GLAZED SWEET POTATOES FOR CROCKPOT

2 lb. sweet potatoes
2 Tblsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup orange juice
2 Tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Peel and slice potatoes into 1/2-inch slices. Place in slow cooker that has been sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray coating. Dissolve cornstarch in orange and lemon juices. Add remaining ingredients to cornstarch mixture. Pour over sweet potatoes. Cover and cook on low 7 to 9 hours. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

CAJUN CORN FOR CROCKPOT

2 packages frozen corn
1 onion, chopped
1 rib celery, sliced
1/2 c. chopped green pepper
1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1 can (14.5) stewed tomatoes
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1/2 Tblsp. Cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp. liquid hot pepper sauce

Place corn, onion, celery, green pepper, and red pepper in slow cooker. Combine remaining ingredients. Pour over vegetables in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 8 to 9 hours. Makes 10 servings.

LEIGH'S BAKED BEANS FOR CROCKPOT

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. bacon (diced)
1 medium sweet onion (diced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup barbeque sauce
1 tsp. each: salt, pepper, chili powder
1 Tblsp. mustard
1 can each: pork and beans, pinto beans, navy beans, and white butter beans.

Brown ground beef, bacon, onion, and pepper, drain. Put this in crockpot and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook all day on low heat.

Thanks, Pat - my son loves baked beans, my DH loves sweet potatoes, and the corn sounds good to me so I'm going to give them a whirl... anyone else?...

Although this uses cubed meat rather than ground, it is phenomenal!

Beef Daube Provenl

2 teaspoons olive oil
12 garlic cloves, crushed
1 (2-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 cup red wine
2 cups chopped carrot
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup less-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Dash of ground cloves
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 bay leaf
3 cups hot cooked medium egg noodles (about 4 cups uncooked noodles)
Chopped fresh thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 300°.

Heat olive oil in a small Dutch oven over low heat. Add garlic to pan; cook for 5 minutes or until garlic is fragrant, stirring occasionally. Remove garlic with a slotted spoon; set aside.

Increase heat to medium-high. Add beef to pan. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan. Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add garlic, beef, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, carrot, and next 8 ingredients (through bay leaf) to pan; bring to a boil.

Cover and bake at 300° for 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender. Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish with chopped fresh thyme, if desired.

Note: To make in a slow cooker, prepare through Step 2. Place beef mixture in an electric slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH for 5 hours.

Yield 6 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup stew and 1/2 cup noodles)

I made the recipe below in my crockpot. It was good, but I'm not sure how good, since I am gradually discovering that I am just not a curry fan.

Spicy Red Beans, Indian Style, from "How To Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman

1 lb. dried red beans, washed, picked over, and soaked if you like. (I used kidney beans)

1/2 tsp. cayenne or to taste (that's definately spicy!)
2 TBLSP neutral oil like grapeseed or corn (I used canola)
1 TBLSP peeled and minced fresh ginger
1 TBLPS minced garlic
1 tsp. fennel seeds. (I HATED this part, I hated the crunchy fennel seeds in the final product. If I make these again, I am using ground fennel)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
1 TBLSP gound cardamom (this was WAAAAY too much cardamom for my taste, in fact that is what I liked least about these beans, so if I did it again I would cut it to no more than 1 tsp. cardamom. Who knows, 1 TBLSP may even have been a typo.)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. ground tumeric
2 cups chopped tomato or one can diced tomato
Salt to taste AFTER beans are done
1 TBLSP garam masala or curry powder

Cook beans in water to cover with cayenne and bay leaf until they are just about tender. This will take 3-4 hours in the crockpot, depending on the freshness of the beans and if you soaked them.

When the beans are getting to the tender stage, put the oil in a skillet over med. heat. When hot, add the ginger, garlic, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and tumeric and cook, stirring for about a minute. Add to the tomato and cook, stirring occasionally, until it breaks up a bit.

Drain off excess liquid from the beans if they are too soupy for your taste, reserving a small amount of their cooking liquid. Add the tomato sauce along with a large pinch of salt. Continue to cook until the beans are very tender, adding more broth or cooking liquid if necessary. Will take another couple hours. When the beans are almost done, add the garam masala and adjust the seasonings to your taste.

