Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are

I'm a lone artist working at home and am not into cooking. I gave away my microwave because it was so noisy and also because I couldn't get the hang of the short times, and had to check all the time, or else forgot about it when engrossed in a project.So most of my evening meals are cassarole type one dish things I do in a conventional oven. I eat little meat, because I can't keep it and don't like to shop more than once every week or two. I'm the type who figures out what to eat no more than an hour before it goes in the oven. I figured out how to do rice and pasta dishes in the oven as one shot, one dish operations, although they would probably dismay a "real cook". I use frozen soy meat subsitutes a lot because I don't have to worry about waste from spoilage.Some relatives gave me a little 1.5 qt slow cooker for Christmas, and I thought it might work out because I remembered the bean pot and soup pot my mother had going all the time when I was a child (we had a wood stove for both cooking and heat.)But when I read the book that came with the cooker and saw all the recipes need stove top preparations, I almost gave it away. But discovered two uses for it: baked potatoes and hot sandwiches. You wrap up a big potato in foil at breakfast time and its done for supper (top with plain yogurt and/or cream cheese); breakfast sandwiches are cream cheese and jam on brown bread wrapped in foil ready in an hour. Lunch sandwiches are brown bread and cheese with chopped stir fry veggies (snow peas, green beans, water chesnut, carrot etc. and wrapped in foil.I got this cookbook in hopes of extending my recipes, and I probably will be able to; it explains better about beans than the one that came with my cooker. But I virtually live on rice and pasta dishes, and those all seem to need extra stove top steps.As other reviews say, lots of slow cooker recipes are NOT one step "put all the ingredients in and plug it in" operations. This book repeats that old chesnut in the intro, but most of the recipes need stove top operations. That doesn't work for those going out to work, or else require foresight and preparation the night before. But some of the recipes I think I can work out for me in my lifestyle.But I will probably have to get another cooker, as my little baby one has only one temperature level (no controls, you plug it in, period), and doesn't have a removable liner, so all my cooking so far (mostly potatoes) has been in foil. The best thing about slow cooker cooking is that if you're absent minded (or ignore timers when they go off when you're engrossed in something), an extra hour or two doesn't result in a ruined meal; maybe not optimal, but still edible, and usually even still fine and tasty.

I've been a vegetarian for 8 of my 25 years of life and in that time I've used many good cookbooks for vegetarians/vegans and many terrible ones. This book comes in near the top of my good list. :-)When I saw this book pop across my recommendations page my initial reaction was "That must be TERRIBLE! Don't most people use slow cookers for cooking chicken, roasts, and vats of bubbly cheese dip for superbowl parties? What can vegetarians possibly make in a slow cooker?"But, curiosity and boredom on a cold rainy day got the best of me and I decided to go buy a slow cooker and order this book. I am extremely glad that I did!I love to cook, but I'm a busy young professional (I'm a high school teacher) and I'm running from the minute I get up until the minute I go to bed. The recipes included in this book are:a) Easy -- it's a few chops here and there, throw it in the pot, and set the temperature. Most preparation only takes 15 minutes, give or take.b) Nutritionally balanced -- Each recipe has a good source of protein, along with lots of veggies, and it isn't necessarily heavy on the carbs (something I was worried about when I ordered the book).c) Accessible -- I have almost everything in my fridge and cupboards to make each recipe. A lot of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks require mass amounts of obscure ingredients that I struggle to find in my vegetarian-friendly city of Denver. This book is different. A lot of recipes have a basic, culture-specific mirepoix (i.e. carrots, celery and onion, etc.) that provide the base of the recipe, a handful of spices that any cook likely has on hand, and one or two other easy-to-find ingredients.d) Delicious -- I've had this book for a few weeks and have made 6-7 recipes from it. I haven't been disappointed with any of them (though I have added a bit more hot sauce to my Tempeh Etoufee). I haven't tried the desserts section yet, though...but I'm sure it won't disappoint.Amazon.com's service was extremely fast, as always, and the book arrived as expected.Happy cooking, all!

I have been using this for years and it is my "go to" cookbook for my slow cooker and has given me many great meals and great ideas for meals. I find that since the focus is vegetarian there is a larger selection of recipes than just ten or so around each type of meat and tend to have the same ingredients otherwise. Also, this works well for meat eaters too because you can pick things you like and then add smaller and leaner cuts of meat. For example, I did the Mushroom and Green Bean Stroganoff and put two large Turkey Wings in there and it turned out wonderful. Most of the chilli and soups will also work with meat too.I am not sure about the one stars complaining about bland food but did notice they all seemed to have cooked the same recipes so as in all cook books there will be some hits and misses. Also, personally if something is bland it is the fault of the chef not the cookbook since you should be tasting your food and then seasoning it to your family's taste if you find it missing seasoning not just complaining and not adjusting to your tastes.Note: for people who complain that she precooks everything in skillet before adding to the pot - I agree and I just add the items to the pot without precooking and it does not see to effect the dishes plus I think it helps with the other complaint which it the cook time. And speaking of cook time, the first time you cook something in the slow cooker can be little hit or miss on exactly how long to cook something but after a while you get hang of how long you like certain veges cooked and whether to add them at the beginning or maybe add them later for shorter cook time.

Not for use here .Many ingredients not generally used here. Only suitable for use for those with the large slow cookers. Useless for a single person. Disappointing.

a good little book

Excellent book

Being new to slow cooker cooking I find this book a real help! Would definitely recommend and it arrived quickly.

Not good. Too many recipes rely on setian or other faux meats. Weird combinations or ideas, involving ingredients that are difficult to aquire. Why on earth anyone would need 8 kinds of slow cooker stuffing is beyond me. Ive made 2 recipes that sounded ok, and there were just that, ok. I doubt I'd mke them again.