The original recipe uses pork — General Tso’s Slow-Cooked Pork Tacos With Orange-Broccoli Slaw — but boneless, skinless chicken thighs are an easy substitution. That’s what I did. The chicken thighs only need to cook for about 4 hours on low in your Crock-Pot.

I omitted the cornstarch, and once the chicken was fully cooked I removed it in order to shred it fully. While I was doing that, I reduced the remaining sauce in a small pan on the stove, and found that I could get it to thicken slightly in a short amount of time. If you do use the cornstarch, you will likely get a much glossier, thicker sauce, so the choice is yours.

I used my own dressing for the broccoli slaw, which includes sriracha, honey, fresh lemon, and rice wine vinegar. The slaw is better if it sits for a few hours in the dressing, but its crisp and spicy flavor is a good compliment to the saucy chicken.

A. was happy to eat a couple of these chicken tortillas, and even asked for them again the next night. On the other hand, I could barely get G. to try a plain tortilla. So, a semi-success. I liked the flavor of this dish a lot, and think it performs well as a slow-cooker meal. It worth repeating a couple of times a year.

I first tried this recipe about a year ago, but when I made it then (Martha’s Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken & Beans) I omitted the chipotle in order to make it more palatable for the boys. At the time, A. did eat a few bites of it, but I did not find the same success this time. I did add in the chilies Monday, and the recipe is better for it. You can add more or less to suit your spice tolerance — the amount here has a medium level of heat.

Although the original recipe does not call for soaking the beans, the comments suggest doing so improves the recipe. I never seem to remember to soak mine. This time I used a quick-soak method, where you pour boiling water over the beans and let them sit for a few minutes before adding them to the Crock-Pot. I like this way of doing things: I didn’t have any burning of the beans, their texture held together while still becoming creamy, and it didn’t rely on me remembering to start dinner the night before.

This recipe cooks up thick enough to be served inside tacos or rolled as a burrito. I like it a lot and wish my kids were more receptive to it! Even the addition of cilantro — one of A.’s favorite condiments — wasn’t enough to win them over this time.

Slow Cooker Tex-Mex Chicken & Pinto Bean Stew
Adapted from Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans

1 c. dried pinto beans, picked through and rinsed
12 oz. salsa (I use a medium spice level)
2 Tbsp. canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 c. vegetable stock (chicken would work too)
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro (about half a bunch)

Boil a kettle of water while you pick through and rinse the pinto beans. In a heat-proof bowl, cover the dried beans with the boiling water and set aside for 5 minutes. Drain.

In a large slow cooker (mine is 6 quarts), stir together beans, salsa, chiles, flour, and vegetable stock. Layer the diced onion and pepper on top. Then place the chicken thighs in a single layer on top of the vegetables. Cover and cook on low heat for a minimum of 6 hours and up to 8. Don’t peek!

Using two forks to pull the meat apart, shred the chicken thighs in the crock. Add the cilantro, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Give a final stir and serve with tortilla chips, tacos, or wraps.

This recipe also freezes well.

This soup is out of this world!

I love lentils, and this soup is going into my rotation along with Pasta with Lentils, Tomatoes & Arugula, Mujadarra (Lentils & Rice with Caramelized Onions), and Crock-Pot Indian-Spiced Chicken with Lentils & Potatoes. It is incredibly quick to prep, and you may have all the ingredients you need in your house right now. Add some whole grain rolls and you are good to go: I used Pepperidge Farm Multi-Grain Stone Baked Artisan Rolls, a new freezer-to-oven product my grocery is carrying which is really convenient (keep a bag in your freezer) and made with ingredients you will be able to pronounce.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lentil Soup
Adapted slightly from Lentil Soup

8 c. water
16 oz. bag dried lentils, rinsed + picked through
4 carrots, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
1 large onion, diced
6 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 tsp. dried thyme
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Combine first 6 ingredients in the crock of a large slow cooker (mine is 6 quarts). Cook on HIGH for 6 hours.

Remove garlic cloves if you like (or eat them, or leave them in the soup). If you like a smoother soup, use an immersion blender in the crock for about 20 seconds until about a third of the soup is pureed, leaving some chunks. Season with remaining four ingredients, adjusting salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Sorry, you’re getting our leftovers. Pictures of them, anyway!

Roasted Beets with Feta hardly needed a recipe. I boil my beets rather than roasting them: I find this preparation to be neater, and I don’t notice a decrease in flavor at all. In fact, this batch of beets (from my farm share) was particularly flavorful, earthy and sweet. I followed the proportions given for the dressing in this recipe but made significantly more, since I poured it over three times as many beets plus a large bowl of salad. I sliced a brick of feta and served it on the side. This is a salad that can stand up to brisk weather, especially when paired with soup.

