Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

I think I died and went to chicken heaven!  Seriously, food shouldn’t be this easy and this delicious!  The chicken is so incredibly moist and simply falls off the bone. It is a perfect combo for a busy mama and the entire family likes chicken – phew!  This recipe is from Wellness Mama, which is a great site full of all sorts of goodies.  Be sure and check it out!  In the meantime, throw a chicken in the slow cooker and go enjoy your day while the slow cooker does all of the work without a worry in the world of overcooking the chicken.  I made a few adaptations to the original recipe, so here ya’ go!

Also, don’t forget to save the bones and juices of the cooked chicken for homemade broth!

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken – organic if you can

1 onion – roughly chopped

1/2 lemon

butter

spices – I have a rapidly growing rosemary in the front yard and love any excuse to go snip off a couple of stems

salt

Method:

I am not a fan of rinsing the chicken b/c I’ve read so many places that it usually spews chicken juice all over the sink and countertop, but this is up to you.  I carefully unwrap the chicken and remove the innards if there are any.  Stuff the chicken with the lemon, a stem of rosemary or herbs of your choice and a couple of pats of butter.  Really, the butter and its amount is totally optional.  I also like to rub the outside of the bird with butter and cover with more herbs or another sprig of rosemary.  (I’m kind of a butter fan) Also, salt inside and out.  Quality chicken doesn’t need anything else but some good salt to bring out its tasty flavors.

Chop up the onion and put on the bottom of the slow cooker.  Put the chicken on top of the onions.  If you cook it breast side down, it will cook more quickly.  If I have time, I put breast side up so it cooks longer.

Cook on low for 6-7 hours.  It will be done when the breast meat is striated and juices run clear when you cut into the chicken.

Slow Cooker Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup

I adopted this recipe from The Food Network here.  It is delicious and super nutritious.  Of course, I didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand as their recipe calls for, so my rendition is below.  As usual, I added a ton of ginger to kick up the heat A LOT!  In fact, it was too spicy for me (perfect for the hubby, tho), so I swirled in a dollop of plain greek yogurt in my bowl before eating and it tempered the heat just enough.  Or it can be enjoyed with quinoa to take out the heat and increase the protein content!

Ingredients:

1 Large Sweet Potato – diced

3-4 Carrots – sliced into roughly 1/2 inch pieces

3-4 Celery Stalks – sliced into roughly 1/2 inch pieces

1 Yellow Onion

1 Cup Brown Lentils

2 1/2 – 3 tsp Ground Ginger

2 tsp Curry Powder

2 tsp Black Pepper

6 Cups Water or Homemade broth (i.e., broth without salt)

Salt to taste

Plain Yogurt – greek or whatever you have on hand (this is an optional garnish)

Method:

Combine all ingredients, except the salt, into the slow cooker and give it a good stir.  Cook on Low for 7-8 hours or until lentils are to your liking.  Add salt to taste – probably 1-2 tsp.  I stirred it every hour or so or whenever I thought about it so the flavors would blend together all day, but this probably isn’t necessary.  Just set it and leave it!

Spoon some plain yogurt into your bowl just before serving if you need to tame the heat from the ginger or if you prefer a creamy consistency.  It is very tasty!  Sour cream would work too.

Hot and Spicy Slow Cooker Green Lentil Curry

Hot and Spicy Slow Cooker Green Lentil Curry 

There are a million, bazillion meaty slow cooker recipes out there.  And living in Oklahoma, well, it is all meat, all of the time.  As much as I love me some meat, I don’t want it with every meal (as I’m noshing on leftover pork tenderloin!).  So, I just love it when I find a great vegetarian slow cooker recipe.  This one I found on a great website, ifoodreal.com (Crockpot 5 Ingredients Green Lentil Curry), and adapted it to fit my family’s taste buds!  Meaning, more spice and more tomatoes. Link above is to the original recipe.  Below is my version of it and watch out, it is hot and spicy!  Serve with quinoa to cut the heat and increase the protein content.

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

6-8 garlic cloves, chopped, minced or whatever you feel like!

