With a busy work day, it's so handy to use a slow cooker and come home to a meal, already cooked.
I use the best slow cooker style ever. It's oblong, can hold 1-2 chickens, has a pot apart from the cooking base. The base can be used as a grill, and the pot can be used on the stove top for quick starts. The lid is heavy glass and can be inverted for use as a serving plate.
Remember, I'm a cook who doesn't measure, so you're on your own.
Pot roasts are usual, but here's a family German twist: Brown a pork roast (I can do that in my same slow cooker pot), place it on the heated grill, add some water and cover. You can add a jar of sauerkraut at this point, or wait a while. Also add onions, garlic, a pinch of red peppers, parsley, leeks, chives, whatever. (The onions sweeten the kraut.) Add whole peeled potatoes about an hour from serving. Serve with sour cream for the potatoes. And yes, this is smelly :)
Chicken Soup:
If you want to help cure cold and flus, here's a good one.
Slow cook whole chicken with water. Remove chicken to cool before deboning. Meanwhile, add more water to the pot, set on the stove and bring to a boil with bay leaves, parsley, garlic and onion, that pinch of red pepper. (Sometimes I use dried leeks. I'm a fan of keeping dried herbs on the shelf.) Drop chicken bits into broth and when boiling well, add noodles. We like the heavier cut, and again serve with sour cream.
If you're really battling that cold, just use the broth and chicken, skip the noodles. For a cold, my mother and grandmother used to add a little more garlic and red pepper flakes to the broth and serve it in a cup. They dipped chicken pieces in it.
BLACK BEANS, my favorites are great in a slow cooker. I sometimes cook a pot of plain black beans, no seasonings, and then freeze them for different uses. Note the taco recipe below the chili one. Black beans are great in salads, too. Here's more on them:
Black Beans and Tacos
1. Meatless chili: Soak black beans overnight. You can do this in the slow cooker. In the morning, place on heated base and add tomatoes, garlic and onions and chili seasoning and olive oil. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce. You can use them on tacos, enchiladas, etc., too.
2. Cait's Black Bean Tacos (I don't give measurements, remember?)
Drained black beans, heated and spooned over heated soft corn tortilla shells. Add shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sliced black olives and avocadoes if you wish, a favorite hot sauce, shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes. Mmm.Or-- Heat cooked beans in taco sauce, add whatever onions, green chiles, etc. that you like and then use for stuffing.Or--For a snack, place tortilla shells in a glass pie pan, a spoonful of beans and cheese over it, nuke, then add onions, hot sauce, whatever.Cait's Black Bean Pasta SaladPasta, cooked and drained and rinsed. I like shells or "spirals". Add black beans to suit. Chopped green pepper, onions (red or green), olives, hard-boiled eggs, what you have and your family likes. Use your favorite Italian salad dressing, or mayonaise with chili powder serves well, too. Chill before serving. This is a great, light summer meal or side dish.
So cook up a pot of black beans, drain them well, and keep them in the frig!
I use the best slow cooker style ever. It's oblong, can hold 1-2 chickens, has a pot apart from the cooking base. The base can be used as a grill, and the pot can be used on the stove top for quick starts. The lid is heavy glass and can be inverted for use as a serving plate.
Remember, I'm a cook who doesn't measure, so you're on your own.
Pot roasts are usual, but here's a family German twist: Brown a pork roast (I can do that in my same slow cooker pot), place it on the heated grill, add some water and cover. You can add a jar of sauerkraut at this point, or wait a while. Also add onions, garlic, a pinch of red peppers, parsley, leeks, chives, whatever. (The onions sweeten the kraut.) Add whole peeled potatoes about an hour from serving. Serve with sour cream for the potatoes. And yes, this is smelly :)
Chicken Soup:
If you want to help cure cold and flus, here's a good one.
Slow cook whole chicken with water. Remove chicken to cool before deboning. Meanwhile, add more water to the pot, set on the stove and bring to a boil with bay leaves, parsley, garlic and onion, that pinch of red pepper. (Sometimes I use dried leeks. I'm a fan of keeping dried herbs on the shelf.) Drop chicken bits into broth and when boiling well, add noodles. We like the heavier cut, and again serve with sour cream.
If you're really battling that cold, just use the broth and chicken, skip the noodles. For a cold, my mother and grandmother used to add a little more garlic and red pepper flakes to the broth and serve it in a cup. They dipped chicken pieces in it.
BLACK BEANS, my favorites are great in a slow cooker. I sometimes cook a pot of plain black beans, no seasonings, and then freeze them for different uses. Note the taco recipe below the chili one. Black beans are great in salads, too. Here's more on them:
Black Beans and Tacos
1. Meatless chili: Soak black beans overnight. You can do this in the slow cooker. In the morning, place on heated base and add tomatoes, garlic and onions and chili seasoning and olive oil. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce. You can use them on tacos, enchiladas, etc., too.
2. Cait's Black Bean Tacos (I don't give measurements, remember?)
Drained black beans, heated and spooned over heated soft corn tortilla shells. Add shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sliced black olives and avocadoes if you wish, a favorite hot sauce, shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes. Mmm.Or-- Heat cooked beans in taco sauce, add whatever onions, green chiles, etc. that you like and then use for stuffing.Or--For a snack, place tortilla shells in a glass pie pan, a spoonful of beans and cheese over it, nuke, then add onions, hot sauce, whatever.Cait's Black Bean Pasta SaladPasta, cooked and drained and rinsed. I like shells or "spirals". Add black beans to suit. Chopped green pepper, onions (red or green), olives, hard-boiled eggs, what you have and your family likes. Use your favorite Italian salad dressing, or mayonaise with chili powder serves well, too. Chill before serving. This is a great, light summer meal or side dish.
So cook up a pot of black beans, drain them well, and keep them in the frig!
Winter means lots cooking.
I hope you'll enjoy some of my favorites.
I hope you'll enjoy some of my favorites.
A Stranger's Touch is an April release, the 2nd in the Aisling Psychic Triplet Trilogy. At the Edge is the first book in the series.