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Slow Cooker Chicken Vindaloo

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.

4 Comments May 9, 2010

Slow Cooker Ratatouille, on a Sandwich

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!

1 Comment April 21, 2010

Martha’s Slow-Cooked Tex-Mex Chicken & Beans

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.

4 Comments April 13, 2010

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew

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.

1 Comment March 6, 2010