Slow cooker for a vegetarian who hates stew - worth it?

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I like the idea of a slow cooker. I feel it would enhance my life to be able to put ingredients in one in the morning then come home to a yummy meal after school run.

But.

We don't eat meat.

And I was raised on a diet of interminable organic veg box Hippy Slop. I now can't really bring myself to have soup or stew more than once a week. I like food with a shape and variation in texture.

So... is a slow cooker ever going to be my friend?

I can't see how, unless you like really mushy veg?

No.

I'm not a vegetarian and quite like stews and struggle to use mine for anything other than stock.

Everything tastes the same out of it.

Soup maybe? But why not just cook the soup - it doesn't take long in a pan on the hob.

Not sure what's left in terms of slow-cooked food if the soupy/stewy consistency isn't your thing.

What could you fancy cooked in it?

Well this is it. My friend keeps telling me how you can make lasagne. But... the time consuming off putting aspect of lasagne (for me) is the two sauces you have to make, and I'd still have to make them and assemble the bloody lasagne in the slow cooker....?

I dunno. I just feel like maybe I'm missing something with the the way everyone raves about them and I'm all meh.

Maybe what I need is a personal chef instead?

We had chickpeas with spinach from nigellas new book in ours at the weekend. They were utterly melt in the mouth delicious. Worth it for that!

I do bolognaise and chilli mostly. We eat meat, but I assume you could use quorn mince in the slow cooker. The flavours of the sauce develop nicely with the slow cooker. You could also make a tomato pasta sauce with passata, sofrito, herbs and garlic. That would be lovely slow cooked.

If you're on Facebook there's slow cooker groups and there's at least one vegetarian slow cooker group as I searched for a friend. You could always join to see what they're cooking. Or google slow cooker vegetarian recipes, it would give you an idea what others are doing.

Last lasagne I did I could only do the white sauce in the microwave beforehand as I have no kitchen. The rest of the stuff I just layered uncooked. It was utterly divine. No faff at all.
I also do a nice macaroni cheese in it.
Ratatouille in it is marvellous, drives you mad while its cooking though, smells fantastic!
You can do things like filled hasselback potatoes in it too.
I often do sweet and sour or similar Chinese in mine, that's not stew or soup.

Absolutely not worth it for a veggie who doesn't like stews! The whole point of a slow cooker is you can cook nice and slowly and therefore soften meat in a way you can't in 30 mins on the stove.

Hmmmm

I want to love this way of cooking. It would work so well for me to get up 10 mins earlier to do the prep and put it on before we go out for the day at 8.30. The time between getting in from school and eating is always a frigging nightmare with both kids wanting my attention at the same time and me frantically trying to get a meal on the table before the 5 yr old goes into meltdown at about 5.30...

Ooh I'm a veggie with a slow cooker! Never cook stew or soup in mine!
I mostly do things like spag bol and chilli with quorn mince.
Also do Quorn sausages with onions, cooked in veggie stock and then I chuck some gravy granules in right at the end to thicken it up.
Sometimes I do curry in it too.
Wouldn't be without mine!

We don't eat Quorn either! Well, very occasionally because it's blooming
tasty but I don't trust it so I can't bring myself to make it a staple. In fact we tend to avoid all meat substitutes.

I am not strictly veggie but hardly ever eat meat. I do like a veggie stew, like the spelt and puy lentil one I invented last week, but I think you might categorise it as veg box slop!

Other things I use it for...
Curries; butternut squash, bombay potatoes, saag aloo, channa massala, Dal
Overnight porridge
Chocolate pots (sc works as a bain Marie)
Spelt risotto (can't get rice to work, it goes soggy)
Soups- cook during the day then allow to cool a bit before whizzing with the stick blender (dc don't do bitty soup)
Stuffed aubergines

I've been meaning to try stuffed peppers too.

I think that's it, really. It's hard to find decent veggie recipes that it's actually worth using the sc for.

Oh yes, bean chilli! Fabulous.

No Jack that idea and buy a pressure cooker!

Tasty daal, chilli, mashed veg to go with nut roasts or steamed vegetables or tasty curries.

Way better than a slow cooker and quick so no extra cook time or waiting for food.

Should add I have a slow cooker, I was drawn in. It's rubbish nothing has flavour or everything tastes the same.

Hate my slow cooker, lays dormant in the cupboard.

Pressure cookers are the way to go!

I am the child of a pressure cooker fan. They are associated with pain and misery and ancient grains and pulse heavy sloppy meals in my mind

I honestly think a personal chef is the way I need to go

You need a pressure cooker! Glad to see others have beaten me to it. I also found pressure cookers make everything taste the same.

Pressure cookers are invaluable for pulses - you can make a batch and freeze them. Tomato sauces are amazing done in the PC as well. I much prefer being able to rustle something up in 20 mins in the evening, rather than have to fart about chopping stuff bleary eyed in the morning.

Some PC non stew links to whet your appetite....
Macaroni cheese:
dadcooksdinner.com/2013/04/pressure-cooker-macaroni-and-cheese.html/

dadcooksdinner.com/2012/02/pressure-cooker-pasta-and-bean-soup-pasta-e-fagioli-aka-pasta-fazool.html/

Okay the last one is kind of soupy....

You can do things like baked potatoes that take a long time in a conventional oven.

I also use mine for suet puddings - if you like jam roley poly or similar it is useful. Also good for keeping things warm.

Maybe make a list of things you could do in a sc, then cross out the ones that are easier to do without, or are quick to do without and see how many things are left.

Then is it worth £10? If you do baked potatoes once a week you may well save £10 in gas/electric over a year.

Ooh yes, stuffed peppers are amazing in slow cooker! As are stuffed cabbage leaves.
And curries of almost any kind.
Agree though that rice doesn't work. Spelt risotto is a great idea, I'm going to try that!

ive only just started using mine for cakes. Did a wonderful pumpkin and chocolate bread/cake in it last week that was better than the oven version.

Stuffed vine leaves could also work. They need long simmering on the hob usually. That's going to be my next sc experiment!

I do Malaysian style curries, lentil Bolognese, spicy bean stew, soups etc, you can do a lot really

Please tell me more about stuffed peppers!

I only use mine for Shepherds pie filling (with Quorn) and chilli (with Quorn or lentils), plus rice pudding.