I wanted lemon chicken. I know the hubs isn’t a huge fan of citrus that doesn’t involve lemonade, margaritas, or his own chicken piccata. So, I was treading in some pretty shallow water. Walking a really thin line. And all those glorious clichés. If you hadn’t guessed, I had to be careful with the amount of lemon I used.

I thought there was the perfect hint of lemon. He disagreed with me. I thought it was the perfect amount of lemon flavor, but he stated it was not a “hint” of lemon as I had anticipated. I just think he’s too sensitive to lemon and/or acidic foods. Sometimes the thinks his piccata has too much lemon, but sometimes it just has too many capers making it acidic.

What is orzo and how is it different than rice?

Orzo is a barley shaped pasta that’s about the size of a large grain of rice. Rice is a grain that’s grown and not something that is made. Since orzo is made with semolina flour, it has slightly chewy texture similar to rice. It has a unique shape that holds up well in salads, soups, and is the perfect base for this lemon chicken with spinach and orzo.

What are some tips for cooking perfect pasta?

When it comes to cooking pasta, first you want be sure to cook the pasta al dente. Al dente means it should be tender but still slightly firm to the bite or to the tooth. Overcooked pasta is mushy and falls apart when mixed with the chicken and spinach.

Make sure to choose the right shape for your dish. For this lemon chicken with spinach I opted for a sturdy variety like orzo. It holds the chicken and spinach perfectly and the sauce coats all the pieces or orzo perfectly.

You should flavor or salt the water when you’re cooking pasta. Actually, you should do that with rice and potatoes, too. And, honestly, we used to do that when I was growing up. We would have a roast and use that broth to cook noodles. And they were the best noodles ever.

I’m not sure why I stopped doing that. Well, I sort of do. We use the broth for gravy. It’s been decades since I’ve had noodles cooked in roast beef broth. I should change that. I used some of the broth from the chicken to cook the pasta, but saved the rest to make the delicious sauce.

What’s the difference between this lemon chicken and chicken piccata?

While they both have chicken and lemon in them, they’re vastly different. Chicken piccata is typically dredged in flour and pan fried. Then it’s simmered in a lemon and white wine sauce. Capers are stirred in at the end for a nice briny bite of flavor.

This lemon chicken recipe is made in the slow cooker and has layers of lemon on top of the chicken. This allows the lemon juice to slowly flavor the chicken as it cooks in the slow cooker. There’s no wine or butter sauce. And there’s no capers. There’s just spinach.

Is chicken and spinach good combination?

Chicken and spinach are a classic pair. The lean chicken and earthy greens complement each other. The tender, juicy chicken adds a savory element. The spinach has a slightly bitter and vibrant flavor. Together, they create a well-rounded dish that not only tastes delicious but is a nutrient rich combination.

What ingredients do you need for this Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Orzo?

To create this delectable Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Orzo dish, you’ll need some chicken, some herbs and spices, lemons, spinach, chicken broth, and orzo. I used boneless and skinless chicken thighs in this recipe. You can use chicken breast, but I find it can get dry in the slow cooker.

For me, chicken and rosemary go together. And chicken and thyme go together. So, both of those herbs go into the slow cooker with the chicken and lemons. There’s some garlic salt and pepper and finally some chicken broth. All of these ingredients are staples in our house. They’re not ingredients you’ll use once and then not know what to do with the rest. I do not like when recipes call for specific ingredients for that specific recipe. I try to make recipes that use something you have on hand or use all the time.

Do you wash fresh spinach before cooking?

Even though most baby spinach comes in a bag, you should wash it. You should always wash your produce before eating it. You never know if it’s been washed before it gets to you. And there’s all those other people at the store who might have touched that piece of produce. It’s always safer to just rinse the spinach off before you stir it into the pot.

How do you make this lemon chicken with orzo recipe?

This is a slow cooker recipe, but you can easily convert it to an InstaPot or pressure cooker. Place the chicken (thighs or breasts) in the liner of your slow cooker. If I was making this in my pressure cooker, I would use that to brown the chicken first. I don’t brown chicken when I slow cook it. I don’t want to have to clean another pan in this process.

Arrange the lemon slices on top of the chicken and sprinkle with the garlic salt and black pepper. Remove the leaves from the rosemary and thyme and coarsely chop them before sprinkling them on top of the lemon slices. Pour the chicken broth on top and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours. If using a pressure cooker, cook on high for 20 minutes or low for 30 minutes and naturally release the pressure.

Cook the orzo according to package directions while the chicken is cooking. Combine the water with the cornstarch and set aside. When the chicken is cooked, then stir in the spinach and the cornstarch slurry. Continue to simmer until the sauce thickens. Place the chicken on top of the orzo and drizzle with the sauce before serving.

The chicken is tender and has a light lemon flavor throughout. The spinach adds a nice earthy touch and vibrant color. The sauce has a light lemon flavor with hints of rosemary and thyme. And the orzo is the perfect pasta to stand up to the thighs and holds the sauce. And it’s fun to eat!

