February 2nd, 2012
I am always amazed at how well my crockpot cooks vegetables. A roast is so tender it is falling apart, yet the potatoes and carrots keep their shape and aren’t mushy in the least.
So I decided to look for some vegetarian crockpot recipes, to better appreciate this function of the crockpot that I had recently only relegated to accompaniments to the meat. Here are a couple of interesting ones I found online… of course I tweaked them a bit, as is my tendency. Hope you like them!
Asian Winter Vegetable Stew for the Crockpot – serves 4-6
4 large potatoes, or a two pound bag of mini-potatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small bag of baby carrots, about 2 cups
1 small onion, chopped
1 package of dried Asian mushrooms – available in the produce or Asian section at most grocery stores.
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp. chopped ginger
1 cup tomato sauce
1/4 cup natural-style peanut butter – natural (100% peanuts) kinds are better for cooking salty dishes since they have no added sugar….
2 T soy sauce
1 cup water or broth
If you have time, sauté the onion in a skillet with a little olive oil, but it’s fine if you just throw it in, too. Otherwise, add all vegetables, including mushrooms, into the crockpot.
Whisk together remaining ingredients to make the sauce, and pour over the veggies.
Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. If you want to add a little more protein, stir in a can of chickpeas or black beans, or get adventurous with some firm tofu cubes.
Slow Cooker Wild Rice and Vegetable Bake – serves 4 as a main course or 8 as a side dish
1 1/2 cup wild rice rinsed
2 lb butternut squash – peel your own and cube, or use frozen or pre-chopped cubes
1 onion, chopped
1 lb fresh button mushrooms, halved
1 cup carrots
6 cup vegetable stock or broth prepared with vegetable bouillon cubes
3T fresh lemon juice
2 T butter or light olive oil
1 T fresh marjoram leaves chopped or 1 tsp dried marjoram
Salt (optional), to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried cherries, apricots, cranberries or golden raisins,
Put rice in a 5-quart or larger slow cooker (if using a 3 1/2- to 4-quart cooker, cut recipe in half).
Add squash, onion, mushrooms and carrots. Pour in stock and lemon juice. Dot with butter or drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle on marjoram, salt and pepper. Do not stir. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.
Stir in dried fruit a half hour before serving. Cook covered until rice is done.
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January 26th, 2012
If you’re looking to get more vegetables into your family, here is the recipe for you – cream of mushroom soup is a magic ingredient; it makes children eat vegetables. You can use just about any combination of vegetables, so use this recipe to clean out your veggie crisper the day before you go shopping, or unearth some frozen veggies when you tidy up your freezer and throw them in. If you want to go vegetarian, skip the chicken and throw in some chickpeas…
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1” cubes
1 tsp. oil (optional)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tsp. each chopped garlic and chopped ginger
2-3 tsp. curry powder or curry paste – adjust this to your liking. If you don’t like really spicy food, use mild curry, but use at least 2 teaspoons.
1 can pineapple tidbits in juice
2-4 cups of chopped vegetables
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Cut chicken into cubes.
In a large pan or pot, heat oil, if using, over medium heat. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes, until they are softened and translucent. Add chicken, garlic and ginger, and stir to coat. Add curry powder and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Open the can of pineapple and save the lid. Use the lid to keep the pineapple pieces in the can while you pour the juice into the chicken mixture. Stir to coat, and add in any hard uncooked vegetables like raw carrots or celery.
Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until chicken and vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
Stir in the can of soup and any softer or pre-cooked vegetables. Stir in the pineapple. Taste and add salt if necessary – but the soup is probably salty enough.
Serve with brown or basmati rice
Substitution – to make this recipe lactose-free and gluten-free, use half a can of coconut milk in place of the cream of mushroom soup.
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January 19th, 2012
It seems like everyone’s trying to eat more protein lately…. especially at breakfast, where eggs can get boring after a while. This recipe is adapted from The All New Good Housekeeping Cookbook, but I used higher-protein, higher-fibre flours and more eggs to make it less refined-carb-y and more protein-y… this recipe makes six big just-one-for-breakfast sized pancakes.
