Crockpot Quinoa Chili

We've been on a bit of a crockpot kick recently with some favorites like Beyond Meat Chili or Kung Pao Chickpeas in the regular meal planning rotation. That said, don't want to overdo them and have them get old, so always on the lookout for new options. This one looked worth a try:

Recipe

• 2 1/2 c vegetable broth
• 1/2 c quinoa
• 1 can (15 oz) beans - black, pinto, your call - drained & rinsed
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes - NOT drained
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 c corn kernels
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 small chili pepper, minced
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

I want to say, just add it all to your crockpot - but the original recipe is a bit more strict on the order. So, if you want to follow that: 

• broth, quinoa, beans & tomatoes
• peppers, carrot, corn, onion, garlic
• seasonings

OK after stirring all those in (in order or not), cook 2.5-3 hours high or 5-6 low - longer makes it less soupy.

Notes

This one came out unexpectedly kick-ass. Was very glad I doubled it up and will be eating scoops of this for a little while... Seriously, it smells so good (with the taste to back it up) that I haven't paused long enough to take a picture the first time or even with a couple rounds of leftovers.

Kung Pao Chickpeas

Always good to add to the collection of crockpot meals! This sounded like a good one, despite the questionable "detox" claims...

Recipe

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 red bell peppers, chopped

2 cans of chickpeas, drained & rinsed

1/4 c soy sauce

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp sesame oil

green onions, sesame seeds, rice

Whisk together the sauce ingredients, and pour over the onion, pepper & chickpeas in the crockpot. Cook 3 hours on high or 6 on low. Keep an eye on it, and add a couple tbsps of water if it looks like it's drying out. Easy enough!

Notes

Standard crockpot stuff - pretty easy, and really good! I'd recommend scaling this up - even with rice and maybe other veggies, one person could easily scarf down a can of these chickpeas ;)

Beyond Meat Slow Cooker Chili

Trying out a few quarantine / work from home vegan recipes, and thought this recipe looked like one of the best and easiest options:

Recipe

1 can pinto beans
1 can diced tomatoes (with green chilies)
1 cup (or 1 pack) Beyond Meat crumbles
1/4 cup water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp smoked paprika (or a few drops of liquid smoke)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp chili powder
nutritional yeast, salt & pepper to taste

Add everything to your slow cooker and heat on low for 7-9 hours. Season with nutritional yeast & salt & pepper; serve over rice if desired.

Note that you may need to stir it up about an hour in - Beyond Meat can clump up a bit, but if you break it up then you should be all set.

Notes

Turned out really well!  A little on the dry side, but maybe because it was in a thin layer at the bottom of the somewhat oversized crockpot.  Would probably double in the future although that starts to be a lot of crumbles...

Crockpot Garlic Parm Chicken

Once I realized this wasn't chicken parm, it looked like an interesting crockpot option.  From here, vaguely garbled via Reddit...

Recipe

2 lbs bone-in chicken thighs
1 lb baby red potatoes, quartered
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
lots of grated Parmesan cheese
parsley, chopped
olive oil, salt & pepper

Heat 1/3 c or so of oil in a large skillet, season your chicken with salt & pepper, and sear golden-brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes.

In your slow cooker, toss the potatoes with garlic, thyme, some parm, salt & pepper, and a couple tbsps of olive oil.  Chicken goes on top; feel free to toss more, and sprinkle with more garlic and cheese.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours or low 8 hours.  Garnish with more cheese and parsley.

Notes

Browning the chicken takes away from some of the appeal of one-pot crockpot recipes.  But the crispy chicken skin is pretty worth it.

I bumped up the veggie / produce quotient a bit with the remainder of a bag of baby carrots and an onion.

Awesome garlic smell; not so awesome burned crust on my crockpot...

