Sweet Potato Crockpot Chili!

It's starting to get a little cooler in the city these days and apparently we're expecting SNOW tomorrow! It's not even November yet! Anyhow, one of the best parts of a cool evening is a piping hot bowl of soup, better yet when it's been cooking all day in the crockpot! I love coming home to house smelling wonderful and just having to dish it up and enjoy!

I first saw this recipe over on Erin and Ben's cooking blog, We Got Fed. I had been debating between this chili and the veggie chili over on Ezra Pound Cake, but because of the ingredients we had and the appeal of using the crock, this won out!
If you chop all the ingredients the night before and just dump them in in the morning, it's super easy!

Sweet Potato Crockpot Chili
Based on the recipe from We Got Fed

1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
1 medium-large sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 bell peppers, 1 red. 1 green. Finely chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2-3/4 cup frozen corn kernals
2 tomatoes, diced
1 15oz can of diced tomatoes
3 cups water (We cooked our chili for like 11 hours, so I added more water, if you're only cooking it for 6-8 you can probably add less)
1 - 1.5 tsp chili powder
1 -1.5 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 heaping tsp oregano
dash of parsley
dash of salt
Optional for garnish: Avocado, sour cream, grated cheese, cilantro

Add all the ingredients to the crockpot, cook on low until you return! (At least 6-8 hours, up to however long you'll be gone!)

We served this over rice with some cornbread muffins, avocado and sour cream. YUM!

Indian Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken

I love when I can use my crockpot. Granted, it requires me to plan a bit ahead, but it's SO nice to come home to a hot meal already prepared! Alex also enjoys the bonus of less dishes for him.

I picked up Sensational Slow Cooker Gourmet by Judith Finlayson at the library a couple weeks ago on a whim just to try and find some new recipes. I have her vegetarian version, and have liked the recipes there, so I thought this one might be good as well. Though I didn't find too many things I liked, I did like the sound of her Indian Spiced Chicken and decided to give it a try last week.

I altered the recipe a bit because a. 3 lbs of chicken is a crap ton for two people ( I still have leftovers only using 2 lbs!) and b. Judith says in her recipes to cook everything first then put it in the crockpot. I find this completely ridiculous. If something is going to cook all day, I do not need to saute the onions first. Don't be silly.

On to the recipe!

Indian Spiced Slow Cooker Chicken
Adapted from Sensational Slow Cooker Gourmet by Judith Finlayson

2lbs chicken (I used chicken breasts)
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp tumeric
olive oil
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs ginger grated
1 tbs cumin
2 tsp coriander
salt to taste
1 cup barley
1.5 cup chicken stock
28 oz diced tomatoes
1/2 jalepeno pepper, finely diced
3/4 cup plain yogurt

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and sprinkle with lemon juice and tumeric. Add the rest of your ingredients except the jalepeno and yogurt. Stir around with a wooden spoon to mix everything together. Set the crockpot to low, and come back for dinner in about 6 hours. Before serving, add the pepper and yogurt and mix together and heat for another 10-15 minutes to meld the flavors. Serve with rice and fresh steamed veggies! Enjoy!



Alex and I thought this was good, and it made a TON! The one problem I had was the chicken overcooked and was a bit dry. The recipe calls for 6 hours, which, is annoying as clearly I'm gone at work for longer then that. Ours ended up cooking closer to 8 or 8.5, so I imagine if I only cooked it for 6, it would have been better. I might try this again on a weekend when I have better control of the cooking time. Even still, Alex didn't even notice and thought it was great!

Black Bean Crockpot Soup

So, the blogging has been a little sporadic lately, my apologies for that. It turns out moving, particularly in a city like New York, is quite the ordeal. Especially moving from a very large apartment to an itty bitty one.

Needless to say, there's still lots to be done, but, amidst the unpacking, we still needed to eat. I was so ready for a home cooked meal... and then found out our stove didn't work. Well, it works, I mean, it's brand new, but, there is no gas to cook with. Turns out, that's a problem.

Our landlord actually had no idea this was going to be an issue, they didn't know the gas line wasn't labeled and didn't have a meter, etc. Apparently the tenants before us were actually the New Yorkers who never once used their stove, so never had gas installed. Anyhow, it's being fixed and hopefully we will be able to cook by this weekend, and in the meantime apparently aren't paying full rent, so that's good.