1 14oz can coconut milk, light or regular (I prefer the full fat b/c it makes the dish creamier) Find the difference here.

1 14oz can diced tomatoes (next time I think I’ll add 2 cans)

2 cups green lentils, sorted through for stones, rinsed and drained

2-3 cups of kale or any dark leafy green, roughly chopped (completely optional)

olive oil for sautéing onions and garlic (I never measure, just eyeball about a tablespoon or so in the sauté pan)

2 teaspoons turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

2 teaspoon curry powder

2 teaspoon cumin powder or cumin seeds

2 teaspoon black pepper

3 cups boiling water

1-2 teaspoon salt or to taste

Method:

Saute onions and garlic with the olive oil for about 5 minutes or so until they turn translucent.  While this is sautéing, mix the turmeric, coriander, curry, cumin and pepper together in a small dish (do not add the salt until the end).  If you don’t want it real spicy, cut the spices in half, which is what the original recipe calls for.  I’m pretty sure it will still have a good zing to it!  As the onions and garlic are about finished, stir in the spice mixture (salt free) and let cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Put the mixture into the slow cooker.  Hard part is over!  Geeeezzzzz, I LLLLOOOOOVVVEEEE the slow cooker!

Toss the coconut milk, tomatoes and lentils into the slow cooker.  I put the three cups of water into the sauté pan I used and deglazed the pan while boiling the water so as not to miss out on any of those tasty spices (and truthfully, so I didn’t have to get out another pan, i.e. LAZY). Or you can just boil in another pot.  Once it is boiling, pour the water into the slow cooker.  Give it a good stir to mix everything together.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours or until the lentils are tender.  It will probably cook in 2.5 to 3 hours on high, but I haven’t tried it.  In general, if I have the time, I prefer longer cook times on lower heat so the flavors have ample time to expand and develop.  Once the lentils are tender, taste and add salt as you like.

Here is where the optional dark leafy greens come in:  Since I’m always looking to increase my dark, leafy green intake, I like to ‘hide’ them in foods.  Not because I don’t like the flavor of kale and spinach, because I love both of them very much, but because I don’t always have the time, energy or desire to make a separate salad.  My way to sneak these ingredients into more of my food is to add it to dishes like this (or pasta with red sauce or just about any soup).  I put a handful of the chopped dark leafy greens into the bottom of my bowl, top with the lentils and give it a good stir.  The heat wilts the leaves just a bit letting it all blend together nicely.  The greens do change the texture of this dish, which may not be for everyone, but it is something we do A LOT.

Hope you enjoy it!

Pork Tenderloin with a little bit of sweet, salt and spice in every bite

Pork Tenderloin

This recipe is by no means an original or that unique.   It has been done a gazillion ways by millions of people. But, it is one that I like to keep in my stable when I don’t have the time or energy to think about dinner (read-many nights with two littles in the house!).  Throw it together with roasted broccoli and quinoa the night of and dinner is done in 20 minutes while holding a baby on one hip and finishing preschool homework with a 4 year old.  It all has to happen at once so that there is peace in the house and mama has a glass of wine in hand by 8pm.  Then all is right in the world!

Ingredients:

2-3 pound boneless pork tenderloin

1 onion, chopped – yellow or white

1 cup broth – whatever you have – chicken or veggie

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1 TBSP Tamari – gluten free variety for me, thank you (or soy sauce)

1 TBSP maple syrup (or honey)

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes – or more if you like a little more kick

1 tsp black pepper

3-4 cloves chopped garlic

Method:

Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the onion.  Add the pork tenderloin on top of the onion.  Mix all other ingredients together and pour on top of the tenderloin.  And you are done!  Now let the slow cooker do its thing.  3-4 hours on high or 5-7 hours on low.  I like to check it along the way and especially at that 3 hour mark on high or 5 hour mark on low.  I do not like my pork overcooked, so I tend to lean on the side of medium rare.

