I love to cook but lately being very pregnant, I find that I'm trying to find quick solutions for dinner that's not the typical pasta or salad. Enter in the book, Art of the Slow Cooker: 80 Exciting New Recipes by Andrew Schloss (published by Chronicle Books). I tried my hand at two recipes, The Pork Sirlion Roast (pictured below) and the Beef Stew Provencal. Both took me less than 30 minutes to prep. Within 6 hours, dinner was ready without much effort on my part. During that time, the house was filled with the tantalizing aroma of food cooking. (Don't you just love that?) The recipes weren't just delicious, they were amazing! The pork roast and beef stew were not the usual fare -- they had a flavor like nothing else I had ever tasted thanks to Schloss' detailed recipes filled with fresh herbs, spices, and special ingredients. I also liked that my husband went back for seconds each time (a rarity in our house). With winter coming upon us soon, the recipes in this book will be perfect when you want to stay warm from the cold outside. It's also a great way to prepare a meal for lots of people without much effort. Again, can I mention there's really not much effort involved? Well worth it for the taste of such good food.
Oh and I had no idea you could also make dessert in a slow cooker. The book has numerous dessert recipes and the next one I will try has to be the Ricotta Vanilla Bread Pudding. Mmm.... Now go and get this book so your friends and family can be wowed by your amazing culinary skills!
There's a whole section in the book for veggie dishes like wild mushroom risotto, potato parmesan and more. It's not just veggie soups. Also I think for some of the stews you could just replace the meat with your favorite veggies instead. That's why this book is so different from the typical slow cooker books out there and why I love it so much. There really is a lot of variety.
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I tend to prefer meals that are either vegetarian or feature meat as more of a seasoning than the main attraction. Unfortunately, that means that all I make with my slow cooker is the occasional black bean soup.
Does this book have much in the way of vegetarian and meat-light recipes? Or is it more pot-roast-centric?
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Apron Thrift Girl,
You should definitely take a look at this book. Browse through it at the bookstore to see if you like it. The recipes are really healthy and use fresh ingredients. It's not the typical slow cooker cookbook I tell ya! That's why I love it so much.
cheers,
natalie
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I find a lot of the slow cooker recipes are full of processed foods. I'd love to find a slow cooker cookbook with more whole food choices. Which category would this book fall into?
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Thank you for mentioning this book - it looks fantastic! I've got 2 crock pot cookbooks already, but this one will truly complete the collection. :)
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