This recipe is easy to throw together before work or quickly cook up in your InstaPot for those busy weeknights. And with the lean chicken and nutritious spinach, it’s a meal you’ll love to serve your family time and time again.

Yield: 4 servings

Lemon Chicken with Spinach Orzo

Cook Time: 5 hours

Total Time: 5 hours

With a burst of flavor in every bite, this Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Orzo is the perfect balance of tangy and fresh.

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5.0 Stars (1 Review)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 2 cups fat free chicken stock
• 1 whole lemon, thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 6 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 8 ounces orzo, uncooked

Instructions

1. Place the chicken thighs in the liner of a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Arrange the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary and thyme over the chicken.
2. Sprinkle the chicken with the garlic salt and pepper then pour the chicken broth over top.
3. Cook on low 5 to 7 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Stir in the spinach and let it cook while you cook the orzo and finish the sauce.
5. Place 1 1/2 cups of the chicken broth in a medium saucepan. Add enough cold water to boil and orzo. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook the orzo according to package directions omitting the salt and oil.
6. Pour the remaining juices in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Combine the water and the cornstarch. Add to the boiling broth and then simmer until thickened.
7. Place 1/2 cup of orzo on each of four plates. Top with 1/2 cup of spinach, and two chicken thighs. Ladle the sauce over the chicken thighs and serve.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 648Total Fat 20gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 280mgSodium 1382mgCarbohydrates 52gFiber 3gSugar 4gProtein 66g

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Luscious Lemon Recipes

• Frosted Lemon Cookies from Hezzi-D’s Recipe Box
• Giada’s Lemon Spaghetti from Jen Around the World
• Greek Meatball Soup from Art of Natural Living
• Lemon Chicken with Orzo from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Tuna Steaks with Lemon Caper Sauce from That Recipe

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The post Lemon Chicken with Spinach Orzo is a Flavor Explosion appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

So, I ventured into the kitchen to make my own garam masala. Even though I shared the recipe I made it’s a work in progress. I will continue to revisit and update this recipe until I make one that I absolutely love! You an also try this kohlapuri masala powder, too.  I made garam masala because I REALLY wanted to make this dish. I’ve been seeing picture of tikka masala all over the place like this chicken tikka nan pizza.  It just looks so…DELICIOUS!! How could you NOT want to make this? Just look at its bright color and creamy texture!!  And now that I have garam masala I can make these brown sugar, garam masala, and pistachio muffins.

So, what is tikka masala?

Tikka masala is a beloved and popular dish in Indian cuisine that gained recognition and popularity by Indian chefs in Great Britain. It remains to be determined if it’s a Bangladesh, Indian, Punjab, or Pakistan dish. There are arguments for all being the originators of this popularly delicious dish.

Tikka masala is known for its rich and creamy tomato-based sauce, combined with tender pieces of marinated meat, usually chicken. The flavors of tikka masala are complex and include a variety of aromatic spices such as cumin, coriander, turmeric, and garam masala. Make sure you use garam masala and not curry powder. Curry powder is for chicken curry and has different spices and a different color.  These spices infuse the dish with their unique fragrance and contribute to its warm and comforting essence.

The most distinct feature of tikka masala is the creamy tomato-based sauce that envelopes the chicken. This sauce is made by simmering tomatoes, onions, garlic, ginger, and a variety of spices, until they form a luscious and thick gravy. The creaminess of the sauce perfectly complements the spices and creates a velvety texture that adds to the overall indulgence of the dish.

Why Chicken Tikka Masala is the perfect comfort food?

Whether it’s a chilly winter night or a day when you crave something warm and creamy, chicken tikka masala is the perfect comfort food. It’s a rich and creamy recipe that combines with the delightful flavors of Indian spices. This makes it a dish that brings both physical and emotional comfort into one recipe.

The flavors of chicken tikka masala have a way of wrapping you in a warm embrace. The tender chicken creates a succulent base that is then smothered in a luscious tomato sauce. Every bite is full of flavors link hints of ginger, garlic, and the earthiness of garam masala. It’s a harmonious blend that warms you from the inside out. The added bonus of making this in the slow cooker allows the chicken to become incredibly tender and practically melts in your mouth with every bite.

Why use a slow cooker?

There are many benefits to using a slow cooker. One of the main advantages is the way it enhances the flavors of any dish. The ingredients have ample time to meld together resulting in a richer and more satisfying dish. The slow cooking time also allows the spices to completely infuse the dish which creates a harmonious blend of flavors that is sure to tantalize your taste buds.

Using a slow cooker adds a level of simplicity to the preparation and cooking process. Traditional stovetop methods often require constant attention and stirring, but with a slow cooker once you’ve gathered all the necessary ingredients and added them to the slow cooker, you can simply set it and forget it.  Let the magic happen in the slow cooker. Sometimes, you don’t even need to thaw the meat like these crockpot frozen chicken breasts.  This not only saves you time and effort, but it also allows you to focus on other tasks or simply relax while your delicious meal simmers away.

