Crockpot Sweet Potato Chicken Curry

This is a super easy weekday meal.  Yum!

Nouns-
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup dry chickpeas
1/2 cup raisins
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into half-inch chunks
1/2 onion, sliced
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
3 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup slivered almonds
1 cup peas
rice or couscous or quinoa for serving

Verbs-
Put all the first group of ingredients in the crock and cook on high 4 hours, or on low 8 hours.  Stir in the almonds and peas and cook another half hour.  Serve over rice or cous cous or quinoa.  Or, if you want, add more broth and eat as a stew.  Yummm!

BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes

I made this in the crock this week, and it was delicious and easy.   It would also be rather adaptable to variety of flavor combinations if you want to get creative!

Crockpot Shredded BBQ Chicken Baked Potatoes


Nouns-
2-3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 cups of BBQ sauce (I used a this one, which is AWESOME)
1/2 large onion, chopped
2-4 tbsp stock or water
tin foil
2-3 baker potatoes

Optional Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, chives, bacon bits, etc.

Verbs-
Fill the bottom of your crockpot with the chicken, sauce, onions and  liquid, flipping the chicken a few times to be sure it's all coated and submerged in the sauce.  Then, cover that mixture with a sheet of tinfoil and gently nestle your potatoes on top so that they are not touching the sauce.  You can wrap your potatoes in foil, too, if you like.  If you discover at the last minute, like I did, that you are out of foil, you can construct potato stilts out of chopsticks to prop your potatoes out of the sauce, and your husband will think you are crazy or a genius depending on your husband.  Cook this on low for 6-8 hours.  I cooked mine longer because of my commute, and it was just fine, though the sauce got a little more browned than it needed to.  Remove the potatoes and foil from the crock and shred the chicken with two forks, until you have a saucy, delicious shredded BBQ chicken mixture.  Serve each potato split open with a generous scoop of BBQ chicken on it, and other toppings as desired.  Quick, easy, delicious.

Turkey Ragu with Pappardelle

The other day when I was reading Macheesmo, I came across this recipe for Shirt Rib Ragu, which made me sad because I don't eat mammals and it looks soooooo good.  Then, I was reminded of a fantastic trip I took to Chicago a few years ago with my friend Angie where we went out for fancy food and ate an amazing duck ragu. And I wondered whether I could come up with something equally fancy and delicious from my supermarket ingredients.  What I came up with is pretty darn yummy if I do say so myself, though it would surely be better with duck.  The main ingredient in this dish is actually time, so this is a weekend endeavor, not a quick weeknight meal.

Turkey Thigh Ragu with Pappardelle


Nouns-
Two turkey thighs, bone in and skin on
1 can high-quality plum tomatoes
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 half bottle red wine
2 oz dried porcini muchrooms, soaked for two hours in water (save the liquid!)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp oregano
1 cup chicken or mushroom stock

1 package pappardelle or other egg noodle

Verbs-
Brown the turkey thighs in a pan for several minutes, until crispy on the outside.  Remove the turkey to a crockpot or dutch oven.  Deglaze the pan with the wine, then add the wine to the turkey thighs.  Add in the other ingredients except the noodles and stock.  In a crockpot, cook on high for 8 hours.  If using a dutch oven, bring to a simmer on the stove top, then remove to a 350 degree oven for three hours. If at any point the mixture becomes too dry; add stock.  After the cooking time, carefully remove the turkey thighs and let them cool for about 20 minutes.  In the meantime, bring the remaining mixture to a simmer to reduce if still liquidy, and start a big pot of water boiling for the pasta.  Remove the skin and bones from the turkey and shred the meat.  Then, using an immersion blender, puree the tomato mixture for a minute or two.  Some chunks are okay, it doesn't have to be perfectly smooth.  Add the shredded turkey back to the sauce and reduce the heat to low.  Cook the pasta according to package directions and drain.  Serve the turkey and sauce over the pasta with some fresh basil or shredded parm.  Yummmmm.

Meal Plan and Vegetable Curry Recipe

This week, we are having--

Vegetable Chickpea Crockpot Curry
Tilapia
Chicken Parmesan
Cauliflower Soup
Spinach Salad with Chickpeas, feta and oranges


Many things are leftover from last week's plan, because we ended up eating the bean and corn soup for a couple of days.  It were yummy.

The curry recipe turned out delicious, and is my new favorite cold-weather comfort dish.  Here it is:



Vegetable Chickpea Crockpot Curry
Nouns:
2-3 cups cooked chickpeas (I cook mine in the crockpot from dry, you can use canned if you want)
1 large onion, diced
1 1/2 green peppers, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1/2 potato, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 cup green beans, trimmed and cut into one-inch lengths
1 tsp chili garlic sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 red chili pepper, minced
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
2 cups vegetable stock
1 can lite coconut milk
1 cup fresh spinach

Verbs-
Put everything in the crockpot except the coconut milk and spinach.  Cook on low for 6 hours, until veggies are tender.  Turn to high and add coconut milk. Stir to combine and simmer 20 minutes.  Add spinach and stir until spinach is wilted.  Serve over rice or quinoa.  Yumm!

Chana Masala in the Crockpot

Chickpea Masala

This is easy, lowfat, vegetarian and delicious.  I was worried that the chickpeas would be mushy, but they came out tender and firm.  So good!

