Eating is a part of living, but do you live to eat, or eat to live? Much like an engine that gives its optimal performance when given the highest quality of fuel, our bodies and ultimate lifestyles are very intrinsically linked to the type of food we consume.

Today’s recipe is a guest post by the lovely Nichole Lucas, enthusiastic home chef, mother to a doting 7 year-old and editor of nomealnohealth.com

Nicole loves cooking, and strongly believes in feeding her family the most wholesome dishes she possibly can. Today, she talks about the importance of slow cooking, and shares a very delightful Gluten Free Vegan Crock Pot recipe with us. Do try it out for yourself!

Nicole Lucas: On Vegan Recipes & Slow Cooking

This roundup of healthy vegan recipes was long due. In fact, it has been on my to-do list for more than a month now. If you were wondering, what makes these type of recipes so special is the way you are advised to cook them – in a slow cooker.

It’s one of the best ways to preserve the nutrition, rich flavors, and aromas of the ingredients and also boost your health-o-meter by introducing a diet that’s low in both calories and carbs.

Not sure if you’d like to put this cooking technique to test in your own kitchen? Read on to understand how it can help you change your diet for good.

 

Why Does Slow Cooking Even Matter?

 

 

My mother used to suggest I switch back to her favorite traditional slow cooking techniques. Back then, it didn’t matter much to me whether or not the food was prepared in a slow cooker or over the regular stove.

But soon I realized that it does actually matter a lot in the long term. By adding a lot of grease, oil, spices, or heat, you are eventually just getting rid of the true essence of the ingredients and simply adding a bunch of unwanted stuff to your food. And this is not just my or someone’s opinion about cooking, but rather it’s the raw truth.

Sooner or later you have to become health conscious, and what better way to do it than switching your diet to some delicious low-carb crock pot recipes. Not just this, if you are one of those people who just hate standing in the kitchen for long durations or eyeing the stuff you are cooking, this is the best you can do to give yourself some rest and free up your time.

 

Black Bean, Chipotle and Quinoa Stew Recipe

 

 

If there was a list of vegan crock pot recipes that taste amazing too, this one would be amongst the top. What’s worth mentioning about this recipe is that it’s totally gluten-free, so anyone who’s allergic to gluten or wheat will enjoy this dish even more.

 

Ingredients (Serves 6 to 8):

• 1lb dried black beans, rinsed, picked over and soaked overnight
• 1-2 chipotle peppers, dried
• 1 cup uncooked quinoa
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 red onion, diced
• 1 28-ounce can of organic diced tomatoes
• 1 red and 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup od fresh cilantro
• 1 stick of dried cinnamon
• 1 tsp of coriander powder
• 2 tsp chilly powder
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 2 limes, wedged
• 1 avocado, diced
• 7 cups of water or vegetable broth
• Salt and pepper, to taste

 

Method:

Put all of the ingredients mentioned in the recipe, except the salt, in the crock pot, and stir to mix them well. It’s alright if you would like to saute garlic, onion, and bell pepper before this, but if you enjoy keeping it as simple as possible, your best bet is to let them all cook together in the slow cooker

Cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for about 4 to 6 hours, until you find the black beans have become soft and tender. Having said this, the time to cook black beans can vary a lot based on the strength and capacity of your slow cooker and even on how fresh those beans are. Now, it’s the right time to add some salt to taste, which we chose to put in at the very end of the recipe, to allow it to cook well.

You may remove the cinnamon stick and chipotles now if you are not interested in enjoying a super spicy meal. Serve into bowls and top with green onions, avocado, fresh cilantro, hot sauce, and some fresh lime juice.

 

All images used in this post have been supplied by Nicole Lucas.