Not only does using a slow cooker make cooking easier, but it also makes clean-up easier, too! With only one pot to wash, you can spend less time tackling a pile of dirty dishes and more time enjoying your meal. Plus, slow cookers have removable inserts, making them easy to clean and store. And they make plastic liners to make clean up even easier!  If you’re still on the fence, check out these tips for using your slow cooker.

How do you make slow cooker chicken tikka masala?

It’s a dump and go meal. I did not marinate my chicken, but you can marinate yours in some yogurt overnight. Actually, you can put all the ingredients into a plastic container ahead of time and then when you’re ready to cook the tikka masala, just dump it into the slow cooker, set it to cook, and go about your day.

I used bite-sized pieces of chicken breast for my tikka masala. Feel free to change it to chopped chicken thighs, whole chicken thighs, or even whole chicken breast. It’s your chicken tikka masala. Use whatever kind of chicken you want for your dinner.

Combine your chicken with the next 10 ingredients (onions through bay leaves). This can be in a plastic container the night before or in the liner of the slow cooker when you’re ready to cook. Simmer the chicken tikka masala on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 to 5 hours. If you’re cooking on low turn the slow cooker to high heat for the last 30 minutes. Combine the cream with the cornstarch with a whisk and then add the cream mixture to the chicken. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce thickens to your liking.

I served my slow cooker chicken tikka masala over some brown jasmine rice. Feel free to serve yours over basmati rice, white jasmine rice, cilantro lime rice, herb rice, or even some cauliflower rice. Or skip the rice and serve it with some naan. It can stand up on its own as a delicious stew-like dish or on top of rice.  Try serving it with a side of these golden lentils and rice.

What does slow cooker chicken tikka masala taste like?

First, there’s the creaminess that hits your palate. It covers your mouth what that delicious tomato-based sauce. Then the chicken is tender and infiltrated with all those herbs and spices. I say infiltrated because it just attacks the chicken and gets all their flavors and goodness into every nook and cranny of that meat.

Then there’s the sauce. Packed with garlic, earthy cumin, smoky paprika, cinnamon, and a kick from the cayenne. The bay leaves are that umami flavor you can’t quite taste but know it’s there. Finally, there’s the homemade garam masala which contains12 spices from coriander and fenugreek to ginger and cloves.

Add more cayenne if you want it spicier or omit it if you don’t want it spicy at all. You can swap the cream for coconut milk. Don’t worry about having to save the rest of the can because you can use it to cook your rice. It makes your coconut rice super fluffy and creamy which is the perfect vessel for this slow cooker chicken tikka masala.

Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours

Turn up the heat with this mouthwatering slow cooker chicken tikka masala recipe! Perfect for busy weeknights or lazy Sundays.

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups thinly sliced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 29 ounces tomato puree
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoons garam masala
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 whole bay leaves, crushed
• 1 cup fat free half and half
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 6 cups hot, cooked rice

Instructions

1. Place the chicken and next 10 ingredients in the liner of a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until the chicken is tender and cooked through.
2. For the last 30 minutes, increase the temperature to high. Combine the half and half and the cornstarch and add to the chicken, stirring to combine. Cook 30 minutes or until slightly thickened.
3. Place 1 cup of rice on each of 6 plates and top with tikka masala.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 559Total Fat 6gSaturated Fat 2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 100mgSodium 185mgCarbohydrates 77gFiber 6gSugar 14gProtein 49g

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The post Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala is the Ultimate Comfort Food for Cozy Nights appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

Slow cooker Buffalo chicken is easy and full of flavor. Cook chicken breasts with Buffalo sauce until tender. Shred the chicken and toss with extra sauce. The result is juicy and spicy. You can use the chicken for these Buffalo chicken tacos.  Or try making some Buffalo chicken sliders, nachos, loaded baked potato, or quesadillas.  Toss with pasta for Buffalo chicken pasta salad or combine with cream cheese for a fun game day dip.

Third Time’s a Charm

This is version three of these tacos. But only version two of the slaw. The first version of this chicken was horrible. I didn’t cut the wing sauce enough. It was really salty. It just wasn’t good. At all.

Version two? Not enough sauce. It was dry. The chicken wasn’t tender. It was #fail number two. And to be honest, I almost lost all hope of making this one happen. But it’s like they say, right? “Third time’s a charm!” And it was.

That night for dinner, I made mine into a taco salad. I didn’t feel like getting the corn tortillas out of the fridge and really wanted to see how it would work as a Buffalo Chicken Taco Salad instead of just tacos. And let me tell you. It was AMAZING! The cool, crisp lettuce with the spicy chicken. It was a, to sound cliché, a party in my mouth!

There’s this restaurant in Rochester, NY that I used to go to before the college hockey games called Zebbs. They had awesome Zebb’s wings and really great sauce, which they usually mixed wing sauce with ranch sauce to make it creamer and not as spicy or salty. I have adapted this concept and usually use it whenever I make anything Buffalo sauce inspired.