I tried a Crock-Pot Butternut Squash Soup from A Year of Slow Cooking (love that blog). I made several adjustments: 2 smallish squash (from my farm share), only 1 onion, only 1 apple, and turmeric instead of coriander because I didn’t have any. I used vegetable stock. Since I had my oven on to bake Brownie Roll-Out Cookies, I decided to roast the squash and onion rather than putting them into the crock raw or microwaved. They were fully cooked before they even joined the other ingredients in the slow cooker. I did use my immersion blender at the end to make it smooth and creamy, and needed to add an additional cup of water to thin it out a bit. This is a keep recipe for us — though none of the kids would try it (including my niece), I think they might be persuaded to in the future. Even J. had it later that night and thought it was very good.

Along with dinner rolls, this soup and salad combo was a well-received dinner (by the adults eating it — my various in-laws and me and J.) and a welcome lighter alternative to some of the meals I’ve been cooking for them lately.

I’ve mentioned before that I consider myself relatively slow at prep work in the kitchen. I had this Crock Pot Chicken Vindaloo in my slow cooker in exactly 10 minutes, and that included gathering all my ingredients. Unfortunately, in my whirlwind I sliced my finger open while cutting the onions. So perhaps you should aim for 15 minutes of prep!

I used almost 2 lbs. of boneless, skinless chicken thighs, and a 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Otherwise, I followed the seasoning pretty closely, using what I had in my spice rack. Use it as a guideline: I subbed ground cinnamon for the stick, used whole cloves instead of ground, and skipped the cardamom.

I had steamed a lot of green beans for Thursday night’s dinner, and I had about two cups leftover, so I did not include them in the slow cooker until about a half hour before the vindaloo finished cooking — just enough time to heat them through. I finished the dish with a large handful of chopped cilantro.

I have become a total convert to boneless, skinless chicken thighs as my slow cooker meat of choice. They handle the long cooking time very well, and never seem to dry out. Plus they have a lot more flavor than chicken breasts. They performed as I expected in this meal, which is seriously delicious. I tend to under-spice food when left to my own devices, and I’m sometimes surprised at how absolutely popping with flavor a meal can be when you use a liberal amount of seasoning. The tomato-based sauce is thick and perfect for spooning over rice.

I couldn’t help but think of Merrie as I was plating this dinner, because she is a big fan of adding potatoes to meals in her Crock-Pot. They would be a perfect addition to this dish.

I love Slow Cooker Ratatouille. It’s easy (true, there is a lot of chopping), healthy, and tasty. The trifecta! This afternoon I chopped up a large onion, 3 Japanese eggplant, carrots, a yellow pepper, a green pepper, a small zucchini, and 3 cloves of garlic and threw them into my slow cooker with a 15 oz. can of diced tomatoes, a squeeze of tomato paste, and some fresh parsley. After 5 hours on high and some seasoning with salt and pepper, it was ready to eat.

We piled spoonfuls of ratatouille on top of split Portuguese rolls, and topped the vegetables with slices of fresh mozzarella. The warm ratatouille slightly melted the cheese, and added just the right amount of creaminess to make delicious dinner sandwiches.

This Crock-Pot dish freezes well, and can be used in so many ways. I have mixed it with cottage cheese and served it over pasta, used it as a side dish to chicken, and even as an omelet filling. Tonight I was thinking about adding some curry powder and chickpeas, and then putting that over rice. I know what I’m doing with the leftovers!

Updated to add: I used a 16 oz. jar of medium salsa, which is more than the original recipe calls for. Also, I did get some slight burning of the beans around the bottom edge of the crock, but not enough to bother me or really detract from the recipe.

I bookmarked this Martha Stewart recipe for Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken and Beans a couple of months ago because I wanted to start experimenting with using dried beans in my slow cooker. I wound up starting it late — it was almost 11 AM — and I was worried about the beans finishing in time. So I cooked it on high for 3 hours, and then once I saw that the beans were softening enough, I switched it to low for another 3 hours (yes, I open my Crock-Pot during cooking).

I used vegetable stock instead of water, and omitted the canned chipotle chiles because I was hoping to make something mild enough for the kids to eat. I liked it a lot; it’s a solid recipe that doesn’t take on that generic mushiness that some slow cooker recipes have. The dried beans hold their texture, and I find that the dark meat of the chicken holds up better than white meat does. My preparation wasn’t bland, but I do think it would have been a lot tastier with the chipotle, or with some chili powder or other spices added. As leftovers today for lunch, the pintos reminded me of refried beans, which I like. I’ll definitely make this dish again.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I offered A. 25¢ to try the meal. He bargained me up to 50¢, and took a bite. Then he took several more bites because apparently it wasn’t quite as horrible as he’d expected. I’ll take it as a small victory.

