how rice ate chicago- lazy lentil risotto

This month this been insane. As a result not only have my posts been more sporadic at best. The status of my frequency in the kitchen is not much better. But we still have to eat and hopefully it'll be quick and not too intense or frequent and it should be hearty and contain nutrients...which brings us to my rice cooker. Several years back, in the throes of a bad fever I purchased a rice cooker online. One of those non stick vacuum sealed bucket kinds. It was a very good deal. No, seriously. Despite it's fever related origins this device is used almost as much as my cast iron, my cutting boards and my knives. Better yet it can keep food warm for a day so I make one big batch of something and it's good for 24 hours without changing serving devices. Please keep in mind the method I am suggesting is not recommended by manufacturers , may cause fires and is done entirely at your own risk. I have successfully been doing this and crazy stuff like it with my rice cooker for 7 years. It's not supposed to do sushi rice or brown rice either but it has been doing that for years too. It's still working. I do have to clean the vents more often. We make pilaf,  rice and beans, sushi rice for handrolls etc in it. We use it an average of 4 days a week. Rice cookers save my sanity, such as it is. This is the best thing I can make in it besides plain  rice. That being said I have seen enough recipes calling for similar that I would assume you can throw these ingredients in a crockpot on low for 8 hours and get similar results. I haven't tried it yet, so I don't know but it might work.


In your rice cooker put:
1 cup lentils

1 1/2 cup rice
3-4 cup water or broth
1 cup red or white wine or hard cider ( my favorite)
1 half head of garlic and 1 sauteed onion or 2 cleaned and sauteed leeks and 2 tb butter/ olive oil/ mixture to sautee them in.
1 lb chopped veg of choice (lately peppers from the freezer or chunks of squash form previous cooking)
1 handful frozen peas
1tb grated nutmeg
chives or scapes when available
1 tsp salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1/2 lb to 1 lb small cooking greens (little kale, dandelion,baby mustard, mizuna, cress,spinach, chard, caulifower leaves,whatever is popping up) washed
1/2 lb grated cheese (swiss, gouda, cheddar, parmesan...whatever)
4 oz sliced mushrooms or 5 dried shitake broken up into the rice cooker pot.

Throw everything but the cheese in. Stir. Put on a full cook cycle. adjust flavours to preference. Stir in cheese. wait 15 minutes, stir again....serve.

Slow cooker cheesy Grits

This recipe was altered from the gourmet vegetarian slow cooker by Lynn Alley
Please use yellow cornmeal rather than the kind bleached with cleaning solvents, kay?

 In a little crockpot

Take
1 cup coarse cornmeal (often marketed as polenta or grits)
4 cups water
(optional 1-2 cups thinly sliced greens like mustard, collard or kale)
1 poblano chile diced (I get them when they go on sale, wash them and leave them in the freezer until I feel like using them)
Plug in, put the lid on and leave alone for 8 hours. 
Before serving stir in 3/4 cup cheese (strong flavours work best here so cheddar, gouda, smoked provolone) and recover for about 15 minutes so it can melt. Stir again. Divide 1/4 cup of cheese between your 2-4 servings so it can be pretty. Sprinkle a touch of paprika on top. Eat.

soy free wheat free meat free cheapo holy grail sausage...and it tastes good with gf ingredients

soy free wheat free meat free cheapo holy grail sausage...and it tastes good with gf ingredients

I was lazy and used a food processor to mince:
1/3 well washed medium sized  leek including greens (you could use 1/2 an onion but we were out)
with 1 tb sage
1/4 tsp fresh pepper
6 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
salt (if desired)
1 tsp sri racha
1/4 tb allspice
handful parsley
a few leaves of basil (because we had gone to the garden earlier)
after this resembled a leaf puree I add
2-3  tb soysauce
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 egg or egg replacer equivalent (flax goo works here)
1/4-1/2 cup potato starch
1 12 oz can well drained black eyes or equivalent of well cooked black eyed peas
(optional) 1 tb fennel, more basil, red pepper flakes, cayenne, 1 tb maple syrup or replace 1/4 cup thick applesauce for egg depending on flavour you are going for
and blend until resembles pinky brown uncooked sausage and beans are fully amalgamated into this with no big pieces.
2 oz walnuts chopped or hand squished to bitty pieces add necessary texture. note that it does not taste like meat but does taste like decent veg sausage.

