In late 2015 my boyfriend and I invested in a slow cooker – a Crock Pot to be exact. I have wanted one for years as I like the idea of just throwing ingredients into one for the day and then in the evening having a delicious meal to dig into. In January I really wanted to use the slow cooker at least once as it has been over two months since we purchased it so I needed to use it!
I decided to cook a vegetarian casserole. And it was yum when it was cooked. Eventually cooked. When they say that it is a slow cooker they do mean slow cooker. I was worried that it wasn’t working for the first hour as the water was cold to the touch but two hours in and it was cooking away. The reason I decided on a casserole was because the ingredients are easy to find and I used to make them in the oven so I know what they should taste like 🙂
Prep Time: 10 – 15 minutes
Cook Time: I put the casserole on the high temperature about 09:30am and we sat down to dinner around 19:00pm so it was cooking away for most of the day.
Ingredients:
• 3 x Potatoes
• 4 x Carrots
• 1/2 Onion
• 1/3 Turnip
• Cup of Lentils
• 3 x Quorn Fillets
• 3 squeezes of Tomato puree
• Add salt and pepper to flavour
• 1 x Vegetable stock
Instructions:
• Chop all the vegetables and place into the crock pot
• Add in tomato puree, lentils and the stock
• Add in the Quorn fillets
• Cover with a layer of water
• Place the lid on your cooker and leave to cook
It turned out really tasty and the only changes that I would make would be to add in less water so it would be thicker and perhaps some garlic for added flavour. But overall I was happy enough at my first attempt at slow cooking and I am looking forward to getting more adventurous with my cooking.
We brought the slow cooker on sale in Tescos and it was around €25 which is a bargain. Keep your eye out in the hardware section of Tescos as they sometimes really mark down their electrical items.
If you have any tips for using a slow cooker please let me know as we are really just starting out with it – but are looking forward to making some flavoursome food! 🙂