I did that here and cut the wing sauce 1:1 with ranch dressing. Then slow cooked it with some chicken breasts. FINALLY! That’s the flavor I was looking for all along. The ratio was just perfect! It was plenty of sauce for the chicken to cook in and when it was all shredded and put back in the sauce, it was …

PERFECT!

And the slaw? Well, that happened because I bought some HUGE and I mean H.U.G.E. radishes at the farmers market one day. They’re super crisp and slightly spicy. And if you wanted around on Pinterest enough you see that there’s slaw on some of the taco pics.

Topping these Buffalo chickken tacos

Then it just hit me. Make this Radish Blue Cheese Slaw and put it on top of the tacos. The crispy radish with some carrot and cabbage would be perfect with a blue cheese dressing topping these spicy Buffalo tacos. And I was right. It was DE-licious.

Are you a celery and carrot person? We’re not usually celery and carrot people. But, to be honest, we eat most of our wings on delivery and not usually out at a restaurant. Since they’re usually served with celery or carrot sticks, I decided to mince up some to top the tacos with. This, along with the red onion and lettuce that we usually have, made for some super crunchy tacos. And not just from the taco shells crunchy, but vegetable crunchy.

What do this taco recipe taste like?

So, not only are these tasty, but they’re full of fun and healthy veggies! The rest of the ingredients? Well, they’re all low in fat or fat free where possible. Yes, even the blue cheese and the blue cheese dressing.

And, if you skip the taco shells and go straight for corn tortillas, they’re only 1 gram of fat per 2 tortillas. Not to mention, I think corn tortillas taste better than those taco shells. At some point, I’m going to oven bake some of these babies into taco shells. If you haven’t made your own baked corn tortillas, you’re totally missing out. Those are the da bomb! Super crunchy and so much tastier than the fried, bagged counterparts. Just saying.

As you can see, I love my blue cheese! I put quite a bit on top of the salad. I love the creamy, tanginess of the blue cheese with the spicy flavor of the Buffalo sauce. They just complement each other so well.

And no, that’s not a lot of chicken. I’m monitoring my protein intake and am aiming for 6 ounces a day. Since this is a Tuesday meal and the Monday lunch wasn’t protein packed, I had 4.5 ounces of chicken.

Okay, try not to drool while looking at this picture. It’s not easy is it? Those tender shreds of Buffalo chicken just resting there on top of the radish slaw and topped with crispy celery and carrot dices with blue cheese garnish. Honestly. Can you really resist that?

Okay, maybe if you don’t like blue cheese, so, use feta? Cheddar? Colby? Some other fave cheese? That would be the only reason NOT to make these. In that case, simply sub the blue cheese with ranch and you’re good to go!

Even in the dressing you can swap out the blue cheese for ranch and swap out the cheese for Colby or pepper jack if you want! Keep it all spicy! There’s nothing set in stone that says you HAVE to make this with blue cheese. Seriously.

Yield: 8 servings

Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Radish Slaw

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes

Delicious Buffalo style chicken sits atop crunchy, tangy coleslaw made of radishes and cabbage with a blue cheese infused coleslaw dressing. These Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Radish Slaw will knock your taste buds off! And your family will want these ALL time. Don't say I didn't warn you!

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Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breasts
• 1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce
• 1/2 cup fat free blue cheese dressing
• 1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
• 1/8 cup cider vinegar
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 cup shredded radish
• 1 cup shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 cup fat free blue cheese, divided
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1/2 cup finely diced celery
• 1/2 cup finely diced carrots
• 1/4 cup blue cheese garnish

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breasts in the liner of a slow cooker.
2. Combine the wing sauce with the blue cheese dressing and drizzle over the chicken.
3. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until the chicken is tender and shreds easily with two forks.
4. Remove the chicken from the sauce, shred, and return to the slow cooker while you prepare the coleslaw.
5. Combine the next six ingredients (mayonnaise through celery seed) in a small mixing bowl.
6. In a large mixing bowl, combine the radish with the cabbage and celery.
7. Drizzle the dressing over the radish mixture and stir well to combine. Fold in 1/4 cup of the blue cheese.
8. Divide the coleslaw evenly between 8 corn tortillas.
9. Top with chicken and garnish with blue cheese and serve.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 276Total Fat 10gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6gCholesterol 60mgSodium 857mgCarbohydrates 24gFiber 3gSugar 7gProtein 23g

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The post Buffalo Chicken Tacos with Blue Cheese Radish Slaw appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

It looks delicious doesn’t it? Come on. I KNOW you’re drooling! Admit it. You’re going to make this Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew (Chilindron) SOON! I know you are. Don’t try to hide it, you’re jealous. Seriously. Just look at all that colorful flavor swimming on the plate with the tender chicken and pasta. Yes. It tasted as good as it looked.

