The slow cooker, next to my wok, it is one of the most used items in the kitchen. Soups, stews and stir fries are the back bone of my cooking; simple and easy and perhaps what I enjoy best is the prep work can be done ahead of time and just tossed on when the time comes to cook.

What makes the slow cooker so appealing is that I can cut up the ingredients the night before, a simply toss them into the cooker in the morning and then go about my business until it is ready to serve.

The stew that I am making as I type these words requires just a little bit more work. It is a vegetable stew and all the ingredients could either be grown in my own garden or come from a local supplier, well not the garlic; unfortunately the only garlic that was available traveled a very long way, from China, to get to my table, but this meal does need garlic so, in it goes.

However, this is not a plain vegetable stew, oh no, not that there is anything wrong with simply vegetable but this one has red beans, the same beans that I use when I make red beans and rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup red beans, dried, washed and soaked over night.

1 medium onion sliced.

1 medium turnip diced

10 mini carrots

2 gloves of garlic, chopped

1 medium cabbage, chopped fine

Sea salt and celery seed to taste.

1½ cups water.

2 tbsp tomato sauce.

1 tsp butter

Preparation:

1- turn slow cooker on high

2- add butter, garlic and onions

3- let onions brown

4- add celery seed and sea salt

5- add water

6- add bean

7- cook 60 minutes

8- test to see if beans are soft

9- if not cook another 15 minutes

10- if they are ready add turnip, carrots

11- cook 15 minutes, add cabbage

12- cook another 15 minutes, add tomato sauce

13- cook 10 minutes

Ready to serve. You can add black pepper and hot sauce if desired. This meal goes well with a French loaf that is thickly sliced.

The beans need to be sorted through and any that are unsuitable removed, plus because they are dried beans, they need to soak for at least 12 hours before using. If you decide to use canned beans, be sure to rinse them thoroughly first.

One advantage to making this stew with canned beans is that you can add all the ingredients into the slow cooker at the same time and leave on the lowest setting while you go about whatever else you need to do.

That is what I do when I need to leave the house for some time but still want to make this particular stew.

Whichever method you choose the end result is a hardy meal that will sustain you, tastes delicious and does not cost very much to use. If you make extra it makes a great lunch the next day or can be frozen so that you have a quick dish on hand when you do not have the time to cook a meal from scratch.