The Crockpot is our Friend

It's taken me quite a while to get to the point where I can say that I love the crockpot.  I always saw it as only useful for cooking meats.  I hear of people cooking pot roasts, or pulled pork, or chicken.  I couldn't think of anything that I would enjoy being able to be made in a crockpot, so I very rarely used it.  Also, I couldn't see myself getting up in the morning to prep things for dinner that night, especially since I'm more of a "think on the fly" kind of person.  I never know what I want to eat for dinner until about half an hour before I'm starving.  So the idea of getting up with the birds and making dinner seemed ridiculous.  However, I have a dear friend who is absolutely head over heels in l.o.v.e. with her crockpot.  And even though she isn't veg, she would tell me time and time again to give my crockpot another chance.  It's not that I hated it, I actually wanted to love it.  So I listened to my friend and went back to the crockpot with an opened mind.  I started Google-ing  vegan crockpot ideas, and I think I found the mother load.  This is another one from Peas and Thank you and it couldn't be simpler or tastier.  The first time I made this, I realized that if I was going to give this crockpot thing my all I needed an upgrade.  This simply would not do.  

It's filled to the brim and I haven't even put everything in it yet!  So look what I got today.......

AHHHHH!!!!!

Guess who's excited?  ME!  And I could think of nothing better to initiate it with than this recipe.  

1 onion, chopped

1 sweet potato, cubed

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 can lite coconut milk

2 1/2 cups vegetable stock

1 t cinnamon (I used a little less than this)

1 t curry powder

1/2 t cumin

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste

Dump everything in the crockpot except for the kale.  Put the lid and and set it to low for 6 hours.  Add the kale, and continue leave it until the kale is tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Look at how much more room I have! 

 That's it, folks.  You can eat it as is or I like to put it over rice to sock up all that yummy juice.   

 Note: If you haven't embraced the crockpot but still want to try this dish, you can cook it in a stock pot/soup pot.  Just saute the potato and onion until tender, add the rest of the ingredients, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. 

Happy slow cooking!!