Slow cooker – Kara Cooks and Eats

Sweet potato chicken chili

I was recently looking for a recipe that would set me up with lunches for the week. I was inspired by this recipe for sweet potato chili by Cotter Crunch and decided to do a little freezer clean-out at the same time. That means that my version became a sweet potato chicken chili, using some leftover roasted chicken, homemade broth, and black beans.

Chili!

Ingredients
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5-ounces) diced tomatoes
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Just add cheese, and avocado, and sour cream

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (or 1/2 pound ground meat of your liking)
2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro
Shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado for topping

Directions
1. To the ceramic insert of your slow cooker, add sweet potatoes, onion, pepper, and garlic. Stir in diced tomatoes, chipotle peppers, black beans, spices, and shredded chicken.

2. Cook on low for 4 hours (or high for 2 hours). Stir in cilantro and serve. Top with shredded cheese, sour cream, sliced avocado, or your other favorite chili toppings. Enjoy!

Related chili posts
Fall vegetable chili
Vegetarian black bean chili
White bean chicken chili

Chicken and bok choy soup

Last weekend was cold, rainy, and perfect for soup in the slow cooker. While I usually like a “dump and cook” approach to the slow cooker, I decided to do a quick saute of the veg prior to the slow cooker to add a bit more depth of flavor. Also, I did this the night before so the next morning I just had to dump everything in and turn it on.

Bok choy!

I used udon noodles, which I also cooked separately and then added at the end to prevent overcooked, soggy noodles. The worst!

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2-3 bunches of bok choy, washed and chopped

Slow cooker, before adding liquid

1 Tablespoon roasted red chile paste
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
1 hot pepper, optional
6 cups chicken broth
Cooked rice or noodles, optional

Directions

Soup’s on!

1. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat. Saute garlic, onion, carrot, and celery until just starting to soften. Add in bok choy, chile paste, and soy sauce and cook for additional 3-5 minutes. The veggies do not have to be cooked through.

2. Spray ceramic pot of slow cooker with cooking spray. Add chicken breast, bok choy mixture, hot pepper, broth, and 2 cups of water. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

3. Remove chicken breast and shred. Stir shredded chicken and rice or noodles into soup and continue to cook until heated through. Remove hot peppers before serving, then mangia!

Mozzarella-stuffed meatballs

Meat and cheese might be one of my favorite combinations…so it’s no wonder this video recipe caught my eye as I was scrolling through Facebook on my commute home the other day. I couldn’t wait to try this, and even better that I could make them in my slow cooker. I will hopefully have some exciting slow cooker-related news to share soon as well…so stay tuned!

Ninja at work

I also used my Ninja to make the oatmeal bread crumbs!

Mozzarella-stuffed meatballs
Source: adapted from YouTube, via Facebook
Serves: 6

Ingredients
Fresh mozzarella, about 4 ounces, cubed
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup ground oatmeal (or bread crumbs)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Meatballs, ready to be slow cooked

1 can (28 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes, broken up into small pieces
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste

Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together beef, pork, onion, garlic, oatmeal, Parmesan cheese, eggs, milk, parsley and salt just until combined. Do not overmix.

2. Roll meat mixture into a meatball, then smoosh a cube of cheese into the ball and roll until cheese is completely surrounded. Repeat until all of the meat has been made into meatballs.

3. In the bottom of the slow cooker, mix together tomato paste and 6 ounces of water. Layer meatballs on top of tomato paste. Top with the broken up whole peeled tomatoes and any liquid from the can.

4. Cook on high for 2-2.5 hours. Mix together and enjoy with your favorite pasta or crusty bread. Note some of the cheese will probably leak out.

Slow cooker butter chicken

Ever wonder what to do with the leftover tomato paste when a recipe calls for just one or two Tablespoons (for example, the pork ragù I made recently)? I think I once saw a “tube” of tomato paste (like a tube of toothpaste) in a grocery store, and thought that was a brilliant idea…unfortunately I don’t remember where I saw it and haven’t seen it again, so apparently it never really took off.

Mixing up the sauce

This recipe was a perfect solution to my almost-whole-can-of-tomato-paste “problem.”

Slow cooker butter chicken
Source: Half Baked Harvest

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size chunks
1/2 onion, finely minced
2 Tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 Tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Layering the onion and chicken

2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons curry paste
2 Tablespoons garam masala
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup soy cream (or half and half)
Cooked white rice and Naan, for serving

Directions

Serve with rice and Naan

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the coconut milk, Greek yogurt, and soy cream. Stir in the tomato paste, garlic, ginger, and all of the spices. Mix well.

2. Spray the inside of the ceramic slow cooker bowl with cooking spray. Spread the chopped onion in the bottom of the bowl. Add the chicken, and then pour the coconut milk mixture on top, making sure the chicken is completely covered. Add the butter and place the lid on the slow cooker.

3. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. Stir once or twice during cooking (if you are around).

4. When ready to serve, season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice and with Naan.

Slow-cooker corned beef and cabbage

I had very good intentions to make this last weekend, but then somehow the timing just didn’t work out as I attempted to calculate what time I would need to start and what time I would need to be home to eat or prep it for storage. Life is all about timing sometimes, isn’t it?

Add veggies

So save (or pin) this recipe for next St. Patty’s Day when you’re craving a good old fashioned boiled meal. Although I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this article says that corned beef and cabbage is “as Irish as spaghetti and meatballs,” and of course we all know that spaghetti and meatballs is Italian. Or not…I think both of those dishes can only be considered American. It doesn’t stop me from liking them though!

Then corned beef

Slow-cooker corned beef and cabbage

Serves: 6

Source: Everyday Food, March 2012

Ingredients

4 celery stalks, cut into 3-inch pieces

3 carrots, cut into 3-inch pieces

1 small yellow onion, cut into 1-inch wedges (leave root end intact)

2 medium red skin potatoes, cut into chunks

6 sprigs thyme

1 corned beef brisket (about 3 pounds), plus pickling spice packet or 1 Tablespoon pickling spice

1/2 head green cabbage, cut into wedges

Grainy mustard, for serving

Directions

Dinner!

1. In a 5-to-6 quart slow cooker, place celery, carrots, onion, potatoes, and thyme. Place corned beef, fat side up, on top of vegetables and sprinkle with pickling spice. Add enough water to almost cover the meat (4-6 cups).

2. Cover and cook on high for 4 1/4 hours until corned beef is tender (or 8 1/2 hours on low). Arrange cabbage over corned beef, cover, and continue cooking for 45 minutes on high, until cabbage is tender (or 1 1/2 hours on low).

3. Thinly slice corned beef against the grain and serve with vegetables, cooking liquid, and grainy mustard.

Slow cooker beef and broccoli

This month has been perfect slow cooker weather, so I decided to give this beef and broccoli recipe a try. I ended up making this in two stages, because I didn’t start cooking until dinner time one evening. So I cooked the beef for four hours (step one) and then put the whole ceramic dish in the refrigerator overnight. This worked well because I was able to remove a lot of the fat that had solidified overnight before reheating the beef and adding the broccoli. Unfortunately going from fridge to table took longer than the additional 30 minutes in step three. I cooked it for about another hour and unfortunately the broccoli was still pretty frozen.

I used stew meat for the beef, and since I like my dishes veg-heavy I used the whole bag of broccoli, This may have thinned the sauce a bit more than would be desired, so I probably would decrease the broth a bit for next time.

Dinner is served!

Slow cooker beef and broccoli
Serves: 4-6
Source: adapted from Table for Two via Pinterest

Ingredients
1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, cut into thin strips
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup tamari
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup sauce (from the crockpot after step 1)
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 pound frozen broccoli florets (or about 4 cups fresh)
White or brown rice, cooked, for serving

Directions
1. In the insert of a crockpot, whisk together beef broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and garlic. Add slices of beef and toss to coat. Cook on low for 4 hours.

2. When done, remove 4 Tablespoons of sauce from the crockpot and, in a small bowl, whisk sauce together with cornstarch. Pour mixture back into crockpot and stir to mix well.

3. Add broccoli florets and cook on low for additional 30 minutes to cook/heat broccoli and thicken the sauce.

Kielbasa, cabbage, and onions

Prepped for the slow cooker

This was the second of my “cabbage two ways” experiments, and it was a semi-fail due to operator error. Apparently 10 hours in a slow cooker was way too long! The kielbasa, because it is placed on the top of the mixture, got way overcooked.

Since I prepared everything the night before and stored the crock pot container (is that what it’s called?) in the refrigerator overnight, I thought this would be an easy weekday meal. Unfortunately a normal weekday means at least 10 hours out of the house for me.

I did enjoy the flavor of the cabbage, especially with the whole grain mustard. I also think it might be interesting to use beer instead of broth for the liquid. I do wonder what would have happened if I had mixed the kielbasa into the cabbage mixture…maybe next time.

Kielbasa, cabbage, and onions

#burnt

Serves: 4
Source: Food.com via Pinterest

Ingredients
1/2 head green cabbage, cored and cut into wedges
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken broth (or beer!)
1 Tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 package (13 ounces) kielbasa, cut into 3-inch pieces

Directions
1. Coat the slow cooker container with cooking spray. Add the cabbage, onion, salt, pepper, broth, and mustard and stir so that the cabbage is well-coated with the broth and seasonings. Top mixture with kielbasa.

2. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Stir, then cook for 1 hour more and enjoy!

