Slow Cookers Perfect for Vegetarians

If you have a vegetarian in the family or are thinking about becoming one yourself, slow cookers offer a forgiving way to begin the art of vegetarian cooking. Vegan cooking relies heavily on grains and beans, ingredients the earliest slow cookers were designed for. Rival developed its first slow cooker design from an electric cooker called “The Beanery.” Vegetarianism has been popular for several decades, so scientists have had time to study dietary needs, so those new to the lifestyle can avoid becoming deficient in certain vitamins and minerals. Knowledgeable cooks share a wealth of nutritional and cooking expertise in many well-written books. Cookbook writers JoAnn Rachor and Robin Robertson have published two great guides to help you through the steps of vegetarian eating.

Rachor, author of Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year, owns more than twenty five slow cookers herself, she writes. Her book gives readers a thorough introduction to the many manufacturers of crockery cookers and how to make the best use of idiosyncrasies specific to certain brands. She categorizes cookers into “average,” “ fast,” and “extra-fast” speeds and teaches you to adjust your recipe for the speed of the slow cooker you own. You can read her four-page list of tips for using the slow cooker by using the “search inside this book” link at Amazon.com. Click “excerpt” and introduce yourself to tips for slow-cooking on everything from food handling safety, to choosing the best vegetables and pasta for your cooker, and thickening sauces. Her recipes include “Incredibly Delicious Bean Cuisine,” “Soups, Gravies and Sauces,” and even desserts and breads.

Rachor has been leading seminars for cooks for more than thirty years. She has a degree in Economics from Central Michigam University where she developed an early interest in vegetarianism.

Cookbook writer Robin Robertson was a professional chef in Pennsylvania until the late eighties when she started teaching cooking classes and writing magazine articles. She slowly decided to take the leap into veganism. Robertson loves the feeling she gets from using a slow cooker. “From the first pot of soup I made in the new cooker, I was hooked “ Robertson writes in her book Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker: 200 Recipes for Healthy and Hearty One-Pot Meals That Are Ready When You Are. “I was compelled by something more basic and primal—it hearkened back to the old iron pot on the hearth of our ancestors. Without fail, whenever I start a slow-cooked meal, a warm “back to my roots” feeling comes over me.” Her cookbook includes tantalizing recipes for appetizers and snacks, soups and chowders, potpies, pastas and other main dishes, breakfast and bread. Besides having authored more than a dozen cook books, she also writes “The Global Vegan” for VegNews Magazine. She lives in Virginia with her two wonderful cats and keeps up her blog: http://veganplanet.blogspot.com.