1/2 cup white (all purpose) flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup buckwheat, oat, or spelt flour, or a combination
1/2 cup soy flour or other bean flour, or a combination
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup ground flax seed or oat bran, or a combination
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 2 1/2 cups buttermilk (or skim milk with some sour cream or yogurt stirred in)
1/4 cup melted butter
4 large eggs
Stir all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Beat 2 cups of milk (and other dairy if using) with butter and eggs in a medium bowl. Add wet ingredients to dry, stirring until just combined. If the batter is very stiff, add some more milk until the batter can pour off a spoon. It will still be quite thick, though. It depends on the kinds of flours you use.
You can make the pancakes any size you want. Heat pan over medium heat. Grease your pan if it is not non-stick.
Pour batter into hot pan and spread with back of spoon if it is too thick to flow on its own. Cook until bubbles stay holes when they burst – they don’t cover themselves back up with uncooked batter. Edges of cake will be dry, too. Flip and cook for another minute or two.
Pancakes keep well in the fridge for about a week, or the freezer for a month or two. Heat in microwave for 30 seconds, top with jam or syrup or both.
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January 12th, 2012
Here’s a way to get some vitamins and fibre into the vegetable-challenged people in your life, whoever they may be…
3-4 lb pork loin roast
Salt & pepper
4 apples, peeled and quartered
2 cups baby carrots
1 cup sliced parsnips (optional)
1/4 cup apple juice
3 tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
Place apple quarters on the bottom of the crock, and then place roast on top. Place carrots and parsnips around the roast. Sprinkle all with salt and pepper. Combine apple juice, sugar & ginger. Spoon the glaze over the roast, covering entire top. Cover & cook on LOW 10-12 hrs. Remove the roast – the apples will be more like applesauce, but when you stir the glaze into it, it will thicken into a nice sauce for the vegetables. Serve with rice. You can use the leftover pork roast by shredding and mixing with BBQ sauce.
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December 21st, 2011
Three years ago I went to my parents’ place for Christmas, and immediately posted this recipe on FB with comments below…. it’s a great recipe!
“My mom made this for Christmas this year, and I’ve been eating it incessantly since I got here 24 hours ago. The recipe came from Bonnie Quick, my mother’s friend Holly’s mother.
A nice simple steamed pudding, delicious and Christmassy, and best of all, allergen free for me! Served with a sauce that can be festively “hardened” with a splash of rum… ”
Pudding/cake:
1/2 cup molasses
1/3 cup water
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 cups cranberries, cut in quarters
Combine all ingredients, folding in the cranberries last.
Pour into a 2 quart greased tube pan, and set the cake pan in a roasting pan.
Add water to the roaster to come at least halfway up the side of the pan, and cover, either with the roaster lid, or tightly wrapped with foil.
Bake 45 minutes at 350°F.
Sauce:
1/4 cup margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup cream
Mix butter, sugar and vanilla well, then add cream. Bring to a boil.
Serve wedges of cake with sauce poured over.
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December 16th, 2011
After baking some shortbread cookies last week, I ended up with waaayy more chopped cherries than I needed to decorate them – my son got carried away with the knife and cutting board – so I decided to come up with a new recipe. I remembered Cherry Blossom chocolates from when I was a kid, and came up with this easy fudge recipe to recreate that flavour.
This really is an easy recipe – no candy thermometers, and I did everything in the microwave. It does take some time from start to finish, though, because three different layers have to chill separately. I’ve posted step-by-step photos on our Magic Fridge Facebook page!
Ingredients:
1 and 1/3 cans of condensed milk
2 cups chocolate chips – semisweet or dark, depending on your taste
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup chopped maraschino cherries, drained, or glace cherries
1 cup chopped nuts (I used salted cashews)
Directions:
Place chocolate and white chocolate in separate glass microwave safe bowls. Open one can of condensed milk and scoop 2/3 of it into the chocolate bowl and 1/3 of it into the white chocolate bowl.
