Algerian Chili - Crockpot Style

Here is my crockpot version of Algerian Chili which can be found several places on the net - eg.
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/15/Algerian_Chili18936.shtml and others, such as:
http://www.gourmet.gr/recipes/algerian/1/26/5377/Algerian-chili.htm

http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/1148/Algerian-Chili-Loubia-B-Dersa/

It was recently offered to a group I own on Yahoo! and was immediately popular. Perhaps it was the name 'Chili' attached to an Algerian dish rather than Mexidan, although it is good to remind that 'chili' in both names refers to the spice itself, not to the whole recipe. What it is, of course, is a white bean stew with lots of wonderful flavour and 'heat' - depending on how much of the latter you like.

What I did, apart from omitting oil and salt from the recipe, was to put the whole lot at once into a crockpot, with the exception of half of the herbs (and I used half cilantro and half parsley). The rest I added right near the very end of cooking. I also used canned tomatoes, but that would make little difference, I think - except that next time I'd hold back from putting them in until after the beans had had a chance to become soft LOL - I forgot myself in my hurry, so the beans took forever to cook! Other changes were minor.

Here it is all dished up ready to go on the table with a bowl of couscous. We had started with a salad, so apart from a little fruit to follow this was our main meal.



While the dish does resemble Mexican-style 'Chili', the differences here are sufficient to recommend it be tried by anyone who loves spicy food - although you can adjust that to suit yourself, obviously.

There was far too much for two little people, so I divided it up and froze some. It reheats nicely too! Just add more parsley, cilantro, whatever you have to give it a nice fresh taste ;)



Definitely a winner. We'll be making this again!

CHEEZY CAULIFLOWER SOUP

I usually make this soup in large quantities in the slow cooker, but it works just as well on top of the stove, of course. The tofu can be added or not, as a matter of choice. This particular batch I made on top of the stove and we enjoyed big bowls of it last evening.

Cheezy Cauliflower Soup (two ways of cooking)

1/2 cauliflower, chopped
1/2 brown cooking onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large stalk celery, strung and chopped
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped, or 1 Tbsp dried
1 potato, chopped (around 5 ounces weight)
4 cups water or vegetable stock
1 pkg soft silken tofu (optional)
1 Tbsp Braggs liquid
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
pinch cayenne
1 Tbsp vegan worcestershire-style sauce
pepper and salt to taste
Garnish: chopped parsley and/or celery leaves, chopped chives, vegan bakon bits, etc.

Bring the water or stock to the boil. Add the cauliflower, onion, garlic, celery, parsley and potato, bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer, cover and continue to cook on simmer until the vegetables are soft. Depending on how small you chopped the vegetables, this could be 10 to 20 minutes. Test a piece of potato to see.

NOTE: For the slow cooker version, place the ingredients as above into your slow cooker or crockpot on high for around 3 hours. Return the blended vegetables to the crockpot still set on high and reheat with the rest of the ingredients for around 20 minutes or until JUST hot.

When done, remove a couple of scoops of the vegetables from the soup and set aside. Blend the rest of the vegetables and stock in batches in a blender. If you use the tofu, add it to the blender along with the soup. (You could of course use a blender wand instead, leaving some vegetables unblended for texture.)

Return the blended soup to the pan, add the vegetables you set aside, set over medium-high heat, and take this opportunity to add a little more water or stock to bring the soup to the desired consistency. This will be depend on your pan and the stove heat - more liquid may have evaporated in the cooking than you prefer. Also, if you choose to use the tofu, the consistency will have changed. Soup should be creamy in substance.

While bringing the soup back to the boil, add the Braggs, nutritional yeast, cayenne, worcestershire sauce, pepper and salt, and stir well. Taste for seasoning and adjust if neeeded.

Garnish and serve with your favourite bread, quickbread or biscuits.

THREE-GRAIN CASSEROLE

This was our lunch today.

This recipe is adapted from one in Betty Crocker's _Slow Cooker Cook Book_ 1999 (not veggie, btw, although there is a section on veggie meals and some of the others are veggie too.) I imagine one could cook it on top of the stove without incident, altering liquid amounts and cooking time, for those who know about converting these things. (I haven't yet tried
this with other grains, but I do a variation that includes lentils and different seasonings.)

THREE-GRAIN CASSEROLE

2/3 c. Uncooked Wheat Berries
1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
1/2 cup pot barley
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
6 green onions, very thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic
4 cups vegetable stock (homemade if possible)
1/4 cup finely chopped rehydrated sundried tomatoes (or a little more if you like)
*ground cayenne pepper (strictly optional) to add towards the end of cooking, to taste.

Mix all in the crockpot (except not the cayenne just yet), cook on low 4 to 6 hours or until liquid is absorbed - OR on High for 2 1/2 hrs (I did).
Serve with vegetables and salad - and garnish with more parsley and a slice of lemon.



Excellent - and good the next day too. I always freeze some of the rest.

This is said to serve six. We find it is goood for eight, but we are light eaters.

We had it with a tossed green salad and roasted sweet potato slices.

Enjoy!