Tag Archives: slow cooker

Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil & Spinach Stew

It’s been awhile since I created and shared a new recipe with you all. I have been in a bit of a culinary rut as of late, mostly cooking tried and true classics for the past couple of months. Today, however, I felt the urge to create something new on impulse and thus this Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil & Spinach Stew was born. I love a good plant-based soup, and particularly one that you can make entirely in the slow cooker, minimizing the active cooking time to almost nothing. This recipe ended up hitting all of the marks with its five minutes of prep and incredibly warming, earthy flavors and feel. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Slow Cooker Lentil & Spinach Stew

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: Absurdly Easy
  • Print

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 1/2 cups green lentils
  • 1 15oz can crushed tomatoes
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 2 teaspoons pepper
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric
  • Pinch cayenne
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 cups Spinach
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Directions:

Combine all ingredients onion thru bay leaf in a slow cooker. Stir to combine. Cook on low 6 hours or high 3 hours. When ready to serve, stir in the vinegar and spinach until wilted. Ladle into bowls and serve.

Slow Cooker Osso Bucco

Ciao friends! Today I am sharing with you a new recipe that utilizes the Slow Cooker to create a healthy variation of an Italian classic – Slow Cooker Osso Bucco! For those who are not familiar, traditional Osso Bucco usually refers to a specific cut of veal that is braised to fork tenderness in a concoction of wine, broth, vegetables, herbs, and spices, often served with a fresh herb gremolata. I typically do not eat veal because it is sad as hell, but luckily, you can achieve the warming and comforting qualities of Osso Bucco by replacing the veal with lighter, leaner, less sad protein choices like chicken or turkey, or even ¼ heads of cauliflower for a vegan variant. The next tweak to this Italian dish is to braise the protein in the slow cooker rather than on the stove or in the oven. By using the slow cooker, you guarantee tenderness and achieve greater freedom as you are able to allow the slow cooker to do the work all day so you can come home to fully cooked meal!

More or less a stewed dish with earthy herbs like rosemary and thyme and warming spices like cloves, Osso Bucco is a hearty, comforting dish that is perfect for fall and winter nights. I love making this dish with turkey around the holidays as it tastes and feels like a perfect holiday weeknight dinner. I recommend serving with a starch like mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes, risotto, or polenta to help soak up the sauce, and of course, lots of seasonal vegetables. Curl up with this dish and a Christmas movie and you are in for a cozy dinner treat!

Chop your vegetables and herbs…
Brown your chicken or turkey…
Put in the slow cooker….
Cook your veggies until tender…
Add in tomato paste and coat vegetables….
Add to the slow cooker with herbs, spices, and stock….
Cook it till its a yummy stew like this!
Plate.
Make your gremolatta…
Top with gremolatta….
Serve!

Slow Cooker Osso Bucco

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 4-6 bone-in, skin-on chicken or turkey pieces (thighs and breasts)
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 2 large carrots, chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ cup white wine
  • ½ cup broth of choice
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken or turkey on both sides with ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon pepper, and the garlic powder. Sear the chicken on both sides until golden-brown, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the skillet and place at the bottom of the slow cooker.

Add the onions, carrots, and celery to the skillet. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Cook till tender and onions translucent, 4-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir 1 minute until it coats the vegetables. Add the wine and deglaze the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook until evaporated. Pour the contents of the skillet into the slow cooker on top of the chicken.

Add the stock, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves, and cloves. Mix well and cover. Cook on low for 5 ½ – 6 hours or high for 2 ½ – 3 hours.

Plate the chicken or turkey pieces, spoon over some of the sauce, and if desired, sprinkle with optional gremolata.

Optional Gremolata:

  • 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Zest of half an orange
  • Zest of half a lemon
  • Pinch of salt and peper

Combine all in ingredients in a small bowl. Mix well.

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo

My Slow Cooker, Carlotta, is the best. She makes me all sorts of delicious foods from soups and stews to braises and poaches, she can do it all! One of my favorite dishes that I like to have Carlotta the Slow Cooker whip up is this Chicken Adobo. It is an incredibly simple dish, requiring few ingredients and only minutes of minimal effort to prepare.

It is rich with a flavor profile that is at once lightly spicy and subtly smokey. Additionally, the small shopping list for this recipe makes it quite cost effective.  It is also fit-fam friendly; it is completely gluten and dairy free and low in both fat and sugar. Combine all this with the fact that it is such an absurdly simple recipe to prepare and you will soon find this dish in your regular rotation.

I like to serve my chicken adobo with some zesty Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice and seasonal vegetables or zoodles. You can also shred the slow cooker level tender chicken to incorporate into tacos, enchiladas, or on top of a salad. Once the slow cooker has produced this great main dish for you, the world is yours to do with it as you please!

So whip out your Slow Cooker, name it like me, and get cooking!