Indian-spiced braised chicken

Too many recipe books and magazines

One of my go-to recipe magazines over the years has been Everyday Food, and I’ve received and saved seven years of magazines (2006-2012). That is a lot of real estate in my tiny place! Starting this month, I’m starting to recycle these. The ideal thing to do would be to pin the recipes I want to save via Pinterest, but realistically, I will just rip out the recipes I want to try, such as this recipe for Indian-spiced braised chicken from the April 2007 issue.

I made this over the weekend for my parents who were up from NY for marathon weekend. I knew it would be a busy weekend and we would be eating out a lot, so I thought it would be nice to cook something for Friday night when they got into town. And by cook, I mean throw a bunch of ingredients into the slow cooker and let it work its magic.

I added the yogurt a little too soon – it was super hot and the yogurt kind of coagulated. It tasted fine but it didn’t look very pretty. I think this recipe had just the right amount of spice, but feel free to adjust the cayenne pepper to your liking.

Dinner is served

Indian-spiced braised chicken
Serves: 4
Source: Everyday Food, April 2007

Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon grated ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Cooked white rice, for serving

Directions
1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, stir together chicken, onion, pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, ginger, garlic, coriander, and cayenne; season with salt and pepper.

2. Cook on high for 4 hours (or on low for 8 hours) until chicken is fork-tender. Stir in yogurt, cilantro, and garam masala. Serve with rice.

Chicken tomatillo stew

I got both tomatillos and cilantro in my CSA last week, and they were just asking to be put together in something yummy. And I decided I wanted to use my slow cooker. I recall donating many of the tomatillos I’ve gotten in previous years, so I didn’t have a “go to” recipe.

After some searching on Pinterest and the internet, I found an interesting recipe from Food and Wine recipe for a Slow Cooker Mexican Pork and Tomatillo Stew, which became the inspiration for what I actually made. I really liked what I made, but it did not come out very stew-like. As written, this recipe would be great with rice or tortillas…or a can of diced tomatoes might make it a little stew-ier.

Chopping the tomatillos, onion, garlic, and jalapeño ahead of time makes this pretty quick, since you are just dumping everything into the slow cooker. The only can of hominy I could find in Whole Foods was industrial-sized, so I opted for frozen corn. And actually, I used a bag of mixed corn, edamame, carrots, and broccoli…but mostly corn. I’m also not convinced that the browning of the chicken step is really needed. It’s a nice way to give it some color and flavor, but could easily be skipped if you don’t have the time or don’t want to deal with the stove and another pan.

Mise en place

Chicken tomatillo stew
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Cooking spray
2 cups frozen corn
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 pound tomatillos – husked, rinsed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 jalapeño, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp coarsely chopped cilantro
Toppings as desired, like sour cream and shredded cheese

Directions

Ready to eat

1. Spray the bottom of your slow cooker with cooking spray. Spread frozen corn in a layer on the bottom of the pot.

2. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil on medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned, about 3-4 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook an additional 3-4 minutes until browned. Transfer chicken to slow cooker (it does not need to be fully cooked).

3. Add the chicken broth to the skillet and bring to a boil, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom. Pour the broth into the slow cooker.

4. Layer the tomatillos, onion, garlic, and jalapeño on top. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low for another 5ish hours, until the chicken is cooked and the tomatillos have broken down and formed a sauce.

5. Remove chicken from slow cooker, shred, and stir it back into the slow cooker. Cover and cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour longer. Stir in cilantro and top individual servings with sour cream and shredded cheese as desired.

Tempeh stuffed peppers

My friend and CSA partner Claire has a great recipe for tempeh stuffed peppers. This is not it. I decided to create my own recipe because I wanted to use my slow cooker. Some day I will also make and post hers (if she’s willing to share it)!

Tempeh from TJs

First, what the heck is tempeh? Tempeh is a vegan protein made from soybeans, rice, barley, and millet. Not something that’s typically in my wheelhouse, but it’s always good to try new things.

If you’re wondering what the green stuff in the photo below is, I tossed in some chopped collards…just because I had it. There is usually extra filling left which I either mix into the sauce or freeze for use at another time. This time I mixed it into the sauce.

Tempeh stuffed peppers
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced

Tempeh mixture

1 package (8 ounces) tempeh, diced or food processed
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup bread crumbs (Panko or regular, plain)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Ready for the slow cooker

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, plus additional for topping
4 medium bell peppers, washed and cut in half
1 jar (20-25 ounces) tomato sauce

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add diced tempeh, Italian seasoning, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for a few more minutes. Stir in diced tomato and remove from heat.

2. Stir in bread crumbs, Parmesan, and mozzarella. Spoon mixture into pepper halves.

3. Spread a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of your slow cooker pot. Gently place filled peppers in the slow cooker, and top with remaining sauce.

4. Cook on high for 1 hour, then turn to low for 4-5 hours. Top with some additional mozzarella cheese and enjoy!