Vegetable Porridge -- Crockpot Adventures #1

That should read either 'Crackpot Adventures', or 'Crockpot Misadventures'.

The good news is that it tasted good, was good for you, and my almost-three-year-old son devoured it with great enjoyment. I devoured it with an addition of flax meal, and copious amounts of chipotle tabasco. I thought it was great, then again I love chipotle tabasco.

The good thing about this crockpot dish was that it was made in the crockpot which means easy, low energy consumption, and quick clean up. It was also full of healthy things like lentils, quinoa, and veggies.

The unfortunate thing about this dish is that either I cooked it too long or too hot in the crockpot, or I just chose an unfortunate combination of ingredients. The handful of split peas and the sweet potato both turned into 'porridge', and everything ended up sticking together, without enough distinct texture. Hence the title, Vegetable Porridge. I had intended, gentle reader, to make a vegetable stew.

Yes, this is a the very best a misadventure, and at the worst a failure. But we learn from our errors and we move on. Because the taste was good, I shall include the ingredients, in case you have children who adore porridge the way my son does. He is pretty crazy about it for breakfast, and often requests it for lunch and dinner. We make his breakfast concoction using spelt flakes, coconut oil, sea salt, cinnamon, almond butter, apple sauce, flax meal, chia seeds, and water. He really likes it.

If you choose to make this crockpot concoction, I would recommend cooking it either on a low heat, or for a short time. I did this on high for about 3 hours. And as it turned out, that was too long for lentils and quinoa with sweet potato and split pea.


ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery

1 cup diced sweet potato
1/2  broccoli stems, diced

3/4 cup dupuy lentils (French lentils)
1/2 cup quinoa
1/4 split peas (optional)
2 tbsp wild rice

3 cups water
1/2 tbsp marjoram
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp sunshine harvest bouillion powder
black pepper and sea salt to taste
2 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp cinamon
dash nutmeg

1/2 cup of frozen peas, defrosted

1/2 bunch of fresh spinach, chopped (about 100 g)

directions:

1. saute the garlic, onions, carrots, and celery in the coconut oil until the onion and garlic are well cooked
2. in the meanwhile, layer in the crockpot the dried lentils and grains, the sweet potato and broccoli, and finally the seasonings, and the water. You can add the sauteed veggies when they are ready.
3. cook on medium for up to 4 hours. Or on high for between 1 and 2 hours.
4. when done, turn off the heat, and stir in the peas and the spinach.