Microwave the chocolate bowl for 30 seconds on high, then remove and stir with a microwave-safe utensil (I use a rubber scraper/spatula). If chocolate is not fully melted, microwave for another 10 seconds and repeat. Scrape *two-thirds* of this mixture into a well-greased 8×8 pan and cover with a piece of cling film. Press the chocolate into the pan with your hands, using the cling film as a barrier. Leave the film on and chill for an hour in the fridge. Save the remaining third of the chocolate mixture for the topping later.
Once the base is chilled, microwave the white chocolate bowl for 20-30 seconds and stir until melted, then add the coconut. Sprinkle cherries over the base, and pour the white chocolate-coconut mixture over top. Use the cling film trick again to flatten the white chocolate mixture and make sure it is well adhered to the base. Chill, with cling film on top, for at least 2 hours – this layer is softer, so it will take longer to set up.
To make the third layer, add 1/3 of a can of condensed milk to the reserved chocolate mixture and microwave 20-30 seconds; stir until melted. This layer will have a thinner consistency than the base layer. Take out your chilled fudge and evenly sprinkle the nuts over the white chocolate mixture. Pour the thin chocolate mixture over the top, and once again use some cling film to press the last layer evenly over the top of the nuts. Chill for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight, since this last layer is even softer than the other two.
When it is thoroughly chilled, remove the fudge from the pan and cut it into pieces, making sure the nut layer is on top for easier cutting. It will keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
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November 17th, 2011
A few weeks ago, I posted about crockpot kits for the freezer, and a few folks on Twitter really took it on board! Now they’re asking for more recipes, so I thought I would share a few more kits…
Beef stew…. In the dry bag: carrots, mushrooms, onions, celery. In the wet bag: stew beef, beef broth, garlic, herbs, Worcestershire sauce. Add some potatoes when starting the crock, and stir in some frozen peas right before serving. For a creamy stew, add a can of cream of mushroom soup
Asian chicken thighs…. In the dry bag: carrots, chopped cabbage, onion. In the wet bag: boneless skinless chicken thighs, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, hot sauce (optional). If you have some, stir in some bean sprouts and bell peppers right before serving, and serve with rice or noodles. This one is also nice with a couple of pork tenderloins
Chicken cacciatore…. In the dry bag: onion, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini. In the wet bag: boneless skinless chicken thighs, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes (optional), garlic, basil, a pinch of rosemary, salt and pepper. Add a sprinkle of crushes chiles if you like it spicy! Serve with pasta and top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
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November 3rd, 2011
I don’t even want to think about it yet, but the holiday season is upon us – if the commercials on TV are to be believed, anyway 
Soon, we’ll be planning parties and RSVPing to things, and one of them is bound to be a potluck.
Here’s Ridiculously Easy but Very Impressive (aka REVI) recipe, one that is so easy your friends won’t believe it when you tell them how you made it after serving it to them at a potluck brunch. It’s also vegetarian.
Easy Broccoli Quiche – serves 4 hungry people or makes 8-12 potluck brunch slices
From allrecipes.com
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli – gotta be fresh, frozen makes it watery.
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, melted (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F
Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft.
Meanwhile, press 1 cup of the shredded cheese into the pie crust to keep it from getting too soggy.
Spoon vegetables into crust.
Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper, and stir in melted butter, if using.
Pour egg mixture over vegetables and top with the other ½ cup of cheese.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.
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October 27th, 2011
So you want to use your crockpot, but mornings are just too busy to be messing around with chopping veggies and dealing with raw meat. Here’s your solution!
I make these crockpot kits for my clients, and they just love them. Just about any crockpot recipe can be prepared this way. Just be sure to keep the potatoes out of the freezer and in the cupboard until they are going into the crock, and keep the liquid with the meat, not the veggies.