Slow Cooker Peach Salsa Pork

New job, so time to experiment with crockpot options for meals ready to eat back at home.  I was hesitant to try this one, since pre-made peach salsa seems like a bit of a shortcut.  But it does make it so simple and easy - just three ingredients!  To wit:

Recipe

2+ lb boneless pork roast
1+ lbs sweet potatoes
2 c peach salsa
vegetable oil, salt & pepper

Chop your sweet potato into 1" chunks - no need to go too small! - and place in the bottom of the crockpot.  Heat a tbsp oil in a heavy skillet.  Season your roast with salt & pepper.  Brown on all sides, then place on top of sweet potatoes.  Pour over the salsa.  Heat on high 4-5 hours, or low 7-9.

Serve with rice, spicy sesame oil, cilantro, parsley, chopped green onion, anything else.

Notes

It took a while to get to this since it's not quite as simple as putting everything in the crockpot and setting it to go for a while.  But it came out well in the end!  The original recipe tells you to neatly slice your pork into chops, but as soon as I tried to do that it shredded.  Not a problem though!  The way my day went, it cooked on the higher end of the time range so maybe dried out a little; a little extra salsa can address that.  The sweet potatoes came out amazing...

Crockpot Flank Steak

Cannibal Stew's first corporate sponsor!

It's always nice when work overlaps and gives you something nice for your personal life.  Browsing Bank of America's social media properties for a project, I took note of a link to some money-saving crockpot recipes, and bookmarked them for a closer look later.  Here's the first one...

Recipe

3 lbs flank steak, each steak cut into thirds (if necessary - I overlooked this part with my one steak)
1 1/2 c broth
1/4 c sherry (or apple cider) vinegar
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp cumin
salt & pepper
extras: tortillas, cilantro, jalapeno, rice, couscous, etc.

Do the crockpot thing: combine it all.  The meat should be submerged or close to it, so get the veggies and stuff out from under if necessary.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred the meat (let it sit 10 minutes first if you can) and serve.

Notes

It seems a pity to eat flank steak not from the grill, but no regrets about this one.  The recipe says the cut has a "meaty" flavor, which, well, how could it not be meaty?  (They also describe the whole dish
as "fragrant.")  But yeah, the flank steak really was good (if on the expensive side).

I got distracted and forgot to prep anything else to go with, so I enjoyed it as a paleo stew-type dish.  Very good, but I'd try it as tacos or over rice or, as per a reader comment on the original, couscous, which sounds even better...

Crockpot Greek-Style Lamb

I've had this crockpot recipe earmarked for a while, but a big leg of lamb is hard to find nearby, and expensive...  Poor ol' Key Foods is having meat fridge issues, though, so I made a Whole Foods run.  Nothing wrong with their meat section, except still expensive I guess...

Recipe
Lamb
4-6 lb leg of lamb
zest & juice of 1 lemon
8 garlic cloves, peeled
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp dried oregano
salt & pepper

Rub the lamb with salt & pepper, then olive oil, then oregano.  Put it in your crockpot and sprinkle over the lemon and garlic cloves.  Cover and cook for 4-5 hours (add at least an hour if it's a bone-in roast).  Shred the lamb by hand/forks on a cutting board.  Pour the juices into a saucepan and reduce by half.  Mix back in with the lamb.

Pitas
1-2 c Greek yogurt
zest & juice of 1 lemon
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
spinach, olives, bell pepper, feta, etc.
pitas (original recipe says tortillas, but seriously?)

Stir together the yogurt, lemon, onion and garlic.  Chop the veggies.  Stuff in pitas with meat.

Notes

I was worried that the crockpot wouldn't get the best out of a fine piece of meat like a leg of lamb.  It was tough to leave it sitting out all day while I was at work...  Maybe another time I'll stick around and roast it, but no regrets this time.  I was also on the fence about part two of the recipe.  That yogurt sauce is great, though, and it's a good produce accompaniment.  So it was one of my more expensive dishes, definitely, but so far I've gotten a handful of good meals out of it.

