Slow cooking in a fast world recipes

Tasty Slow Cooked Sweet Potatoes and Heart Healthy Lentil Soup will make you feel good inside

Who has time to cook healthy these days? Slow cooking expert JoAnn Rachor says that it’s easy to make good, healthy food quickly using slow cookers as long as you learn a few simple tricks.

JoAnn Rachor is an expert at slow cookers. She likely knows more about slow cookers than anyone you’ll ever meet. Happily, she shares her knowledge with the rest of us along with a host of the tricks of the trade she developed for her book Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year.

Here are her heart warming recipes for Maple Almond Sweet Potatoes and Lentil Vegetable Soup.

Maple Almond Sweet Potatoes

6 cups peeled, sweet potatoes or yams, cut into ½x1" pieces
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup crushed pineapple
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sliced, slivered, or chopped almonds
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

This recipe may be prepared in a slow cooker that is 2 1/2-7 quarts in size. Stir together all of the ingredients into the cooker except the almonds and vanilla. Cook until the potatoes are soft. Mash the potatoes and stir in the almonds and vanilla. This is delicious even if you do not have the almonds.

On low the recipe will take 3 3/4-5 hours to cook.
(An “average cooker” will take 4 1/2-5 hours; a “fast cooker” will take 4-4 1/2 hours; an “extra fast cooker” will take 3 3/4-4 1/4 hours.)

On high it will take 2-2 3/4 hours to cook.
(An “average cooker” will take 2 1/2-2 3/4 hours; a “fast cooker” will take 2 1/4-2 1/2 hours; an “extra fast cooker” will take 2-2 1/4 hours.)

Yield: 4 cups

Tips

-The cooker may be plugged into a lamp/appliance timer to begin cooking up to 6 hours later.
-The potatoes may be prepared ahead of time and refrigerated in a plastic bag until ready to cook.
-The recipe may be cut in half and prepared in cooker that is 2-4 quarts in size.


Lentil Vegetable Soup

2 1/2 cups water
1 cup chopped, shredded or sliced carrots
1 cup peeled potatoes, cut in small, bite size pieces
3/4 cup rinsed and drained lentils
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt
14.5 oz. can diced canned tomatoes
⅓ cup tomato paste
2 cloves minced garlic

This recipe may be prepared in a slow cooker that is between 2 1/2-4 1/2 quarts in size. Stir together all of the ingredients into the cooker except the tomatoes, tomato paste and garlic. Cook until the lentils are soft. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn off the cooker and let sit 5 minutes. Ready to serve. You may add a small amount of water if the soup is too thick

On low the recipe will take 4-8 hours to cook.
(An “average cooker” will take 7 1/2-8 hours; a “fast cooker” will take 5-5 1/2 hours; an “extra fast cooker” will take 4-4 1/2 hours.)

On high the recipe will take 2 1/2-4 hours to cook.
(An “average cooker” will take 3 1/2-4 hours; a “fast cooker” will take 3-3 1/2 hours; an “extra fast cooker” will take 2 1/2-3 hours.)

Yield: 6 1/2 cups

Tips

-The cooker may be plugged into a lamp/appliance timer to begin cooking up to 6 hours later.
-The recipe may be doubled and prepared in a cooker that is between 4 1/2-7 quarts in size.


About ‘Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker’ by JoAnn Rachor

A few years ago JoAnn Rachor decided to do research on slow cookers.

First she bought and tested 25 slow cookers. To determine how they really operated, she monitored how long they took to cook one pound of navy beans. Her research showed that even when cooking on low, all slow cookers don’t take the same length of time to cook. She divided them into three categories.

The “average” slow cookers took 9-9 1/2 hours and required 5 cups of water to cook a pound of navy beans. The “fast” slow cookers took 8-8 1/2 hours and needed 5 1/2 cups of water, and the “extra fast” slow cookers took 6 1/2-7 hours and needed 5 1/2 cups of water. This is the simple test she recommends others do with their slow cookers.

With this information the recipes in her book can be prepared with ease knowing how to make great meals that promise to be ready when you are!

And then, to really make sure your meal is perfectly done when you get home from work you may want to use a lamp appliance timer plugged into the cooker, so that the electricity goes on at just the right time during the day so that your meal is perfectly cooked when you get home from work and are ready to eat.

“Slow cookers can really help a busy family eat healthy, good tasting and wholesome food,” she says. It’s a great way to make sure you have a good meal waiting for you and the family when everyone gets home.

Her book contains a collection of recipes that are low in fat and cholesterol free.

Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year is a new type of cookbook. It has many recipes never before dreamed of doing in a slow cooker. It contains 300 completely tested low fat, cholesterol-free recipes and 40 full color photographs. The recipes have been designed to fit most any size cooker.

JoAnn Rachor is also author of Of These Ye May Freely Eat, which has sold over 150,000 copies. She is a contributing author of The Country Life Vegetarian Cookbook and her articles on cooking have been published in the Journal of Health and Healing. She has been teaching cooking classes for more than 30 years.

Fast Cooking in a Slow Cooker Every Day of the Year
By JoAnn Rachor

Tips for adapting favorite recipes. Time saving tips. Meat & dairy-free. Wide range of tips and techniques for successful results. Wire binding, 8½x11, 144 pages. ISBN 978-1-878726-26-1 $14.95