Making dinner healthier, one slow cooker at a time.
While some people avoid the “perfumy” flavors of rosewater, orange blossom water and lavender I just love them. In fact, I use them as much as I can.
At one of my favorite restaurants, La Shish in Cary, I get this amazing drink called Lebanese ice tea. It’s a mix of lemon juice, sugar, and black tea with a little something special. It can turn a bad day good with just a few sips. to recipe →
I love orange flower water and once I got my hands on a bottle I was hooked. It has a very delicate, sweet, floral fragrance and a delicious taste when used sparingly. If you use too much you’ll feel like you’re eating perfume.
If you can get to a Middle Eastern Store it’s surprisingly cheap, so get yours there if you can. You can always order it online if you don’t live in the city. You can make your own if you have orange trees that aren’t sprayed. I live in North Carolina, so no orange trees for me.
** Make sure to check out my other oatmeal recipes. I have over 50 different flavors!
Slow Cooker Orange Fig Pecan Oatmeal
soy-free and gluten-free
2 to 3 servings
**This recipe uses a smaller slow cooker 1 1/2 to 2 quarts
The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add the oats, milk, figs, and orange extract. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours).
In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well and add orange flower water and sweetener. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should be a more uniform consistency. Top with the chopped pecans.
Cooking in the slow cooker is the perfect choice on these hot, sweaty, summer days because it doesn’t heat up your house like the stove top does. I love how inexpensive this recipe is compared to just one glass of tea at a Thai restaurant and this one is vegan, of course!
This is my second try at this recipe. I didn’t like the first batch because the spices were too subtle and got lost in the non-dairy milk. The first time I also used a whole vanilla bean and all the flavor cooked out. But I really feel like I got it this time. I added a beet to get that reddish hue that you think of when someone mentions Thai tea. But don’t worry it doesn’t make the tea taste like beets.
I love the way it’s sticky-sweet almost like a popsicle and how the orange flower water adds a floral punch to the creamy non-dairy milk. I think I have a little crush on it and it’s going to be replacing my normal iced chai for a while.
Slow Cooker Iced Thai Tea Concentrate
This is much easier to clean up if you put the spices in a re-usable muslin tea bag. It takes more work to get all the cardamom seeds out without it. You can throw the whole bag into the slow cooker and it’s easy to take out. Then just rinse the tea bag out and let it dry before you put it away. It will be waiting for the next batch of tea concentrate you make.
Put water, beet and spices (or all of the spices in a spice bag) in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours.
Remove spice bag and beets. Add in tea bags to the slow cooker and turn to high. Let seep 5 to 10 minutes depending on how concentrated you want the flavor to be. Remove teabags and add vanilla, orange flower water, and sweetener.
(If you didn’t use a spice bag, before adding extracts and sweetener – pour into a pitcher while straining out the spices through a piece of cheesecloth places in a funnel to remove the rest of the whole spice.)
Store in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks. Use about 1/2 glass concentrate to 1/2 glass non-dairy milk. I like to use So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut milk which comes as no surprise, but unsweetened vanilla almond milk works well too. It’s also good with slow cooker evaporated coconut milk too.
Yields: About 6 cup (1500ml)
Total Prep Time: 5 minutes
Total Cooking Time: 4 hours
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You may be tired of hearing it – but I love spring! The flowers, picking greens and lettuce out of my tiny garden, even the fact that I enjoy being outside again are all great reasons. It’s also my birthday month, so I guess coming into the world with all these lovely smells didn’t hurt either. Anyhow – it’s getting me on an edible flower or flower flavor kick.
Feel free to leave out the orange flower water if you don’t like the flowery flavor or if you just can’t find it in your area. You can substitute rosewater, lavender, or even plain old vanilla if you want.
My giveaway is over but Gail over at Hungry Vegan is having another So Delicious giveaway. So make sure to go over to her site and enter! Free ice ‘cream’ made with coconut milk – it’s worth the effort!!
Slow Cooker Orange-Flower, Date and Spice Oatmeal
2 to 3 servings
**This recipe uses a smaller slow cooker that’s 1 1/2 to 2 quarts
The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add everything except almonds to the slow cooker. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours).
In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should become a more uniform consistency. Add sweetener to taste if needed – the dates might make it sweet enough. Top each serving with a few tablespoons of almonds and some orange zest if you feel like it.
It’s day 9 of love your oatmeal week, I’m renaming it Love Your Oatmeal Celebration so I sound a little less crazy! I am however a little obsessed with oatmeal and i think it’s the continued success of all my crazy flavor ideas that’s keeping me motivated. I was actually excited for the morning to come when I went to bed last night. Not an easy feat on a work night.
If you don’t have orange flower water it’s fine to leave it out. It adds a very subtle sweet flavor and aroma. Before buying any make sure it’s food grade, which most Middle Eastern stores carry. I was unable to find food grade at my local Whole Foods.
You can leave off the topping altogether or just use a teaspoon or two of your favorite nut. Depending on how sweet your figs are you may need to add a little sweetener if you make it that way.
As seen on The Nourishing Gourmet’s Pennywise Platter
Slow Cooker Vanilla Fig Oatmeal
2 to 3 servings
**This recipe uses a smaller slow cooker that’s 1 1/2 to 2 quarts
‘baklava filling’ topping
The night before: Spray your crock with some oil to help with clean up later. Add everything except baklava filling topping ingredients to the slow cooker. Now mix together the ‘baklava filling’ in a small bowl and store in the fridge until the morning. Cook on low over night (7 to 9 hours).
In the morning: Stir your oatmeal well. It may seem watery at the top but if stirred it should become a more uniform consistency. Top each serving with a few tablespoons of the baklava filling, making it as sweet as you like it.