Crockpot Chicken Curry

Paleo, DIY crockpot curry:

Recipe

1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks
6 c of chopped veggies, e.g., onion, carrot, green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, red bell pepper
14 oz coconut milk
1 c crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Chop your chicken and veggies and put them in your crockpot.  Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and spices.  Stir, cover, and cook low for 5-6 hours.  You can uncover for the last hour to help it thicken.

Notes

My spice selection wasn't quite up for the job this time: no coriander, and ran out of cinnamon.  So the end product lacked that distinct curry flavor.  You couldn't tell by the scent, though - the coconut is especially mouth-watering.  And ultimately, the taste was fine.  The chicken is super tender :)  I could do with a little more spice, and I guess coriander.  With the abundant vegetable options, this one's definitely worth keeping in mind.

The original recipe calls it "yellow curry"; mine was clearly a rich orange though:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Vegetarian crockpot recipe, for a change:

Recipe

up to 1 lb broccoli, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pint half-and-half
2 cups stock
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
16 oz, sharp cheddar cheese

The broccoli, onion, carrot, and garlic go in the crockpot.  Pour over the half-and-half and stock, and the spices, and mix it all up.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once it's done, blend or mash it up.  Add cheese and serve.

Notes

I got back from work to quite a strong scent...  The contents of the crockpot seemed to have separated out a bit.  Not as green as I thought, either.  However, once it's all smashed up it's pretty good.  A pound of cheese seems like an awful lot, but it really is an essential ingredient so don't hold back!  And it may not be an essential ingredient, but warmed up the leftovers with some bacon, also pretty good.

Ancho-Cola Pulled Pork

Pork shoulder, peppers and coke?  Sounds good!

Recipe

3 onions
6-9 lb. bone-in pork shoulder
2 cans of chipotles in adobo
24 oz. cola

Peel the onions, cut them in half, and lay them across the bottom of the crockpot.  Put the pork shoulder on top, fat side up.  Pour the chipotles and cola over the pork.  Cook on low for 8-9 hours.

Once it's cooked, remove the pork to a cutting board or bowl and begin to tear apart.  Pour the liquid through a strainer into a saucepan (pressing the solids to squeeze out as much as possible).  Boil down (aggressively) to about 1/4 the volume.  Mix the sauce back into the pork.

Lastly, you have to crisp up the meat.  The original recipe says to fry it with some oil in a skillet, but I preferred to pop it under the broiler.  Once it's crisp, serve with stuff like rice, tortillas, salsa, cheese, sour cream, lime wedges, etc.

Notes

It's a simple recipe, but very rich, especially with the sauce so concentrated down.  A lot of crockpot recipes end when the meat is done, but the texture is worth the extra effort.  Making it in such bulk means you expect to have leftovers, and coming out of the fridge or thawed from the freezer, you just pick up at the crisping step...

Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken

It really seems that there's no end to delicious-looking crockpot recipes - which works out nicely, because the same could be said about this winter.  Here's the latest (originally here):

Recipe

3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thighs, whatever
1 onion, minced
3/4 c honey
1/2 c soy sauce
1/4 c ketchup
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes
4 tsp cornstarch
1/4 c water
salt & pepper
rice (optional)
sesame seeds (optional)

Season your chicken with a little salt and pepper, and put into the crockpot.  Add your onions.  Mix together the honey, soy sauce, ketchup, oils, ginger, garlic, and red pepper, then pour over everything.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

One more step: Once it's done, remove the chicken.  Whisk together the cornstarch and water, and stir into the broth.  Cook on high another 15 minutes, then serve - over rice, with sesame seeds sprinkled on top, etc.

Notes

I put this together in a flurry of about 20 minutes (although I forgot the garlic).  Then it did the crockpot thing sitting around for an afternoon, and now it is super delicious (I also forgot the sesame seeds at first).  Rice (or something similar/paleo) is a must, because the sauce is so good...  It might be worth tearing apart the chicken a little bit toward the end so that the juice can better sink in...  Definitely worth coming back to, testing some little additions (sriracha? more veggies? etc.).

yeah, could use some veggies...