Moroccan Lentil Soup – Slow Cooker

Moroccan Lentil Soup for the Slow Cooker

This soup is awesome, hearty and easy!!  Prep time is super fast.  Or if you are like me and try to eliminate double work, I try to plan my meal the night before with similar ingredients (different flavors) and prep 2 dishes at once.  Doesn’t always work, but sometimes I get lucky.  We eat onions and garlic with EVERYTHING, so those are a no-brainer.  However, if I have the cutting board and knife out the night before, I chop up the carrots and cauliflower at the same time, and throw it all in the fridge until morning.  Going the extra mile is combining the spices in their own bowl.  Then in the morning, combining everything in the slow cooker takes literally 5 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 3-4 carrots, chopped
• 3 cups or about 1/2 of a head of cauliflower, chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
• 1 TBSP ground cumin
• 1 TBSP ground coriander
• 1 TBSP ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 cups broth – veggie, chicken, whatever you have!
• 2 cups water – or broth
• 1 3/4 cup lentils
• 1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 TBSP tomato paste or a 1 TBSP tomato powder

Optional Garnishes:

• Fresh spinach, chopped
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Lemon juice

---

Method:

Combine all necessary ingredients (i.e., not the optional garnishes) and stir until well combined.  It doesn’t get much easier than that!!

Cover and cook until lentils are tender – 4 to 5 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.  Duration really depends on your slow cooker.  Mine took about 8 hours on low and then I turned it to high for 1 hour before switching to the warm setting until we were ready to eat.  You really can’t mess it up unless you don’t cook it long enough so don’t get hung up on cooking it too long. I stirred it several times throughout the day when I remembered so that the lentils cooked more uniformly (or at least that is what I told myself!), but it may not be necessary.

For the optional ingredients – since I make enough to freeze or eat for several days – I like to top my soup with these ingredients as a heavy garnish to serve.  The spinach and cilantro wilt nicely mixed in with the hot soup.  The amount of each ingredient is really to each person’s preference, or not at all.  The soup stands up well on its own.  For me, adding greens, even a small amount, on top of my soup is a great way for me to sneak in more greens into my diet.

After Christmas Hambone Soup

After Christmas Hambone Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 leftover hambone
• 1 onion
• 5-6 cloves garlic
• 3-4 carrots
• 1 potato (optional)
• 1 can cannellini beans (or 3/4 cup dried, but soak overnight before adding to soup)
• 1 can black beans (or 3/4 cup dried, but soak overnight before adding to soup
• 3/4 cup frozen corn
• 3/4 cup frozen peas
• 1 tsp thyme (fresh or dried)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1-2 cups leftover ham, diced

---

Method:

Put hambone in large pot and fill with water, cover about 3/4 of the hambone.  Bring to a boil and then let summer for 45 minutes or so until the stock is flavorful.  Discard the hambone.

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Sauté onions, garlic, carrots and potato for 2-3 minutes.  Add all other ingredients, except the diced ham.  Bring to a boil then let simmer until potatoes are tender – probably 12 minutes or so.  Throw in the diced ham and heat 1-2 more minutes until ham is hot.

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 5-6 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup low sodium, gluten free Tamari or soy sauce.  If you are salt sensitive, use less.
• 1.5 TBSP yellow mustard
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 3 TBSP maple syrup
• 1 healthy tsp black pepper

---

Method:

Line the bottom of the slow cooker with the onion.  Put the pork tenderloin on top.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and pour over the pork.  Cook on low for 3-4 hours.

Getting to Gelato

So I’ve been noodling in my head for eons about how to blend my love of food, especially interesting flavors, into a tangible something that doesn’t require me to live the life of a restauranteur or chef.  I have no desire to spend all of my day in the kitchen, but I do like to piddle with my kitchen toys and watch my friends enjoy the fruits of my labor.  Making money at it would be pretty cool too, but at the moment, I’m just playing around with cool flavors.

