The Vegetarian Slow Cooker: Over 200 Delicious Recipes

by Judith Finlayson, Colin Erricsson (Illustrator)

Tantalizing and foolproof recipes for everything from starters and snacks to sides and desserts. With both vegetarianism and slow cookers being mainstream, the timing is perfect for a new slow cooker book which includes both. As usual, Judith Finlayson has developed mouth-watering recipes with broad appeal that address a wide variety of needs -- from great family fare to more sophisticated dishes for entertaining. Full color throughout, it features not only traditional recipes and updated classics but also more exotic dishes that reflect our increasingly multicultural society. Vegetarians, vegans and even flexitarians will also be inspired. There are more than 130 vegan friendly recipes that have been identified for easy access and over 200 recipes in total. Some of the tantalizing recipes

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Vegetarian

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an attractive cookbook that combines one of my favourite small appliances with my chosen cuisine. The print is a reasonable size and the recipes are well laid out and easy to follow. Quantities are given in both imperial and metric measurements. Each recipe tells how many servings it provides, whether or not it is "Vegan Friendly" and also lets you know if it is a good recipe for company (Entertaining Worthy) as well as if the recipe can be halved. It also details what size of slow cooker to use and adds tips on choosing and handling ingredients. While not totally vegan, there are many "vegan friendly" recipes in the book and even ones not listed as such could frequently be converted by the knowledgeable vegan. The Vegetarian Slow Cooker is liberally sprinkled with pictures, generally located across the page from the recipes they portray. Today I shared the Tomato Dal with Spinach for a potluck at work. This was a fairly simple and straightforward recipe and I got compliments on it as well. One of the things I think could have been done differently would be to cook the split peas directly in the slow cooker. The recipe calls for you to boil them for 25 minutes on the stovetop before adding them to the cooker. This, of course, creates extra dishes to wash and I feel it could have been done differently to avoid this. I also felt that the dal could have been thicker, so I added 2 tablespooons of cornstarch after adding the spinach and curry powder-lemon juice mixture. It turned out fine. If you choose to eat it out of a bowl, then leaving out the cornstarch would work as well. This recipe is listed as serving 4 to 6, which would be generous servings.
While I haven't used this cookbook extensively yet, I am quite satisfied with it and look forward to experimenting with more recipes from its pages.

[Carm · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s a few decent recipes like lentil sloppy joes, vegetable biriyani, parsnip soup, cabbage borscht (a rare find). But others such as sweet potato lasagna, tofu ratatouille, apricot in amaretto, creamy mexican beans that confuses. I have been an avid slow cooker cook for some time and depend on it for the main portion of the meal not the side. Sweet potatoes tend to fall apart when cooked and combined with tomato, brown rice and Italian seasoning just doesn’t seem tasty. I’ve cooked tofu in the slow cooker and find it goes tough but all the frying including the tofu before everything goes in the slow cooker in this recipe seems tedious and unnecessarily difficult. For the apricot recipe it doesn’t say which kind of apricot can be substituted when fresh aren’t available. There are a multitude of slow cooker Mexican recipes out there another isn’t needed nor is this side dish which isn’t tasty. Lima beans, cream cheese and tomato are combined in a small slow cooker. Not worth the money.

[Devon Brugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

My hubby and I do meatless Mondays. Anything that helps me get a step up on that day is greatly appreciated. My tried and true recipes ran out 2 years ago. This has added a tasty boost. Them being slow cooker helps a lot too. This will definitely being added to my cookbook collection

[Lisa Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I’ve made four recipes so far and they’ve been great. My family loves the spicy red lentil stew.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I checked this book out from the library based off of a recommendation. After two weeks I bought my own copy. I have really enjoyed the versatility and variety in this cookbook. While I don't adhere to her "pre-saute" suggestions, my chop and plop method seems to still produce delicious results. For a household of two, making one dish on Sunday will generally provide us with lunches for two for the duration of the week.

I love the variety of veggie and bean dishes, particularly the stews. The slow-cooked oatmeal and breakfast rice have become a go-to dish for busy mornings. The leftovers easily reheated the next day. Many of the dishes are naturally gluten free, or can be made gluten free. Need to serve a large crowd? The soups and stews can be served over brown or basmati rice.

My only complaint is the quantity of onion most of her recipes call for - being two. She must be using small onions because if I used two onions 90% of the dishes would be onion with veggies. As much as I love that root veggie, I don't want to be alienating my co-workers or the Husband. I automatically use one onion whenever two is called for.

Recommended for the versatility, variety, and ease of meal prep.

[Katharine · Rating 2 out of 5]

Almost everything sounds good. Tried the Coconut Curry Potatoes and Peas yesterday. It was ok, but a bit bland even with doubling all the spices. Also tried both overnight oatmeals - the rolled oats came out super creamy, almost like cream of wheat. The steel cut oats (usually my favorite) came out gluey. Even with added chopped apples and cinnamon. I'll need to make some adjustments with that one...

Update: Tonight we tried the Cider Baked Beans and Boston Brown Bread. Neither I'd make again....

The recipes are written clearly, easy to follow and adapt, and SOUND good - but in execution, they are very 'blah' for my family.

[BookBec · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library and made three recipes. The split pea soup with eggplant and balsamic vinegar was terrific (especially topped with fried ham bits; no, I'm not strictly vegetarian). But the veggies with peanut sauce were bland and gloppy -- the photo was obviously of raw veggies in peanut sauce, because nothing looks that crisp after a day in the slow cooker. A lentil stew with peppered apricots was good, but would have made just a few meal-size servings if I hadn't added ground beef.

Overall, I didn't find enough new slow cooker ideas to want to purchase this cookbook, and the servings indicated by each recipe weren't large enough to support my family's lifestyle.

[Amylouise Adira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was terrible! None of the recipes looked very good and the few that looked like maybes had eggs. I just took it back to the library.