Stop licking the screen. Honestly… *shaking head*

This Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew is so simple to make you’re going to wish you’d thought of it yourself. How did I think about it? Well, every week I make a menu. That menu consists of:

1. #MeatlessMonday
2. Slow Cooker Tuesday
3. Quick & Easy Wednesday
4. Dinner Salad Thursday
5. Simple Dinner Saturday
6. Sunday Delicious Dinner

Yes. I plan to cook 6 meals a week. Those 6 meals lead to 5 lunches a week. I cook enough for one meals worth PLUS a lunch. For two of us it’s not that difficult. Granted, sometimes life happens and I skip one here and there. Saturday was one of those instances. We were flea marketing and had a late, large lunch so dinner was pretzels. LOL

BUT, if we had this in the slow cooker, there would have been NO QUESTION as to what we were having that night for dinner. Oh yeah…I was telling ya how I came to find this. Well, I was searching Pinterest for slow cooker chicken and just not really having much luck finding something that truly inspired me. *sigh*

Yeah. Sometimes that does happen. Rare, but it does.

So, then I went with back up plan #1, which is Google. I usually just look at the images for a search. I mean, it’s kind of like Pinterest, right? Just looking at the pictures? And then I saw it. I saw this recipe and it look AH-mazing.

What’s in Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew?

So I searched a little more and got an idea of the base ingredients. I catered it to my tastes and my dietary needs. Like, I omitting the bacon/chorizo/fatty pork product of choice that were in most recipes. Since I’m not a huge fan of tons of rosemary, I went with some ground rosemary. Something about trees I don’t like in my food.

Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew is really like a Spanish version of a cacciatore. I can only imagine that every culture has a dish like this; take whatever meat you have, whatever vegetables you have, whatever spice you have, and slow cook it into a stew.

Why a stew? They last! You can keep adding both to it to extend it. There’s a reason dishes like this are called “peasant” food or peasant style food. They knew how to make what little they had and extend it to feed as many mouths as necessary.

Granted, when you bring this to the table not many mouths will go hungry, I’m sure. You can put any kind of fowl, some rabbit, maybe venison; you get the picture. And having recipes like this under your belt gives you the same abilities; make whatever you have last.

Recipes like this Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew are great for preparedness (or SHTF to some people) types of situations where you have to make the most with what’s given to you. And honestly, if this is the what’s given to me, then I’d be grateful. Because this dish is delicious!

So, bust our your slow cooker, crack open that pantry and freezer, and see what kind of stew you can come up with! Don’t forget the herbs and spices. That’s what makes these types of meals so tasty!

Yield: 6

Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew – Chilindron

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours

Let your slow cooker do the work with this delicious chilindron style stew.  Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew is a Spanish version of a cacciatore so make sure to get creative to use what you have on hand! 

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 14 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups chopped roasted red peppers
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chili powder
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 cup fat free chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon ground rosemary
• 2 whole bay leaves, crushed
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

Instructions

1. Place the chicken thighs in the bottom of a slow cooker liner coated with cooking spray.
2. Top with the chopped, roasted red peppers. Sprinkle with the paprika.
3. Combine the remaining ingredients in a small mixing bowl and pour over the peppers and thighs.
4. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until the thighs are tender and fall off the bone.
5. Serve over pasta, noodles, or rice garnished with parsley.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 368Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 4gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 10gCholesterol 186mgSodium 458mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 4gSugar 8gProtein 40g

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Seriously Good Slow Cooker Recipes

• Chilindro – Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Jamaican Brown Stew Chicken from Palatable Pastime
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Broccoli Sauce from The Spiffy Cookie
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Vegetable Soup from Blogghetti
• Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Slow Cooker Hamburger Stroganoff from Books n’ Cooks
• Slow Cooker Mahogany Chicken Legs from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Slow Cooker Vegan Whole Moong Masala from Magical Ingredients
• White Chicken Chili from That Recipe

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The post Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew – Chilindron appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

For Meal Planning Week 11 we are talking about slow cooking. You can easily cook delicious food in a slow cooker. Yes, from breakfast to dessert slow cookers and pressure cookers are an invaluable countertop appliance.

What is slow cooking?

It seems sort of obvious, isn’t it? It’s a dish that is slow cooked. Be it on the stove, in the oven, in a small appliance, or in an earthen pit, it is something cooked at a lower temperature for a long time. Typically, it’s over 3 hours and could be as long as 8 or 10 hours depending on what’s in the pot.

Slow cooking food has been around for thousands of years. Initially, our ancestors were searing foods on hot rocks in the fire. But the someone decided to dig a huge hole out of the ground. In that hole they placed rocks to maintain the heat of the charcoal and hot ash. They placed leaves on top of the charcoal and the meat on top of the leaves. Then covered the pit up and to allow the meat to roast low and slow in the pit.

We did this once when I want to camp. We roasted a whole pig in a pit. It was fun because we had to stay up all night and keep the area around the pit soaked with water to prevent any kind of fires that might start and brush or forest fire. We ran around the field and played. The camp counselors did the watering. It was the most tender and delicious pork I have ever had.