Fry in scant oil medium high (1tsp or so for each 1/4 lb)browning all sides or make into patties and or meatballs, spray with oil and pile onto parchment lined cookie sheet for 10-20 minutes at 425 degrees. Freezes very well after cooking or as loose sausagey stuff up to 1 week in fridge. Keep separate from soggy/ damp items like sauce or steamed veg until immediately before serving as it ruins the texture.

Spicy hummus

 Recipe easily doubles and will freeze (put it back in the food processor to re mix after thawing) and is cheap
2-3 Tb smooth sri racha (that garlic, pepper, vinegar stuff with the rooster on the bottle)
1/2 tb ground cumin
1/4 c olive oil (because that's what makes it super creamy like store bought stuff)
1 tb paprika (mild or medium)
salt to taste
4 cloves garlic
1-2 lemons of juice or about 3 oz of the bottled stuff
2 generous tb of  tahini
and 1 lb cooked chickpeas:
stovetop: 1/2 lb  dry chickpeas soaked overnight or boiled in double their volume of water and allowed to rest 20 minutes
then boil up to  1 hour until tender or pressure cooker 15-20 minutes

Crockpot: add 5 cups water to each 8 oz of beans... leave on low overnight or while at work

Canned: open a 20 oz can of chickpeas ...spend 2x as much for convenience

Add ingredients to food processor. pulse until you reach desired consistency.if you don't have one  use a potato masher and expect less creamy results. Eat on everything (except peaches)

For non spicy leave out the sri racha and halve the paprika

basic black bean soup-if you need to eat for a week on 5$ this is the right recipe

1 16 oz bag dry blackbeans soaked overnight (8 hours) in water about double their volume. (you can do this in the crock pot just rinse after draining) drain and cover in 2 qts water in the crock pot.
meanwhile:
saute this in 2 tb olive oil
1 enormous or 2 medium chopped onions
4 stalks celery
2 chopped carrots
5 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 tb black pepper
salt to taste


pour veg into pot with 3 tb tomato paste,1 tb paprika(optional) 2 chicken flavor boullion cubes 2 tb worchestershire if available and 2 tb sherry, mirin or xiaoshing wine, 1 tb sri racha if available.



for a crockpot medium heat 6-8 hours...then mash or blend for smoother texture
for a dutch oven bring to a boil then reduce to simmer stirring frequently 2-3 hours ...then mash or blend for smoother texture if desired



optional add ins during cooking:
rice,2 handfuls of currants and a lemon peel with the rice (then also add cinnamon), barley, a green pepper, dried tomatoes, dandelion greens, fresh/canned tomato quarters, 1 handful dried chickpeas, a handful of parsley, cumin, a diced beet for added sweetness (it sounds weird but it works).

Sorghum quick bread and pancake/biscuit mix (vegan/ gf options)

Barley is NOT GF if you are celiac or gluten intolerant use the Sorghum...please

Barley and Sorghum are whole grains that plays well with other flavors and have a moist crumbly texture. As a whole grain you should either use the flour relatively quickly or leave it in your freezer to prevent spoilage.  Recipes doubles lovely. Don't freeze this unless you WANT bread crumbs as that's what freezing this does. You can mix the wet and dry willy nilly or if you want packets of quick bread mix for busy evenings you can mix the dry ingredients to store in a jar or tin and add the wet when you want to make it up. This will be ready in less than an hour start to finish with about 45 minutes of downtime.
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Dry mix
3 cups sorghum or barley flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tb baking powder
3 tb olive oil or your preferred oil (yes this goes in the dry mix)
Mix until resembles sandy stuff and store in air tight container
If using this as pancake mix add 1 egg and 1 cup milk per cup of mix. If using as biscuit mix just add the 1 cup milk, buttermilk or milk analogue. They will be crumblier than wheat flour biscuits and pancakes but also more tender.

wet stuff
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oil to oil your pan
2 eggs or 2 tb ground flax in one oz boiling water allowed to soak until gelatinized
1 cup milk, buttermilk or milk analogue (almond worked well)
1 tb lemon juice or cider vinegar(optional-do not use with buttermilk)
heat oven to 350F
oil your pan -a dutch oven (leave the lid off), loaf pan, muffin,or bundt pan works
Whisk wet into dry and pour into pan (take care to fill it nor more than 2/3 full as this stuff rises
and allow to bake 25-30 minutes