Slow Cooker Vegan Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

I love using my slow cooker. I can prep the ingredients the night before, set the bowl it in the fridge, and put it on the slow cooker base in the morning. When I get home, the house smells delicious, and the only cleanup is the big bowl! I also like this crock pot curry recipe because it's easy and is chock-full of vegetables. It does utilize some canned goods, which I don't like to use too often, but they're nice in a pinch. As always, make sure to buy organic ingredients, especially for produce with soft skin that you will eat. For my vegan followers, here's another recipe to add to your repertoire!

Vegetable and Chickpea Crockpot Curry
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 T olive oil (I used raw coconut oil)
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
1 cup (1/4 inch thick) carrot slices
1 T curry powder
1 tsp. brown sugar (I used a few dashes of stevia)
1 tsp. grated peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 serrano chile, seeded and minced
3 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1 1/2 cups cubed peeled baking potato (I used sweet potato)
1 cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup (1-inch) cut green beans
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper
1 (14.5 oz) canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (14 oz) can vegetable broth
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup light coconut milk
6 lemon wedges (I omitted these)

Instructions:

Assemble ingredients.


Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and carrot; cover and cook for 5 minutes until tender.






Add curry powder, sugar (stevia), ginger, garlic, and chile; cook one minute, stirring constantly.






Note: the hottest part of the pepper is the seeds. You can remove the seeds for less spice, or keep them in if you want it zesty!


Place onion mixture in 5-quart electric slow cooker. Stir in chickpeas and next 8 ingredients (through broth).









Cover and cook on high 6 hours or until vegetables are tender. Add spinach and coconut milk. Stir until spinach wilts. (Note: until I looked at this recipe again to put it on the blog, I completely forgot about the spinach. I bought it and had it ready, I just didn't add it. Whoops.)

Serve with lemon wedges. I'm not a big lemon-and-curry fan, so I just served it sprinkled with peanuts. Yum.



I had plenty leftover, which I froze and will add chicken to for a future dinner. This meal was incredibly flavorful, simple, and full of some really colorful, health-enhancing vegetables!

Enjoy!

*M*