But, Alex and I could neither afford to eat all our meals out nor wanted to just use the microwave. (I'm sure there's some mighty find cooking that can be done in a microwave, but I don't have skills that reach beyond defrosting meat and reheating leftovers.)

So, crockpot to the rescue! I've actually managed to meet my goal of finding new vegetarian recipes and using my slow cooker all in one shot thanks to not being able to use the stove. This recipe was from a cookbook I've been meaning to use, but never got around to. It was super tasty, easy, just the right amount of spiciness, and incredibly cheap if you're looking for that sort of thing. This goes great with a green salad or some garlic toast.

So without further ado:

South American Black Bean Crockpot Soup

Adapted from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson

Ingredients:
2 onions (on the smaller side) finely chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped (I have taken a lead from KNG and stopped peeling my carrots)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 finely chopped jalapeno, seeded and ribbed
1 tsp dried thyme
1 TBS cumin
1 TBS dried oregano
Sea Salt to taste
A few grinds of black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 TBS tomato paste
6 Cups chicken or vegetable stock
2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
the juice from 1.5 limes
Topping: Sour cream and cilantro if desired.

Chop all your veggies and add to the crockpot, along with spices, tomato paste, beans, and stock. (The original recipe says you should cook your veggies first in a skillet until tender, but I thought if you're cooking for 10 hours in a crockpot, that was highly unnecessary.) Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add your lime juice. Puree everything with an immersion blender. Serve with a healthy dollop of sour cream.

YUM!

*Apologies for the terrible photo... I've realized the new kitchen lighting is pretty poor for photos, and didn't really feel up to digging through boxes for my flash.

Summertime Stew and Pretty Tomatoes

Yum!

I was inspired to make this crockpot stew from this recipe on the Year of Slow Cooking Blog.

I changed things up a bit though, and made sure I chopped all my vegetables the night before. All I had to do was throw everything in the crockpot and then came home to a very tasty, super healthy dinner!

Summertime Crockpot Stew

2 summer squash, sliced into thin slices
2 Zucchini, or one gigantic one like I had, sliced thinly
2 ears of corn, kernels sliced from the cob
1/2 C - 3/4 C black beans, drained and rinsed
1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
3 good size garlic cloves, minced or pressed, or whatever suits your fancy
A couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes, whole
1 tsp or so of dried basil
1 tsp or so of dried oregano
1/3 C of dried lentils
1 C water
4.5 C of broth, veggie or chicken
1 C prepared spaghetti sauce, I had tomato basil from Trader Joes
A decent amount, maybe 1/3 the package? of spirally, curly pasta, cooked to package directions, added just before serving

Put all your ingredients together, stir it up, and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Add your pasta. Viola! Dinner.

This was a great veggie, almost all local meal as well. After reading The Omnivore's Dilemma as well as Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (thanks Em!), I've made the decision that I'm going to try my darnedest to keep our kitchen free of CAFO raised meat. I by no means intend to go vegetarian on anyone, I love steak, really I do, but I've joined the locavore bandwagon, and there's no turning back. I'll keep you posted on how well this works out for us as I've got Alex on board with me as well. I'm not saying I'm going to be all picky at other people's houses or restaurants, mostly I just intend on keeping our kitchen full of things that make sense to me, and I can deal with where they came from.

(Mom, you can stop rolling your eyes at your idealist daughter now. )

And, just for your viewing pleasure, some very lovely heirloom tomatoes!

Crockpot Chicken

This is a post I've been meaning to do for awhile, but haven't quite gotten around to. I've recently made my first ever whole chicken, and did so in the crockpot.

So easy! Both of these recipes were incredibly easy, made a ton of food, and had leftovers to make soup the next day that lasted two meals at least!

The first one was Lemon Rosemary Chicken from 365 Crockpot.


Sorry, point and shoot camera.

This was good, however, I'd say it was too lemon-y for me. The lemon also made the soup I made with the leftovers have a somewhat funky flavor. Alex liked it better then the second recipe, but I don't think I'd make this again.

The second chicken was made up by me.