You can even do several at once, and that way you can chop up lots of onions and celery and stuff and make an assembly line. To make the process even more streamlined, do it as soon as you get home from the grocery store so that you don’t need to unpack and store the groceries you need for the recipes. Kids can help with the squishing around of the sauce and the filling of the bags.
Here’s a recipe I use often, here at home and also for my clients.
Freezer to Crockpot BBQ Chicken Stew
You will need two large freezer bags
Into the first freezer bag, place:
One to two cups of baby carrots
One onion, sliced or diced
Three stalks of celery, sliced or diced
Into the second freezer bag, place:
¼ cup of your favourite BBQ sauce
½ a can of tomato paste
¼ cup red wine or apple cider vinegar, or other mild vinegar
2 tbsp. brown sugar
1-2 cloves of garlic
A dash or two of hot sauce (optional)
Close the bag and squish these ingredients around until well mixed.
Open the bag back up and add:
1.5 – 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs* (boneless or bone-in both work well)
* Don’t be tempted to use boneless skinless chicken breast cubes. They can get quite mushy and shredded if crock-potted too long
Re-close the bag and squish the sauce all over the chicken. Open the corner of the bag and push out all the air. Fold the top over and place the chicken bag inside the vegetable bag, on top of the vegetables. Label and freeze for up to two months.
To use, you’ll also need:
One bag of tiny potatoes to keep in the cupboard – or cut regular potatoes into medium chunks to put into the crock
Move the bag from the freezer to the fridge the night before so you don’t have to wrestle with a big chunk of frozen meat in the morning. Open the bag and remove the chicken bag, keeping it closed. Pour the veggies into the bottom of the crock. Add the potatoes now. Open the chicken bag and pour chicken and liquid over the vegetables. Poke everything around until there is an even layer of chicken over an even layer of veggies.
Cook on low for 8-10 hours, then serve. For a creamier stew, gently stir in a can of cream of mushroom soup or some sour cream just before serving.
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October 19th, 2011
I’ve raved about Beth Hensperger’s crockpot cookbook series “Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker” – and she also writes about bread machines and rice cookers! Apparently she’s a gadget girl…
Her 2007 book, about using the crockpot for entertaining, really intrigued me, so I got it out of the library. There are some very fancy-looking recipes in there, for when you want to impress the boss or a date with a lovely dinner party. But there are also lots of tips for using the slow cooker to help with a traditional Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner, freeing up stove elements and oven space that are at a premium when you’re making a large meal.
Sometimes you need a nice dinner on a busy day – an old friend just passing through town, on a Tuesday night or something. This is the perfect time to use the crockpot.
The book also shows us how to think “outside the crock” – to use the crockpot as a punchbowl, a fondue pot, a gravy boat, a bread oven, plus many other innovative functions.
Here’s a recipe with two inventive techniques for the slow cooker…
New-Orleans Style Vanilla Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce
6-7 cups crumbled stale bread
¾ cup dark raisins
¾ cup shredded coconut
¾ cup chopped pecans
4 cups (1L) whole milk
1 ¾ cups sugar
3 large eggs
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp. each cinnamon and nutmeg (or use Epicure’s Apple Pie spice blend)
2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract (Epicure’s, if you have it)
Coat the inside of the crock with butter-flavoured non-stick spray
Place the bread, raisins, coconut and pecans in the crock.
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, sugar, eggs, melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract until smooth.
Pour over the bread mixture in the crock and push the bread down to moisten evenly.
Cover and cook on HIGH until puffed, and a knife comes out clean, about 2 ½ hours.
Remove lid and cook on HIGH for another 15 minutes.
Pudding should cool a bit before serving, and can be served at room temperature.
Whisky sauce
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 ½ cups confectioners’ sugar (icing sugar)
2 large egg yolks
¼ to 1/3 cup of bourbon or scotch
Place the butter and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Let the butter melt, then whisk until smooth. Beat in the egg yolks.
Remove from heat, and slowly beat in the bourbon. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
You can keep it warm in a small slow cooker, on LOW, until you are ready to serve.
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