The vessel is important in slow cooking. It must be something that retains heat and distributes it as evenly as possible. The temperature must be consistent and radiate evenly throughout the pot. If you’re cooking something for hours on end and the bottom is hotter than the top, then the ingredients might burn. Not any good.

History of the slow cooker.

For Meal Planning Week 11 I thought I’d bring some history to this post.  You know how much I like to educate myself, and my readers, on the history of recipes and appliances.  This goes back to the slow cooking method we talked about earlier. The story goes that a man born in New Jersey to an immigrant family from Lithuania invented it. In Vilna, a neighboring city of Vilnus, Lithuania celebrated the Sabbath with a stew of meat, beans, and veggies.

This stew is prepared and placed in crocks which they took to the local bakery. You see where this is going? They placed the pots in the still warm ovens of the bakery. The cooling ovens would radiate even heat throughout cooking the stew called cholent.

Irving Nachumsohn (aka Naxon) wanted to bring this long-standing traditional way of cooking to the American public. He studied electrical engineering and became the first Jewish engineer at Western Electric. When he wasn’t working, he pursued his passion for inventing and even passed the patent bar exam himself, so he didn’t have to pay patent lawyers.

Before inventing the slow cooker, he also invented an electric frying pan and an early version of the lava lamp. He even created a telesign that laid the groundwork for scrolling news bars everywhere. But the slow cooker was the answer to eliminate the need for turning on the oven during hot summer months.

Invented in the 50’s the slow cooker didn’t skyrocket quickly. Eventually, Naxon sold his business to Rival Manufacturing. They took the idea and put it to the test. Initially called the Beanery, Rival took the idea and introduced the Crock Pot in Chicago in 1971. It flew off the shelves and went from $2M in sales in 1971 to a whopping $93M just four years later. Some of the success is attributed to the culture of the 70’s which consisted of several time saving technologies for the ever-growing working family.

With hearty meals like that Chicken Fricasse, roast pork, or Swiss steak, all you need is a nice salad like this one to round out the meal. Something light and easy to toss together to get some good veggies in before diving into comfort on a plate.

What are some benefits of slow cooking?

Slow cooking can save money. It is good for not so tender cuts of meat (aka cheap cuts). Pork shoulder, chicken thighs, and chuck roast are perfect cuts of meat for the slow cooker. They’re pretty budget friendly cuts of meat. I’ve cooked ribs and made killer pot roast from a chuck roast in a slow cooker. Slow cookers are also energy efficient saving you money on your utility bill.

It is convenient! With a little prep work, like we’ve been talking about in this series, you can prep the ingredients the night or two before, get up in the morning, and toss the ingredients in the slow cooker. Set it to low cook for 8 to 10 hours. Nothing beats walking into a house with the aroma of a slow simmered supper ready for you with little to no kitchen time. There are thousands of freezer meals you can prep beforehand. I’ve made a few, let them thaw in the slow cooker overnight, and started the slow cooker before work. It can’t get any easier than that.

Slow cooking extends the distribution of flavors. Not, everything doesn’t taste the same when you slow cook. Unless you over cook it, then yeah maybe. But the low and slow cooking method releases natural broth and nutrients from the meat (like collagen) which promotes strong bones and can reduce joint pain and inflammation.

Slow cookers are versatile! You can make almost any dish in there. Appetizers to breakfast, soups, entrees, and desserts. You can even cook up some cocktails like mulled wine in there, too! I have made bread and a breakfast pizza in mine.

How do you turn your recipes into a slow cooker recipe?

Timing is everything! Converting recipes to slow cooker is best for anything cooked in the oven 350 and under. Or ones that require sautéing on the stove or cook at a temp higher than 350 are not a good option.

The standard conversion is as follows:
15 to 30 minutes = 4 to 6 hours on low or 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours on high
35 to 45 minutes = 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 hours on high
50 minutes to 3 hours = 8 to 10 hours on low or 4 to 6 hours on high.

There is little to evaporation in the slow cooker, so it makes sense to use less liquid. The ingredients will make their own liquid as it cooks. So, it would be wise to use less liquid at the start. However, there are a few caveats.

First, if you’re using a larger cut of meat, like a pork shoulder, they will need a little more moisture on the front end to create the steam necessary to break down the larger cuts of meat. If rice or pasta is in the recipe. It will require additional liquid to cook properly. Finally, if the recipe doesn’t call for liquid, at least 1/2 cup of liquid will need to be added before setting the slow cooker. This will help create the initial steam needed to cook the food.

With everything cooking in the same place for a long period of time, keep an eye out on your stronger flavors. I tried coq au vin recently and it wasn’t the greatest. The wine flavor just overpowered everything! So, be diligent on what flavors you put in the slow cooker.

Something strong like cayenne or even chili powder can overpower a dish. For me, it used to be garlic. Anything with garlic was just unappealing to me in the slow cooker. I guess my palate has changed because I can tolerate garlic in the slow cooker now. Hence this slow cooker Tuscan garlic chicken.

