By Christine Salins
I’ve always been a great fan of one-pot cooking. Anything that reduces the amount of cleaning up in the kitchen sounds good to me. It’s a great way of presenting food, with a single pot in the centre of the table so that everyone can dive in and help themselves.
It’s also perfect for entertaining, because you can pop the dish in the oven and let it cook while you’re greeting your guests and getting them settled.
Slow cookers are also ideal for cooking healthy meals because you start with predominantly fresh, whole foods and very few nutrients are lost in the cooking process. All the goodness is retained in the pot. Slow cookers work differently than boiling vegetables in a saucepan, for instance, because all of the vegetables’ natural juices are retained in the dish.
In Slow Cooker Vegetarian, published by Murdoch Books (rrp $29.99), Katy Holder gives slow-cooker recipes a modern makeover. “Quite often, people think of slow cookers as useful pieces of equipment for cooking tough cuts of meat,” she says.
“However, they are equally fantastic for vegetables, allowing you to cook them gently and slowly until they are wonderfully tender and juicy – or still firm, depending on the desired result.”
Her recipes include meat-free soups, pastas, salads, hearty comfort food and even desserts. Although all the recipes in the book are vegetarian, they don’t just use vegetables. Many provide a complete balanced meal with vegetables, beans and pulses, with no need for additional protein.
Slow cookers are also ideal for cooking rice and there are plenty of recipes in the book for rice dishes, such as paella and risotto, including the Butter Miso Mushroom Risotto recipe featured here.
Here’s a good opportunity to re-discover this wonderful set-and-forget device and create some healthy dishes in the process.
Butter Miso Mushroom Risotto
Serves 4
1 tablespoon sesame oil
300 g sushi rice, rinsed
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
2 spring onions, thinly sliced, white and green parts kept separate
4 tablespoons white miso paste
50 g butter
400 g mixed Asian mushrooms, such as shiitake (stems discarded and caps sliced), shimeji and enoki
50 g baby spinach leaves
toasted sesame seeds, to serve
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the rice, garlic and the white parts of the spring onions and stir for 1 minute until the rice grains are well coated. Transfer to the slow cooker.
Whisk the miso paste with 750 ml of boiling water until dissolved, then pour into the slow cooker. Cook on high for 1¼ hours, stirring halfway through.
Melt 20 g of the butter in the frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 minutes until slightly softened. Tip the mushrooms into the slow cooker, along with 185 ml of boiling water. Stir well, then cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in the remaining butter and the spinach leaves, plus another 185 ml of boiling water if needed, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the spinach wilts and the rice is al dente. Check the seasoning.
Scatter with the green parts of the spring onions and the toasted sesame seeds to serve.
Note: This versatile risotto can also be made with other vegetables, such as pumpkin and snow peas.
From: Slow Cooker Vegetarian, by Katy Holder. Published by Murdoch Books.