Slow Cooker Chicken Adobo

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce *see note*
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons cumin
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 pinches salt
  • 1 pinch pepper
  • Cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Lay the chicken pieces at the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour over the tomato sauce. Add in the remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 4 hours or high for 2 hours. Option to shred chicken with forks or serve in whole pieces.

*Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce Note 1* You can find these peppers in small cans in the ethnic foods isle of your local grocery store. See picture below.

*Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce Note 2* The more peppers, the spicier the recipe. The use of 2 is quite mild, the use of 4 is decently spicy but nothing crazy. You pick your level of spice!

 

 

Place chicken in slow cooker…
Key ingredient! Found in your ethnic foods isle.
Pour and sprinkle everything on top of the chicken.
Cook on low for 4 hours or on high for 2 hours….
Serve and enjoy!

Spring is Sprung

The Spring Equinox is upon us and the season of spring is coming into full bloom! Each season has it’s own beauty and importance. Spring’s beauty is in its power as a time of renewal, of freshness and growth, of more sunlight and warmth, and of enhanced energy. There is much to be enjoyed in this new, bright season. And as with any season, spring brings different flavors and focuses. Here are a few of my favorite articles that are rooted in this great season to help you have the best spring possible!

(1) Pasta Primavera 

pasta-primavera-016

Pasta Primavera translates in Italian to “Spring Pasta” as this dish features on the fresh and bright flavors of the season.

(2) Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherds Pie

Saint Patrick’s Day is technically in winter, but we still consider it a Spring Holiday. And on this holiday, it is time for a Celtic Classic: Shepherd’s Pie.

(3) Slow Cooker Lemon Artichoke Chicken

Lemon Artichoke Chicken 2

Spring is a time for brighter flavors and of course, artichokes! This Slow Cooker dish can be dumped in the pot within 2 minutes and you come ready to a zesty and fresh meal!

(4) Saucha and the Spring

cleansing rain

Spring is a time of cleansing and growing. Explore this with yogic concept of “Saucha.”

Slow Cooker Lemon Artichoke Chicken

In the past year, I have fallen truly and deeply in love with my Slow Cooker, whom I affectionately call Carlotta. The relationship that I have with this piece of home-cook culinary equipment is nothing short of magical. In my busy 50+ hour work week, Carlotta often makes sure that I am fed healthful and delish meals with unimaginable ease. I adore her for it. This new recipe for Slow Cooker Lemon Artichoke Chicken that Carlotta and I created together is just one of my favorite meals to make for the whole week, especially in the warmer months.

OH CARLOTTA!

Carlotta carlotta 2

The recipe is unfathomably simple, quite inexpensive, and greatly healthy! Chicken, onions, garlic, pre-prepared artichoke hearts, capers, lemon, herbs, and a splash of wine make this dish zesty and bright with the chicken so tender it can be shredded with a fork. Essentially, you dump all of these ingredients into the Slow Cooker (I’ll let you name your own) and turn it on: that’s it! If you invest in a quality Slow Cooker complete with a timer that switches to the “Warm” setting after it is finished cooking and stays there – like Carlotta here – you can make this on your way out the door in the morning and when you get home in the evening, the Slow Cooker will have kept it warm and ready for you all day long. Once you experience this for yourself, you will find it hard to break away from your Slow Cooker for more than a week.

Lemon Artichoke Chicken 5

It looks messy because it is all so tender, but boy does it taste great!

I like to serve this Slow Cooker Lemon Artichoke Chicken with seasonal vegetables and some sort of carb to soak up the sauce like quinoa, rice, couscous, or my personal carb-fake-out cauliflower rice. This is the ultimate late-Spring and all-Summer week night meal that you are going to love!

Slow Cooker Lemon Artichoke Chicken

  • Servings: 4-6
  • Difficulty: Absurdly Easy
  • Print

Ingredients:

  • 4-6 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs (your choice)
  • 1 yellow onion, large diced
  • 2 tablespoons crushed garlic
  • 1 package frozen artichoke hearts or 2 cans artichoke hearts
  • ¼ cup capers, drained
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 lemon, halved then sliced
  • ¼ cup basil leaves, torn
  • 2 tablespoons white wine
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 ½ teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Place the chicken at the bottom of the Slow Cooker. Cover with the onions, garlic, artichoke hearts, capers and dried oregano. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the lemon slices and half of the basil over all. Pour in the white wine.

Cook on the low setting for 4 ½ hours or on the high setting for 2 ½ hours.

To serve, plate the chicken with desired sides. Spoon over some of the sauce and top with additional torn basil leaves. Enjoy!

Place the chicken in the Slow Cooker. Cover with the onion, garlic, artichokes, capers, oregano, salt and pepper.
Cover all with the lemon and basil. Splash in the wine.
Cover and turn it on!
So tender!
Kind of messy, but oh so good!
Serve with quinoa, couscous, rice, or cauliflower rice to soak up the sauce and seasonal vegetables.
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