Crockpot Pork & Chiles II

I'm always up for a new crockpot recipe.  This one is similar in a lot of ways to one of my favorites, but ends up very different...

Recipe

1 lb pork kebabs or roast
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken or veggie broth
1 cup tomato paste
1 can (15 oz) black beans (drained & rinsed)
1 can (4.5 oz) diced chiles
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp sugar (or honey)
salt & pepper

Put it in the crockpot and cook low for 4-5 hours (longer for a roast).

Notes

This one ends up with a much thicker sauce - tomato and bean-based - than the other, brothier recipe.  It can mask the chiles a bit, but still a good one!

Crockpot Orange Beef Stew

I earmarked a couple crockpot recipes to try, and this is one of a few from the same post recommending some combinations you can make in a big batch and freeze into a few different bags for convenient use later.  I didn't bother with that part and just cooked this one on its own; other ones worth trying there too...

Recipe

3 lbs beef roast (don't think it matters if it's whole or cubed)
1 sweet potato, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, roughly chopped (not in original recipe but why not?)
1/2 to 1 bunch of scallions, chopped
1 cup orange juice
1 cup beef or veggie broth
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp flour

Mix it all in the crockpot and cook low for 8 hours or high for 4.

Notes

At first nothing really stood out other than the sweet potatoes, which were soft and mushy, and had a nice citrus tang to them.  It's a nice hearty stew though!  But the best part was when I was scooping leftovers and all that was left in the pot were the dregs of the broth.  Leave room just to slurp spoonfuls of that stuff - tiny bits of beef, sweet potato, and scallion in a rich citrusy broth...

Whole Chicken in a Crockpot

Well well, Commander Roostro, at last we meet face-to-face.  Your days of pro-poultry terrorism are over.  We will soon have captured the rest of the Galline Freedom Front as well.  But first, we have something special prepared for you.  Our... usual... methods are not enough for someone of your prominence.  Do you see?  Ingenious, isn't it?  Ah yes, that is your friend and ally, Agent Onion One!  Or what's left of him.  What's that?  You're ready to talk?  Oh no, Roostro, that chance has passed.  Seal him into the device!  A-hahaha-HAHAHA!

The Recipe

1 large chicken, about 3-4 lbs
1 large onion

Rub
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper

Chop your onion and lay it as a base layer in the crockpot.  Mix the rub spices together (or whatever combination you want) and, yes, rub it all over the chicken.  Top and bottom, into the cavity (remove giblets, if any), in all the crevices, even under the skin if you want.  Put it in your crockpot (note: breast side down, apparently) and cook on high for about 4-5 hours.  If you poke it with a fork and it just falls apart, it's done.

Notes

We salute your sacrifice, Commander Roostro!  This chicken is so delicious.  Anything on the surface has that delicious rub, and most of the meat is moist and tender.  Any parts that dry out a bit, you can spoon over the onion and juices from the bottom of the pot.  Just watch out for bones - those get crumbly too and you probably don't want to swallow too many...  You probably want to pull everything apart and put the meat on a separate plate to serve or eat off of, although it's impossible not to eat most forkfuls as you pull them out!

 

Oh yeah.  Original recipe here.

Crockpot Jambalaya

A few years back, my go-to dish was old Zatarain's jambalaya out of a box.  So when I happened across this (paleo) jambalaya recipe, I was pretty excited to give it a try from scratch:

Recipe

4 c chicken stock
rice (optional)

Meat
1/2 lb chicken, diced
1 package andouille sausage, sliced
1/2 lb raw shrimp, deveined

Greens
4 peppers (mix of colors), chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 large can diced tomatoes
2 c okra (optional)
2 jalapenos, diced (optional)

Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, diced
2 bay leaves
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
hot sauce (optional)

Start with the stock, chicken, greens, and seasonings all in the crockpot to cook on low for 6 hours.  With 30 minutes to go, put in the andouille, then with 20 minutes, the shrimp.  You can add the rice for 20 minutes too, or cook separately.  Done.

