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!

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.

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.