Nouns:

3 cups dried chickpeas, picked over

1 can crushed tomatoes

3 tbsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cardamom

1 tbsp curry powder

1-3 tsp chili garlic sauce

1 medium onion, diced

1 veggie boullion cube

1 tbsp honey

1 cup water

1 cup plain yogurt

2 cups rice, prepared

Verbs:

Soak the chickpeas overnight in in enough cold water to completely cover them.  Drain and add them to the crockpot.  Pour the tomatoes, spices, onion, water, honey, boullion and chili garlic sauce over them and stir to combine.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  Stir in the yogurt, if using. Serve over rice. 

Chicken Tajine in the Crockpot

I have made a "Moroccan" Chicken recipe in the crockpot for ages, but it's pretty hit and miss... sometimes awesome, sometimes less so, and too finicky in terms of timing.  So, I tried a different recipe today, but since it's a weekend day and I'm home, I did a quick version of it taking only four hours, so I don't know how it would hold up all day.  But, it's delicious!  SO GOOD.

Crockpot Chicken Tajine

Nouns:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
1.5-2 onions, thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 cups couscous, prepared
1/4 cup slivered almonds, for garnish
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper

Verbs-
If you have the time, brown the chicken thighs in a pan.  But if not, don't worry.  Throw the thighs, onions, apricots, cranberries and carrots in the crock.  Mix all the remaining ingredients except the couscous and almonds together in a bowl.  Pour over the ingredients in the crock.  Cook on high 4 hours.  Serve over the couscous garnished with almonds. YUM.

Crockpot Recipes, hit and miss

First, the HIT!
Easy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings


Nouns:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 medium onion
3-4 ribs celery, chunked
3-4 carrots, chunked
1.5 cups chicken broth
1 can cream of celery condensed soup
2 bay leaves
sprinkle of basil
sprinkle of oregano
sprinkle of thyme

2 cups dry biscuit mix... I like buttermilk mix for this.

Verbs
Put all but the last ingredient into the crockpot and cook on low 6-8 hours.  (I actually cooked mine for over twelve hours because I forgot my keys and couldn't get into my house and my husband had to come rescue me and blah blah blah, I didn't get home until 8:30 or so, and it still turned out yummy.)  Then, turn the crock to high and mix the biscuit mix with as much water as the directions call for.  Mix into biscuit dough.  Pinch off small pieces of dough, say gumball sized, and drop them into the crock.  Cover the crock and simmer on high for about 30 minutes.  If you are impatient, you can parbake the dumplings first in a toaster oven, like I did.  Once the biscuits are done through, ladle up a big bowl full and eat.  Delicious!

The husband raved about how much he liked it.  Actually, he grunted like a happy puppy with his mouth full and mimed putting more in his bowl.  Which I interpret as a compliment.


And now, the Miss...

Crockpot Chicken Paprikash
I put this together from a variety of different recipes, and it's not great.

Nouns:
4 portions of chicken bones and skin removed... I used four thighs and a breast, but you could do all breast, or a whole cut up chicken, or whatever
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons paprika
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper

1 cup sour cream
Egg noodles or Spatzle

Put the first set of ingredients in the crockpot and cook on high 4 hours.  I cooked mine on low for 8, and it was too long; things got a bit too browned and sad.  Remove the paprikash from the crock and stir in the sour cream right before serving over the noodles or spatzle.

This is not great.  It's overdone and so all fell apart.  It looks like barbecue pulled chicken, but tastes like nothing much, really.  I think it would be MUCH better with a shorter cooking time and better quality paprika (ours is from the bulk spice bin at our discount grocery, and it's only so-so) but it's just not really worth tinkering with to try to get perfect.  Paprikash is not for the crockpot, as it turns out.

Zesty Veggie and Barley Soup... in the crockpot!

I love my crockpot.  I commute pretty far to work, so I leave the house before 7am, and generally get home again just before 7pm.  It's a long day, and usually by the time I get home, I am starving and don't want to spend an hour making dinner.  So, I have a big collection of 30-minute recipes, a big collection of "cheater" recipes, and, especially, crockpot recipes.

Here's a recent experiment that turned out really well.  This soup is "Rustic" in style, coarsely chopped veggies, thick hearty base, and a bit of bite.  It makes 6-8 servings.

Crockpot Veggie Barley Soup

Nouns:

1/2 cup dry red beans, rinsed

1 cup dry barley, rinsed

1 medium onion, chopped

4-6 carrots, peeled and chopped

4-6 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 can condensed tomato soup

1 can diced tomatoes 

2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (if you don't have this, add red pepper flakes and a few cloves of minced garlic, to taste, but really, get some of this!  It is great stuff!)

2 veggie bouillon cubes

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

4 cups water

Verbs:

 Put all the ingredients in the crockpot.  Set to Low and cook for 6 hours.  Serve.  I have such a long day that I cooked mine for 12 hours, and it turned out just fine.  You might want to add a little more water if you do that, but it's not really necessary.  Also, I do all my chopping and rinsing the night before, put all the non-liquid ingredients in the crock, and stick the crock in the fridge over night.  In the morning, I pull it out of the fridge, add the wet ingredients, and turn it on.  So easy.