The endless dance between being a solo mama and the owner of an expanding entrepreneurial business here in Thailand is tough. Last week, Miss 16 asked if we could please try to eat earlier. Cos the 9pm plus meals were just too late and her study load as final exams approach leaves her needing to sleep earlier.
What that REALLY means is mama has to reconfigure the way she uses her time, and reassess what we cook and serve. And it has to be not only EASY, but low carb, vegan-ish and healthy.
Enter my Slow Cooker. Ta Da!!!
And enter the idea of throwing some old cooking habits out the window.
One of the easiest dishes I have created - and cook regularly - is an easy slow cooker black bean dish. Takes all of 20 mins to prepare, with NO pre-soaking or prep of the black beans in any way.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 cups dry, washed black beans
- Chopped tomatoes
- Sliced red capsicum
- Coarsely sliced red onion
- Garlic - coarsely chopped is good
- Broccoli stalks or chunks of Celery (or both)
Seasoning
- Flat leaf (vietnamese) coriander
- Chinese celery leaves
- Salt
- 2 TABLEspoons of magic Korean chili powder, called Gochugaru. Yes, you read correctly. 🤣 No, it is not very spicy at all.
Now don't OBSESS here. Vietnamese coriander looks like this and lends an awesome flavour to the black beans.
If you can't find it locally, use what you have. Dried oregano works. A few regular celery leaves if you don't have the yummier Chinese celery leaves to hand. Use good salt!
If you've never used Gochugaru (Korean Chili powder), this is WORTH investing in. Think of it as a slightly spicy paprika more than a chili. It's become my staple in the kitchen for all sorts of things, but probably most commonly used for making kimchi! Easy to find in good Asian supermarkets. In Asia? it's everywhere. 😆
Method.
Wash your beans and pick out any stones.
Chop everything up and spread it out on the cutting board.
Distribute your seasoning across the chopped goodies. And then sprinkle the washed beans over too.
Scoop up with a big spoon or your hands and dump into your slow cooker. Pour over about 3 cups water. Pop the lid on and set it on LOW for about 8 hours.
While it's cooking, get back to work!
Serving Suggestions.
I like it in a bowl with steamed pumpkin and the steamed broccoli florets.
Or serve it in a bowl with a salad on the side.
Feeling lazy and leaning more towards keto? Slice a ripe avocado over the top and you're done. Broccoli florets are a bonus.
Not too concerned about being very low carb? It's equally yummy with some mashed potato or rice.
It reheats brilliantly.
Extra Bonus? The oh-my-goodness-what-a-domestic-goddess-I-am feeling when you come home at 5pm, the house smells amazing and dinner is served by 6.30pm.
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