This makes a ton, so you may want to freeze some.

In a pinch, you don't have to fry the spices, it just increases their flavor. You could just dump them into the crockpot with the tomatoes for the last couple hours of cooking.

Thanks Pink I think I'll try it -- I thought I wasn't a curry fan but am gradually realizing I AM :) -- not a big fan of fennel though, so I may omit it altogether. Thanks so much for taking the time to post this.

You can find lots of variations on this red kidney bean curry online at Indian cooking sites, etc. This is the only recipe I can vouch for. Mixing up just the right balance for a curry I'm finding is very difficult. Also, for some reason I am just much more in love with the flavors of the Mediterranean.

Here's another recipe I make in the crockpot. It is a soup, but pretty thick.

Black Bean Soup with Red Paprika Sauce

1 lb. dried black beans, soaked overnight and drained.
8 cups water or broth (I always use mild veggie broth)
2 chopped med. onions
2 ribs celery
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 TBLSP paprika
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup cilantro
1 cup corn

Simmer beans and veggies until beans are soft. Then add tomatoes and spices and cook a couple hours more. Add the red paprika "sofrito" after the soup is done, just before serving. Do not add peppers to the dish while it's slow cooking, because peppers get bitter made in a slow cooker. I basically throw in everything except the tomato into the crockpot, add the tomatoes towards the end, and then when it's finished I stir in the Red Paprika Sauce. Yummo! Part of the charm of this soup comes from having good paprika on hand. If you miss a smokey taste in your black bean soup you can throw in some chorizo or ham or something. Being vegetarian, I sometimes add a tiny dash of fake bacon bits. Or fake sausage. But this soup I like plain.

Red Paprika Sauce

2 TBLSP olive oil
1 large red pepper, diced
3 scallions, minced
2 tsp. paprika, or less, to taste
2 tsp. salt
2 TBLSP lime juice

Sautee the peppers and onions in the olive oil and add the paprika, salt and lime juice at the end. Stir into the black bean soup. That's what gives this soup its yumminess, the addition of this fresh herb sofrito at the end.

Here's another one that is easy and hearty, but I don't make it because it takes me so long to eat it up.

Bean Cornbread Crockpot Casserole
from vegetarian.about.com
Serves 6

1 med. onion, chopped
1 med. green pepper, chopped (add at the end to the crockpot)
2 cloves garlic or 1/4 tsp. minced garlic powder
1 16 oz. can of kidney beans
1 16 oz. can of pinto beans (I'm not a pinto bean fan so I probably would use black beans)
1 16 oz. can chopped tomatoes
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. prepared mustard
1/8 tsp. hot sauce or chopped jalepeno to taste

Cornbread topping to be added at the last 1.5 hours of cooking.

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 TBLSP sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs
3 TBLSP veg. oil
1 can cream style corn (8 oz. can)

Lightly grease crockpot. Add bean chili ingredients except peppers. Cook 8 hours on low. Add peppers and cornbread topping for the last 1.5 hours. Cook on high for the last 1.5 hours. (Directons sound kind of confusing but I think this is one of those "throw it in the crockpot and go to work and have dinner ready when you get home" recipes. So basically cook the bean chili all day on low in the crockpot, and when you get home make the cornbread topping and add the peppers. I'd sautee the peppers.) But I don't cook at all on the weekdays, so I made this on the weekend and adjusted the times accordingly. I cook the chili for 5-6 hours on low, then add the cornbread crust and the sauteed peppers, finish it off, and have it for Sunday dinner. And Monday, and Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, and Friday. Which is why I don't make this often!

Pink, do you think it would be ok to use canned black beans? Going through my pantry I just found 4 cans of black beans....

BlueI, I think you could. I have had that recipe for ages, got it out of an Herb magazine from an article on paprika. I know I made it long before I owned a crockpot. I must have made it with canned beans at some time. However, I must say that dried beans in the crockpot are so easy and so much better I might never go back. But you can't beat canned for convenience. Anyway, when I first started making the soup I used canned beans and made it in a stockpot. Obviously does not need to be cooked as long and you probably don't need to use as much broth. I'd start with five or six cups tops.