Insanely Easy Vegan Crockpot Chilli

Cost: $12                                 Servings: 5                   Time: 20 Mins on, 4-8 hours off

I really do not use my slow cooker enough. Today, I had both work and school, so the time I had to cook was significantly depleted. This morning I did 20 minutes of prep work, and the result was dinner, as well as lunch four more portions for lunches. How else can you do that? Not to mention the result was an insanely good, nutritious, and filling chilli. 

● One Can Tomato Sauce          ● One Green Pepper

● One Can Corn Niblets            ● 4 Cloves Garlic

● One Can Diced Tomatoes       ● One Onion

● One Can Red Kidney Beans   ● 1 Cup Raw Lentils

● 2 Parsnips (or Carrots)            ● 2 Stalks of Celery

Add all canned item into the slow cooker along with the lentils and turn on. Pour out and rinse the bean juice. Make sure to use dry lentils because they will absorb the flavour of the chilli and be extra delicious!

Then, slice all the vegetables and add them into the slow cooker as well. The bitterness of the green pepper will balance out the sweetness of the corn and parsnips. Instead of using parsnips, you may use carrots, but it won't have that same "spice" to it.

Add some spice to your liking (I used a mixture of oregano, cayenne pepper, paprika, black pepper, and chilli powder) then turn put the lid on and let stew! As a general rule of thumb, let heat until all the vegetables are tender. The longer the time and the lower the heat, the more the flavours will be brought out and mingle. The higher the heat, the shorter the cooking time. I let mine cook for four hours on high.

Serve with some fried tortilla or rice for a starch and garnish with cilantro for a bang! Vegan chilli that may be better than the original, and because of lack of any meat, easier to prepare.

Black Pepper Tofu - PLENTY

Cost: $4          Servings: Two large portions             Time: 20 minutes

All ye tofu nay-sayers say nay no more. I was like you too, until that is - I made tofu taste good. I mean I can't really take credit because it's not my recipe per se, but damn, was I ever wrong... 

This is a spicy asian take on tofu which has no shortage on flavour. When originally starting this blog, this is the type of food I had in mind: it's affordable, easy to make, quick, and delicious.

● 350g Extra Firm Tofu            ● Soy Sauce

● 3 Shallots                               ● 3 Cloves Garlic

● 2 tbsp Ground Ginger            ● 3 Red Hot Chilli Peppers

● Black Pepper

Fry the tofu in a pan with oil for about two minutes on each side or until golden brown

The original recipe calls to coat the tofu in flour - I did this to about 1/3 of the tofu (I'll be honest, I was hungry and lazy) and found that the floured ones were actually slightly charred and discoloured versus the non floured. After frying, put aside and let cool.

My recommendation: don't flour them before frying

Slice the peppers, shallots, and garlic. Grate the ginger. Then put everything into the pan with a bit of oil and fry for about a minute to soften up the vegetables.

add enough soy sauce to cover everything and let simmer while stirring for another three minutes to allow the flavours to mingle.

make sure to fully coat the tofu with all the sauce-y goodness and cook for another two minutes before serving.

This is delicious, and I recommend serving it with rice. 

Calories - 250  Carbohydrates  - 4g  Sugar - 0g  Fat - 16g  Protein - 26g 

Quick and Easy Sweet-Umami Vegan Stir-Fry

Cost: $6                     Serves: Three                     Time: 20 minutes

WARNING: I use MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), a popular flavour enhancer in this recipe, if you believe that it's bad for you (but are not quite sure why or what the alleged symptoms are) please read here and here. Thank you.

This dish is a sweet and umami stir-fry that can be made in around 20 minutes. It makes four large servings for an approximate price of around $5.50 (prices will vary region to region and season). There are no saturated fats in this dish, has high amounts of vitamin A & C, and is relatively high in protein because of the bean sprouts.

Ingredients:

Bean Sprouts - 500g

One Small Red and Orange Pepper

Red Onion - 30g 

Enoki Mushrooms - 175g

One Carrot

Garlic - 10g

Baby Bok Choy - 100g

MSG - .5 tbsp 

Olive Oil - 2 tbsp

Step One: Slice all the vegetables into thin strips (this helps cooking time). When the peppers and carrots are cooked they become more sweet as the natural sugars begin to caramelize. I chose to use red onion because of it's relatively mild and sweet taste. The ginger adds a subtle sweetness as well. The earthy and savoury taste of the enoki mushrooms help balance out the sweetness of the dish. The bean sprouts are moderately bland and help add texture as well as a bit of filler to the meal. 

PROTIP: let the bok choy soak in warm water for five minutes then put in the fridge for another five minutes to rehydrate and crisp it up.

Step Two: Combine onion, garlic, ginger, and olive oil into a large saucepan over medium high heat for a minute. I start with these ingredients because it allows the flavour to be brought out more efficiently before adding in the other ingredients.

Step Three: Add peppers and carrots. These ingredients generally take longer to cook, so it's best to add them first and let cook for 2 - 3 minutes.

Step Four: Add enoki mushrooms and bok choy, reduce to medium heat and let simmer until the bok choy and mushrooms have wilted adequately and the whole thing has reduced to about two thirds the original size. Add the MSG then mix thoroughly.

Step Five: Add bean sprouts and cover to warm the bean sprouts without actually cooking them so they remain crisp.

Step Six: Plate and serve!

I didn't have any sauce to add but feel free to use Sriracha, soy sauce, or any other spice you wish to add. This makes four large servings.

Calories - 220  Carbohydrates  - 33g  Sugar - 5g  Fat - 5g  Protein - 11g