@starbreaker A good starting point for recipes with legumes in is https://cookingonabootstrap.com/ - Cooking on a Bootstrap by chef and anti-poverty activist Jack Monroe. These meals are mostly vegan and priced in detail, and they work. Don't think she's into crockpots, much, but their basic formula can be adapted.
As for spicy, that's almost always a matter of simply adding cuisine-appropriate capsicum while cooking and adjusting the oil content for a fast or slow burn. I always wing it.