One whole chicken, rinsed and cleaned.
1-2 onions, chopped
A handful of chopped celery
A bunch of garlic cloves
A splash of chicken broth
A little melted butter
All the spices you like: garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, rosemary, oregano, etc.



Chop the onions and celery and place them on the bottom of your crockpot. Place the chicken on top of the onion. Brush with some melted butter. Stuff your chicken with some onion and a bunch of garlic cloves. Also stick garlic cloves where ever you can stick them on the bird. Splash just a bit of chicken broth, sprinkle the bird with your favorite spices. Cook on low for 8ish hours. Done!





The next day, take your leftover meat, minus the bones, and create a fabulous stew. This can be done on the stove top or in the crockpot. I made ours with the chicken meat, lentils, some rice, chopped carrots, celery, potatoes, and corn. Cover with about 3/4 broth - 2/3 broth and some water.



Add spices such as garlic, oregano, and a little sea salt, whatever makes you happy. Simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, or in the crockpot on low for until you get home. Yum!

Crockpot Thursday: Moroccan Lentil Soup

So, for awhile I've been on somewhat of a soup kick. It's just what I'm craving after walking around in the cold. (I know I can't complain about it being cold in NYC after living in Minneapolis, but whatever). Lately I've been really wanting to figure out how to make Moroccan Harira Soup. This was the stuff my friend Emily and I feasted on nearly every day in Marrakech during our around the world adventure. It was always a little different, no matter where we went. But it was always warm and delicious, eaten with big wooden ladles.

So, when I saw this recipe for Moroccan Lentil Soup, I thought maybe, maybe it'd be right. Alas, it was not my Harira. However, what it was, was super tasty. And easy. And cheap. And super ridiculously healthy. You can't really go wrong there.

I sort of followed the recipe, however, I am just getting used to the fact that I like beans, so, no need to push it. I only used garbonzos and lentils, no pinto beans. I also added a few extra cloves of garlic, because I think, generally, that's always a good idea.

Also, I never really measure vegetables, so I probably used more then it called for. I chopped up probably 4 or 5 carrots, 3 or 4 stalks of celery, and a whole medium yellow onion.

I didn't have Garam Masala or nutmeg, so these got left out. I've seriously looked for Garam Masala all over the place and can not find it anywhere. I am beginning to think it's made up. Instead I added a little extra cayenne, and a bit of oregano and paprika, just because.

This stuff cooked up beautifully and smelled great. We ate it with some French bread and it was delicious. Warm and very flavorful, but not too spicy. There was more then plenty to fill Alex and I up and have leftovers for lunch for a couple days. Success!

And just for the heck of it, you can enjoy our Moroccan soup with a little taste of actual Morocco!

Merzuga Dunes at sunrise. One of the most incredible landscapes I've ever seen. 

Snake charmers in Djemaa el Fna, Marrakech. Yes, there seriously were snake charmers. And acrobats, and everything else you could imagine. This place was a circus like no other. 

Sunrise on the dunes. 

Riding camels into the desert. 

Crockpot Thursday

This Thursday we again made use of our crockpot. Yay for low prep! This recipe for Black Bean Chicken Salsa Soup was about the easiest recipe ever to prepare. And though it looks kind of icky, it actually tasted great! We didn't use mushrooms. The only thing I would change would be not to blend quite as much of the mixture. I think it would taste better perhaps with shredded chicken rather then how ours turned out. Oh well, it was still very good, and ready right when I walked in the door! I served it over some rice with corn bread.

Crockpot Burrito Soup!

This was the first time I've cooked with a crockpot, and I must say it was a great success! (Thanks for the crockpot mom and dad!)

Thursday night Alex and I both leave the house later but don't get home until 9 or 10. Getting home that late, you just want something already prepared. Hence, I have deemed Thursday night crockpot night! 

This recipe was fantastic. I threw in a few extra cloves of garlic and seasoned my beef while I cooked it with garlic powder and cayenne pepper, but otherwise, followed the recipe. (And no I'm not copying Erin, I had already planned to make this!)

It was freezing, by New York standards, on Thursday, so coming home to this hot soup was perfect. I had made some cornbread muffins to go with it and just had to cook up a little rice when I got home. We topped it with some grated cheddar and pepper jack cheese and sour cream. Easy!