a haunted pumpkin patch, fending off the zombies, and juicing a pumpkin. My version simmers spices, fresh ginger and vanilla bean – with apple juice to infuse it. Then it’s blended with soaked dried apricots, pumpkin purée and a little nutmeg. It’s sweetened only with dried apricots.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• 10 dried apricots
• 1½ cups water
• 2 cups apple juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 7 whole allspice berries
• 2 (2-inch) pieces of thinly sliced ginger
• ½ vanilla bean, split (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation
Soak the apricots in the water for at least 4 hours or overnight in the fridge. Add the apple juice, cinnamon stick, allspice, ginger and vanilla bean to a saucepan. Bring almost to boil, then turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off heat and let it cool a bit.

Add the apricots and the soaking water to a blender and blend until smooth. Add the pumpkin purée and nutmeg and blend again. Strain the apple juice mixture into the blender to make sure only the liquid comes through. Blend until smooth.

Put a fine mesh strainer over a pitcher and strain the pulp so that only the thick juice drips into the pitcher. Sprinkle with ground nutmeg before serving.

Recipe from The Ghoulish Gourmet by Kathy Hester. Photos by Kathy Hester.

The Ghoulish Gourmet is available for purchase here: http://tinyurl.com/GhoulGourmet

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The Easy Vegan Cookbook, packed with 80 recipes, is a must-have cookbook for vegans with
families, busy schedules, limited budgets and hearty appetites for healthy food that simply tastes good. With recipes like Creamy Broccoli and Potato Casserole and Veggie “PotPie” Pasta, readers will have a stockpile of quick recipes that they can count on to be delicious. Additionally, many of the recipes are gluten-free, soy-free and oil-free, for those who have other dietary restrictions or preferences.

This cookbook includes chapters such as Make-Ahead Staples and Speedy Stir-Fries, as well as recipes such as Inside-Out Stuffed Pepper Stew, Creamy Cauliflower Pesto Pasta and “Vegged-Out” Chili. No longer will weeknight meal planning be a source of stress. With The Easy Vegan Cookbook, vegans everywhere can enjoy easy, fast and family-friendly recipes for amazing food.

We have a copy of The Easy Vegan Cookbook for one lucky winner. Follow the instructions after the recipe to enter.

EASY AVOCADO LEMON BASIL PESTO

gluten-free • soy-free • no added oil
Serves 3 to 4, but you can easily double or triple the recipe

Don’t let the specialty basil intimidate you. If you don’t have lemon basil, you can use regular basil and add lemon zest, extra lemon juice or another lemony herb like lemon verbena or lemon balm. This rich, creamy pasta sauce comes together in minutes and has a bright lemon and herb flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 medium ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup (12 g) fresh lemon basil (or substitute regular basil)
• 1 (2- to 4-inch [5- to 10-cm]) sprig fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon (3 g) fresh oregano leaves
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup (59 ml) water plus more if needed
• 1/2 lb (227 g) cooked whole-wheat angel-hair pasta

Preparation

1. Scoop out the avocado. Put the avocado flesh, lemon basil, leaves from the thyme and oregano, lemon juice, salt and water in a blender and blend well until the herbs are puréed.
2. If the purée is still too thick, add 2 more tablespoons (30 ml) of water and blend again. Toss with the cooked whole-wheat angel-hair pasta.

TIP:
This pesto comes together in minutes, so put your pasta in the boiling water while you make it. The pesto will be ready to toss with your piping hot, perfectly cooked pasta. You’ll be out of the kitchen before the pesto has time to get too hot!

Per serving: Calories 94.4, protein 2.1 g, total fat 8.7 g, carbohydrates 5.5 g, sodium 0.2 mg, fiber 5.5 g

Printed with permission from Page St Publishing. Photo credit: Ann Oliverio.

We have a copy of The Easy Vegan Cookbook for one lucky winner. Follow the instructions below to enter. U.S. residents only, please. Contest ends at midnight eastern time on August 27, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Slow Cooker Tempeh Braised with Figs and Port Wine

Prep time:  10 mins
Cook time:  8 hours
Total time:  8 hours 10 mins
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil
• 1 small onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package (8 ounces, or 225 g) tempeh (*use plain soy tempeh to make this dish gluten-free), cubed
• 8 fresh figs, each cut into 6 wedges
• 1⁄2 cup (120 ml) water
• 1 cup (235 ml) port wine
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon (6 g) vegan chicken-flavored bouillon or 2 tablespoons (12 g) Chickeny Bouillon (page 19)
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. The night before : Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute longer. Combine in an airtight container with the cut-up tempeh and figs and store in the fridge.
2. In the morning: Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

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