Meal Planning Week 11 is not just about everyday meals.  You can even use the slow cooker to prep or cook some of your holiday meals! If my breakfast pizza is simmering away, whip up a batch of these baked donuts while it’s cooking. It’s a great way to preheat the oven for the holiday feast that will be in there later.

Do not fill the slow cooker more than half to 3/4 full. Of course, I never fill mine more than half full anyway. And more than that and we’re swimming in whatever dish is in there. Heck, even at half full we’re still swimming in the food and will have plenty of leftovers.

Add the ingredients at the right time.

Treat your prep like you would for a stir-fry. Cut everything in almost the same size so it cooks evenly. And mine the cooking times for your ingredients. If the recipe calls for peppers and potatoes, then the potatoes need to go in first and the peppers much later in the cooking time. Putting them in for the full cooking times makes for mushy peppers. So not appealing.

Dairy curdles. If the converting recipes calls for dairy like milk or sour cream, add it at the last 30 to 60 minutes of cooking time. I usually combine the dairy with a thickener like flour or cornstarch. I started doing that with my Swedish meatballs and stroganoff recipes. It’s a game changer, I think, and perfect for the slow cooker. It can continue to cook, have the dairy, and thicken at all once.

While dinner is cooking, pop this cake into the oven. It takes 15 minutes of prep time. Then you pop it into the oven to cook for 55 minutes. Let it cool while the kids are finishing up their homework after dinner, or while the fam sits down to watch a little TV. Glaze and serve! The perfect way to finish off a slow cooker meal.

Did you know you can make desserts in the slow cooker?  I don’t have any slow cooker dessert recipes to share for Meal Planning Week 11.  But you could convert one of my bread puddings to a slow cooker recipe. There are countless cakes, crumbles, cobblers, and even fudge you can make in the slow cooker. Let your fingers do some work and hit up Pinterest or Google for some ideas.

This snack cake recipe is easy converted into a slow cooker recipe. Line the bottom of a slow cooker with buttered parchment. Prepare the cake batter per the directions. Pour into the liner of the slow cooker. Line the lid with paper towels (or a clean linen towel) and carefully place on top. This will absorb any extra steam that may escape and could make the cake wet.

Cook on high 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center has just a few crumbs on it. I don’t like to have the toothpick completely clean because that might make the cake too dry. A few little crumbs are great because the cake will continue to cook as it cools.

Well, I hope I have given you some inspiration on digging out your slow cooker. It truly is versatile and budget friendly to use this small appliance at least once a week. I know I do. It stays on the counter all the time and I use it every week. Of course, mine is a multi-cooker and pressure cooks, sautés, roasts, air fries, etc.

Meal Planning Week 11 - Slow Cooker

Meal Planning Week 11 highlights the use of the slow cooker for almost all your dinner needs.  From breakfast to side dishes and, of course, dinner you can make an easy meal without turning on the oven.

Simple Slow Cooker Breakfast Pizza

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Strawberry Lemon Baked Donuts

Photo Credit: www.hezzi-dsbooksandcooks.com

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Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sliders with Blue Cheese Aioli

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Fruit and Nut Salad with Berry Vinaigrette

Photo Credit: www.hezzi-dsbooksandcooks.com

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Slow Cooker Greek Gigantes

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Slow Cooker Sourdough Bread

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Easy Slow Cooked Italian Chicken

Photo Credit: blogghetti.com

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Swiss Steak

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Purple People Eater Sliders

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Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor

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Slow Cooker Spanish Red Pepper Stew - Chilindron

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Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars

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Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Photo Credit: thespiffycookie.com

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Moist Pineapple Snack Cake

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The post Meal Planning Week 11 – Slow Cooker appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

I know what you’re thinking.

Pizza? In a slow cooker? Are you crazy?

Okay. Am I the only one that heard that whole Goonies click about the slick shoes? If it’s just me, I’m good with that. My brain doesn’t work like a normal person’s brain. Just saying.

Like, when I’m filling out a form for a sponsor product and they ask for questions, the first thing I think of is the Monty Python Holy Grail. Come on. You know the question, right?

Say it with me! “What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?” That shot just kills me! I didn’t get it until I was in college, but now it cracks me up every time I see one of their movies or shows. And is it just me or do the Hendrick’s gin commercials remind you of Monty Python, too?

Yes, I know this post has nothing to do with Monty Python, swallows, or gin. But sometimes that’s just where my brain goes. I’m very much a squirrel person. You know what I’m talking about, right?

You’re all set on working or doing something and then it happens. Someone says something or you hear something and then your brain just runs rampant and you jump from Monty Python to gin commercials. Am I right?

This recipe was supposed to happen last year for #SlowCookerMonth. But it didn’t. I, for whatever reason, just didn’t get organized enough to make it and add it to the list. Not like I’m that organized right now. I made this yesterday while I was working. I’m eating it for breakfast today. But not to worry! I ate a slice so I could speak to what it tastes like.