Notes

So the chicken and shrimp amounts are pretty approximate - anything up to or a little over a pound won't overwhelm.  As simple as the instructions are, the toughest part is all the chopping.  The peppers, onion, garlic, etc. are pretty straightforward, but the okra was surprisingly gooey.  And it was my first experience with prepping raw shrimp.  The little legs, shells, veins...  gross.  And honestly, the andouille is really the star of the dish.  It's soupier than other jambalaya's I've had, but more colorful.  And great!  Next time just need to find more eaters.

Crockpot Apple Ginger Pork

I first tried this recipe a little while back at the convergence of a few themes of my cooking experimentation to that point - paleo recipes from CrossFit, getting use out of my crockpot, and trying to incorporate ginger.  This isn't my favorite crockpot pork roast preparation, but it's a solid recipe with distinctive sweet-but-not-too-sweet flavors.

The Recipe

2 lb pork roast
1 onion, sliced
2 apples, sliced
2/3 cup broth
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp ginger, grated
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp pepper
1 garlic cloves, smashed
1 bay leaf

It's a crockpot recipe.  Put it all in there and cook for like 6-8 hours on high.

Notes

Because of my much lamented mini-crockpot I really had to cut back on the onion and apple just to fit everything.  And I used vegetable broth as the liquid base.  Otherwise, not much to improve on!  I would point out that the recipe doesn't specify a type of apple, but since it gets kind of mushed into the gravy it's not a big deal - I just lean toward something sweet versus tart.

Here's the finished product - that crispy green on the side is a batch of kale chips:

Apple Onion Pork with Butternut Squash

Fall is in the air, but maybe not enough of an autumn chill to turn entirely to soups and stews and such...  Instead, we started with some seasonal produce with this recipe.  It's a bit of an ambitious undertaking, appropriate for a group cooking and eating evening.  Butternut squash is always a bit of an ordeal, and this preparation took longer than anticipated to cook.  On the plus side, though, the crockpot can really turn not-quite-ripe squash into a pleasant goo...  It was a shame it wasn't ready with the rest of the entree, though, because the pork and apple-onion relish (?) really could have used another savory component, and it was not nearly sweet enough to pass off as a dessert.  But it was interesting and fun, and now that I've rambled on, I guess trying to provide those thousand words to make up for no picture...  But yeah, no picture :(

Crockpot Chile Pork

I went through a phase where I was ducking out of work briefly to set up a crockpot meal about once a week - don't know why I stopped!  Aside from the Johnson family classic, this crockpot pork and peppers was maybe the biggest success.  A lot of peppers and spices in there - too many to fit into my kiddie crockpot, unfortunately.  But even cutting back gives the meat plenty of flavor and a great sauce.

The Recipe

2 lb pork roast
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 4-oz cans of diced chiles
2-3 jalapenos, diced
2 cups broth
1 8-oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tsp each of oregano, salt, pepper
1/2 tsp each of cumin, sage, paprika, cayenne pepper

Put your pork in the crockpot, then veggies, then chiles and tomatoes, then spices, then broth.  Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Outcome

Because of said mini-crockpot, I had to stretch the pork for a couple people.  With some tortilla, papaya and kale chips, made a very nice meal:

South Dakota Beef Brisket

It is a grave oversight that we have not yet taken the time to give this family gem its due.  This recipe goes back to the early days when the courageous Johnsons first came over from Sweden and settled in America's heartland, persevering through harsh conditions, tenuous relations with the Sioux, and encroachment from the pesky Norwegians.  It was passed down to me with great solemnity.  Here it is documented for posterity.

The Recipe

One pound beef roast
One bottle of ketchup
One can of Coke
One packet of French onion soup mix

Cook in your crockpot on high for about 6 hours. 

Give thanks to Odin and eat.