Sneak Peek From My New Cookbook!
The first volume of my new cookbook series: The Groovy Green Kitchen will be available at Amazon before the end of August! đ
This first book in the series features menu combos of slow-cooker main dishes paired with quick and easy side dishes.
I’m including the cover photo recipes with this post (see below) so you can give them a try now:
 Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Fragrant Orange Basmati Rice.
One of my fav menus from the book; I hope you’ll love it too.
This project has been a LOT of work but so rewarding.
It’s been many years since my first cookbook:  Not Just for Vegetarians was published and if anything, I think my love of cooking and baking has only increased. I LOVE IT ALL! And what a great feeling when a new recipe comes together and turns out great.Â
I’m already working on the 2nd volume of the series too. đ
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Updated:
 Here’s the link to: The Groovy Green Kitchen: Weeknight Veggie Slow Cooker
Now available in print and Kindle versions.
Happy Cooking! đÂ
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Moroccan Vegetable Stew with Fragrant Orange Basmati Rice
Moroccan Vegetable Stew
Comfort food with a kick!
If you love yams, you will love this hearty, colorful stew with an intriguing blend of spices.
Serve with Fragrant Orange Basmati Rice for a special treat. A perfect main dish when company is coming too. Serves 6.
1-2 teas. ground turmeric (to taste)
1 teas. ground cumin
1/2 teas. cayenne pepper
1 teas. ground cinnamon
1/4 teas. ground nutmeg
2 teas. Mrs. Dash Original Blend seasoning
2 T. vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced (to taste)
4-5 medium yams (3- 3 Âœ pounds in total) cut in 1â cubes
4 large carrots, diced
1 C. vegetable stock
1 C. precooked chickpeas
15 oz. can diced or stewed tomatoes with juice
1 C. raisins
2 bay leaves (remove before serving)
3-4 T. regular or vegan sour cream
In a small bowl or cup, combine spices and set aside.
In a large skillet or Dutch oven, heat vegetable oil over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes. Add spice mix and stir to combine ingredients thoroughly. Cover, reduce heat to MEDIUM and steam for 5 minutes to release flavours. Transfer to slow cooker and add all remaining ingredients except sour cream. Stir to combine thoroughly.
Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours or until vegetables are all tender but not mushy, adding sour cream for last 10 minutes of cooking time on HIGH. Adjust seasonings if required and serve.
 Note: Cooking times for the yams can vary a bit, depending on the variety you are using.
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Fragrant Orange Basmati Rice
A perfect rice side dish thatâs good with all kinds of main dishes especially the Moroccan Vegetable Stew and spicy curries. Colorful, with a wonderful fragrance and flavor. Serves 6.
2 T. vegetable or olive oil
4 C. precooked basmati rice (preferably brown)
4 T. fresh orange juice
zest of one large navel orange
œ teas. ground coriander
4 T. finely chopped fresh parsley
In a large skillet, heat oil over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. Add rice and sauté for 3 minutes. Add all remaining ingredients and continue to sauté for 2 more minutes, just to heat through.
Remove from heat and serve immediately.
Sweet Potato Lasagna from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook
As I blogged about recently here, I am getting re-acquainted with cooking with a Slow Cooker and this time, lovin’ it!
As a vegetarian for over 20 years, I was until recently still under the misconception that Slow Cookers were mainly for cooking large slabs of meat, chicken…and not for many kinds of vegetable and vegetarian recipes. How wrong I was!
And how far the slow-cooker has come since my first try at using this wonderful small appliance, many years ago. I was just married (for the first time) ;)and we had received a CrockPot (the first popular brand name of slow-cookers) as a wedding gift. At the time, I was still eating beef, pork, poultry… and sharing life with a husband who insisted on lots of meat and potato suppers!
How times change…and in this case for the better. đ
I also recently found out about a wonderful cookbook: The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson, which I will be reviewing soon and in detail over at My Real Life Reviews.
Suffice to say for now, this cookbook is a winner and a wonderful way to introduce yourself to slow-cooking or to add to your recipe repertoire if you are already â„ your slow cooker!
I’m sharing one of my fav recipes: Sweet Potato Lasagna from this cookbook on page 2 of this post.
It is simply delicious and so easy to make!
As with most recipes, I did a bit of personal “tweaking”:
-I used 9 oven-ready lasagna noodles instead of the 12 suggested and found it to be just right for the 6 quart slow cooker that I use.
-I added 2 T. instead of 1 T. of the Italian seasoning blend (and that I mixed myself: basil, oregano,thyme and I added a dash of nutmeg too).
–Â I used grated Asiago cheese not Parmesan as I had some on hand.
**All minor changes and not required. Just my own preferences.
This lasagna is very filling and looks great too, it’s so colorful. Would make a wonderful Fall dinner choice, with sweet potatoes at their peak right now and so reasonably priced too. Try to buy organic if at all possible, so much tastier I think and better healthwise too.Â
I guarantee, you’ll be making this one more than once!
See complete recipe on page 2. Enjoy. đ
