Make Ahead Meals- Crockpot Dal

Without making meals ahead of time (or at least making the major components of meals), we'd either order pizza or eat what the kids have started calling "leftovers thrown together in a pan" on Monday and Tuesday nights. I'm trying to get better at really planning meals for these 2 nights. I was doing really good for a while and then fell off the meal-planning wagon.

Here's what we ate tonight:

Basmati rice with crockpot dal and raita

(My spell-check only recognizes the words "rice", "with" and "and" in that meal)

Here's how I put together the dal...approximately! It was super flavorful and packed with veggies.

The night before, combine the following in your crockpot:

2 cups of split peas

6 or so cups of water

Let soak, with the crockpot off, until the next morning. Then, before work, add:

1 bunch lacinato kale, chopped

4 small tomatoes, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 cup chopped carrots

Then in a small cast iron skillet, heat 4 Tbsp. (1/4 cup) of canola oil (you could do less, but this is for a LOT of dal!). Add:

1 Tbsp. cumin seeds

2 tsp. mustard seeds

1 Tbsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. turmeric

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. salt

When seeds start to pop and garlic is fragrant (not burned!), pour the oil into the crockpot with other ingredients. Cook on high for about 8 hours.

Then, all you have to do when you get home from work is cook some basmati rice (super quick) and stir together chopped cucumber, minced cilantro, plain yogurt, lime juice and salt. It makes a really tasty raita to serve on top.

Look for another make-ahead dinner tomorrow!

Beanie Weanies

I don't know about everyone else, but I seriously loved Beanie Weanies when I was growing up.  And it's been way too long since I've eaten any.

This version is ever-so-slightly more grown up, but still pleased my favorite 8 year olds tonight.  At first they said, "Oh no. [insert sad face] Are those carrots?"  Then a quick, "No!  Those are hotdogs!  Yes!"  

I cooked the navy beans in the crock pot overnight with ketchup, molasses, maple syrup, mustard, a chopped onion, salt, and (my secret ingredient) sun-dried tomatoes.  The sun-dried tomatoes make a good rich and salty substitute for the bacon usually found in this dish.  I started off my day with these beans over toast with tons of Earth Balance.  

Then at dinner time I fried up some tofu pups (wheat free!) and added them to the reheated beans.  On the side we had some gluten free biscuits that I had stashed in the freezer and some quickly roasted onions, carrots, and green beans.  And the glowing beam of light on the plate is an heirloom tomato from the garden drizzled with garlic vinaigrette.

Beans for Breakfast

Here's one of my "beans for breakfast" crockpot recipes:

2 cups dry cannellini beans, soaked 8 hours and drained

6-8 cups water or broth

2 bouillon cubes (omit if using broth)

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, thickly sliced

3 celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh oregano, minced

Black pepper to taste

salt to taste 

6 large sage leaves, minced

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

I used 1 regular Rapunzel herb bouillon cube and one "no salt added" cube and enough water to cover the soaked beans by about an inch.  I just put everything except the salt, sage, and balsamic vinegar into the crockpot and cooked on high for 10 hours.   Then, after making sure the beans were plenty tender, I added the minced sage and balsamic vinegar.  Then I added salt to suit my tastes.  It ended up being about a teaspoon. 

The beans can be served as a soup or just as beans with a bit of amazing broth, depending on how much water/broth you added.  I like it as a soup for breakfast, sopped up with some homemade bread!

Overnight

My newest love is to use my crockpot/slow cooker to cook soup or beans overnight.  Some folks like waking up to oatmeal cooking in the slow cooker, but I prefer spicy black beans.  Seriously, when I know there are hot beans and toasted homemade bread slathered with Earth Balance in my immediate future, I get out of bed with a pep in my step.

Sadly, I don't have any pictures or recipes for you because I've just been throwing some soaked beans, cumin, tomatoes, onion, greens, etc. into the pot and then going to bed.  Plus, beans on toast isn't that pretty to look at so you might not want pictures.

But really, you should try this.  It's the most satisfying and hearty breakfast ever.