I’ve been dragging this week, and I am craving comfort food without a lot of work. I’d planned on roasting butternut squash and tossing it with goat cheese and farro for dinner Thursday night, but as I was making lunch that day I decided to throw something homey into the Crock-Pot instead. These were all ingredients I had on hand (I used flanken straight from the freezer), and by the time dinner came around I was thrilled and thankful to have this haimish dish ready to go.

The boys wouldn’t touch it, and J. finished a small bowl. When I asked him what he thought about it, I got no response. I know I’m not doing much to convince you to make it, but I really enjoyed these flavors together and this stew is a good way to make a little meat go a long way. I froze the bulk of the leftovers and will serve it (and happily eat it) another day.

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew

1 lb. flanken (a cut of beef short rib)
32 oz. vegetable stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 c. pearled barley, rinsed
10 oz. baby portobello mushrooms, cleaned + quartered
1 c. carrots, chopped (about a large handful of baby carrots, cut into coins)
1 bay leaf
black pepper + salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in your slow cooker, and cook on high for 4 hours. Take flanken out of the crock, discard the bones, and shred the meat making sure to trim off any visible fat. Set the meat aside. Remove and discard bay leaf and any remaining bones that are in the stew. Then add the shredded meat back into the crock, stir, and adjust seasoning with salt + pepper. Serve hot.

I saw flanken at my kosher butcher several months ago, and knew back then that I wanted to make it with split pea soup. Flanken are thinly-cut beef short ribs; Beth has a great photo of them on her site. Flanken-cut ribs are sometimes called “Korean style” as well — they’re usually barbecued, while kosher flanken is usually cooked low and slow. Perfect for the Crock-Pot.

I used Stephanie O’Dea’s CrockPot Split Pea Soup Recipe as a starting point, and to get the liquid to solid ratio right for my soup. I had the bag of dried peas in my pantry and the flanken in my freezer, so although I hadn’t shopped for the other ingredients I decided to pull it together from what I had on hand. It was so delicious, I’d probably make it the same way next time!

We wound up not eating this for dinner (J. and the boys had way less enthusiasm for trying this soup than I did), but I have been enjoying it myself one bowl at a time. I did freeze a good portion, and after removing the flanken from the bone, shredded it and put it on top of the soup. I’m going to defrost it and serve it for dinner tomorrow night, when my parents are here — I think they’ll love it too.

If I’d had enough vegetable stock in the house to do so, I would have eliminated the veggie stock cube entirely and just done 5 cups of broth. I might have also added some chopped carrots.

I found the consistency of the soup was smooth enough for me without blending, but you can certainly use an immersion blender to get it more uniformly creamy. Just don’t forget to remove the bay leaf and flanken first!

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup with Flanken

1 lb. flanken-cut beef ribs (or a little more)
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. bag dried split peas, rinsed and picked through
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. kosher salt
10 grinds black pepper
1 vegetable stock cube (I use Telma), crushed
1 c. vegetable stock
4 c. water

Add ingredients in the order listed to a 6 qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove bay leaf, discard. Remove flanken and set aside until it is cool enough to handle. Remove meat from the bones, and shred. Serve soup with a small portion of flanken on top, or stir it back into the pot.

I first tried to recreate a restaurant-quality coq au vin at home last May, and although the result was pretty tasty it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I found using bone-in chicken awkward, since the end result is like a stew, and the bones had to be fished out.

I came across another coq au vin recipe in a Better Homes & Gardens Ultimate Slow-Cooker magazine that I borrowed from Suzanne. It reminded me I wanted to give this traditional dish another go. I preferred this version, but it’s still not exactly right. It definitely needs some more seasoning — black pepper, a bay leaf, or maybe tarragon? Also, I liked the tomato paste called for in the first recipe I tried; it added some depth and nice color that I missed in this one. Plus the sauce in this recipe is very thin at the end. That’s fine if you’re putting it over noodles or rice, but it just lacked the right velvety mouth-feel I was looking for.

I’m posting the recipe as I made it, because my mother in law wants to try making it herself! That’s a lovely compliment to get. Also, A. told me that while this was cooking it smelled delicious, like pancakes. And he ate a whole piece of the chicken, sans veggies. I would make this dish with dark meat only, but I had some people eating with me that prefer white meat, so I used a combination of thighs and breasts.

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin, Second Try
Adapted from BH&G Ultimate Slow-Cooker

1 lb. frozen pearl onions
1 c. baby carrots (a large handful)
2.5 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or breasts)
20 oz. mushrooms, cleaned & quartered (I like baby bellas, white are fine too)
1 c. beef stock
1/2 c. dry red wine

In a large (6 qt.) slow cooker, layer the ingredients in the order listed above. Cook for 4 hours on high, then season to taste. Serve over egg noodles or rice to soak up the cooking liquid.