One night I had an idea that making gelato or ice cream with not so traditional gelato/ice cream flavors would scratch my itch.  And it just so happens, that I have an amazing Kitchen Aid ice cream maker that is just collecting dust.  My hubster is the one to thank for that purchase.  You see, I’m not really an ice cream or gelato fan.  In fact, I don’t really have much of a sweet tooth at all, savory is my thing, but this isn’t about my mouth.  It is more about my creative ability.  Weird? Probably.

Nonetheless, my Google research commenced and I realized that making ice cream or gelato is really not that hard given my handy dandy Kitchen Aid ice cream maker!  Holy smokes!  This could be really fun and it will definitely be delicious no matter what.  I read several recipes and considered the difference between gelato and ice cream.  In a nutshell, gelato contains less fat than ice cream and little to no air which ironically, creates a much more creamy consistency than ice cream.  I’m not always the gal that goes for the low-fat or no-fat option with food because I love big, bold flavors which are usually incorporated through fat, but ice cream usually makes my stomach turn.  I also have the perfect guinea pig to test my creations. She is the manager at one of our restaurant concepts who only sells gelato and she has a penchant for interesting flavor combinations.  I needed some good feedback.

So, gelato it is!

Buckwheat – a seriously under appreciated food

I’m just getting into buckwheat, which is such a cool food for so many reasons and seriously under appreciated.  Here is a list of the highlights of the nutritional benefits of buckwheat:

• Unlike its name would indicate, buckwheat is actually gluten and wheat free because buckwheat is a fruit.  The story of how it got its name is kind of dull or I would have included it here. The fact that it is a fruit and has zero sugar is super cool!
• It is packed with iron, soluble fiber (the good stuff), niacin, phosphorous, magnesium, manganese, and copper
• Because it contains zero sugar, buckwheat is a low glycemic index food, i.e., good for diabetics
• It is great for weight loss – high protein and high fiber keep you fuller longer and you are more satisfied
• Buckwheat is an incredibly anti-inflammatory food, which may be my favorite part of this food.  Inflammation is the root cause of almost all diseases and illnesses, so a food that actually reduces inflammation is a life saver, literally.

One of the best ways to get started with buckwheat is to substitute normal wheat pasta with buckwheat pasta.  No habits to change to get this scrumptious super food into the diet immediately.  Plus, to me, the flavor is way better than traditional pasta.  Another great option is to make (or order) buckwheat pancakes for those breakfast lovers out there.  Pancakes with all of these great nutritional benefits are almost too good to be true, so take it easy on the butter and syrup!!  Be sure to use pure maple syrup and beware of all syrups that do not claim 100% maple syrup.  As a side note, I spied a coconut syrup on the shelves the other day at Whole Foods, but have yet to investigate it.  However, I love the medium chain fatty acid benefits of coconut oil, so my suspicions are that this syrup is pretty good for the body (as far as syrups go) and is a low glycemic food.

Will post yummy buckwheat recipes as they are made!

Quinoa muffins with fruit – dairy and gluten free!

I love this recipe for loads of reasons.

1-it is easy to make, bakes in under 20 minutes, and is a food the entire family can enjoy, not just the little ones (huge time saver in my house when I can cook a dish everyone can eat!)

2-you can use pretty much any kind of fruit you have lying around, especially if the fruit is past its prime

3-it is gluten and dairy free as the recipe is written, but of course is much better with butter than oil

4-quinoa is a complete protein-which means it contains a full amino acid profile plus protein.  And it has loads of soluble fiber, manganese, iron and is a low glycemic food.

Recipe makes 6 muffins:

1 large egg

1/2 cup of liquid (juice, rice milk, soy milk, dairy milk)

2 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoon sugar

1 cup quinoa flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup fruit, fresh or frozen, (bananas, apples, berries, peaches, etc)

2-3 tablespoon nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line muffin tin with oil or baking cups.

In a large bowl combine egg, liquid, oil and sugar.  Blend until smooth.  Into same bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.  Continue blending until well mixed.  Add in fruit and nuts if you want and blend a little longer.

Scoop mixture evenly into muffin tins and bake for 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and serve.  Can also be stored in air tight container and kept in refrigerator for a couple of days.

Bon Appétit!