And I know what you’re thinking. Pizza? In a slow cooker? To that I say, “Why not?” I’ve made bread in the slow cooker. When all the shit hit the fan, my slow cooker sourdough bread skyrocketed in views. So, I knew that you could cook bread in there. And now I know you can cook slow cook pizza! Because I tried it and it worked!

How do you make slow cooker pizza?

It starts just like any other pizza. You press the dough out into some parchment paper. I used some dough I made and froze for a later use, like this one. You can use any pizza dough you’d like. However, I’m not sure about the canned dough. In my experience it has a different gluten structure than regular pizza doughs. I could be wrong. Try it and let me know how it turns out!

I placed my liner on the parchment and traced it out in pencil. Then I flipped the parchment over (no graphite in my pizza please) and spread the dough out. I went at least an inch past the liner outline. This ensured I had a good amount up the sides of the liner to hold the toppings. In this case it was eggs.

I’m not a huge fan of sauce on pizza. Besides the standard pepperoni pizza (with little sauce mind you) my next favorite pizza is white pizza. And then there’s breakfast pizza. Outside of our standard Paisano’s Big Poppa’s or whatever they call their supreme pizza, all other pizza is delicious, and I’ll eat it, but it’s not something I crave.

Since there is no sauce on this pizza, I went right to the base layer or Provolone cheese. If you haven’t tried this on your pizzas, it’s a game changer! It adds that stringy cheese factor to your pizzas. And it has a delicious flavor I love on pizza.

Then I sprinkled on the turkey sausage and mushrooms. I had intended to a whole Denver omelet style on there but ran out of time. And I’m glad I didn’t because I could have used a little more dough for that. I could have used a little more time, too, to make sure I spread the dough far enough up the sides for like a deep-dish style pizza.

So, the crust does not get all crispy like it would in the oven.

Sorry to burst your bubble. BUT you could preheat a pizza stone or sheet pan in the oven and possible crisp it up after the eggs have cooked through. I did not try this but I might try it when I make this again. Because I will be making this again. Because slow cooker breakfast pizza is really good and pretty easy to make.

Now, if you had an InstantPot that had a brown or sauté function, you might could preheat your liner. Then carefully drop the dough covered parchment and then add your toppings. That would sort of mimic a deep-dish pizza type experience.

Just look at all that egg and cheese goodness!! I ate this whole pizza! Not in one sitting, of course, but over the period of of couple days. It was perfect reheated in the air fryer for about 5 minutes on 400. You could reheat this in the oven or pizza oven, I’m sure. It’s not something I would cold like regular pizza and probably not something I’d put in the microwave to reheat. The egg might dry out and the cheese will just turn oily. So your best bet is air fryer, oven, or toaster oven.

Which means that this is a recipe you could make ahead because reheating it is not difficult. I bet you could even freeze this and then pop it into the oven or air fryer to reheat. I see many more of these delicious slow cooker pizzas in my future because they’re so easy to make and so delicious! Next time I’ll try to preheat the liner and see if that makes the crust crispier. I’ll keep you posted.

Yield: 6

Simple Slow Cooker Breakfast Pizza

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes

Simple Slow Cooker Breakfast Pizza is a recipe that you can toss in the slow cooker and feed the hungry masses. It’s topped with sausage and mushrooms, but you can add whatever toppings you wish!

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Ingredients

• 8 ounces pizza dough
• 4 1/2 ounces sliced Provolone cheese
• 1/3 cup chopped breakfast sausage
• 1/3 cup chopped mushrooms
• 3 to 4 large eggs
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Trace the liner of your slow cooker in the back side of some parchment paper.
2. Using your hands, spread the dough onto the parchment paper at least 1 inch beyond the line you traced.
3. Carefully place the parchment with the dough in the liner of your slow cooker.
4. Place the sliced Provolone cheese on top of the dough.
5. Sprinkle the sausage and mushrooms on top of the Provolone.
6. Lightly scramble the eggs in a bowl and pour over the sausage the mushrooms.
7. Top the pizza with the shredded Cheddar cheese.
8. Set your slow cooker to high and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the dough and eggs are cooked through.
9. Cool slightly before slicing and serving.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 416Total Fat 27gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 187mgSodium 714mgCarbohydrates 19gFiber 1gSugar 1gProtein 24g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Welcome to our #NationalSlowCookerMonth Celebration! 

This week we are celebrating all things slow cooker! We have delicious recipes from across the country to fill your meal plans with delicious slow cooker recipes!

• Slow Cooker Saucy Pork Chops from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Simple Slow Cooker Breakfast Pizza from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Slow Cooker Blackbean Soup from Magical Ingredients
• Slow Cooker Chicken and Potatoes from Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
• Spicy Apricot Chicken Thighs from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Slow Cooker Vegetarian Spicy Cheese Dip from Blogghetti
• Slow Cooker Chicken Gyro Bowl from The Spiffy Cookie
• Spicy Mexican Cerveza Beef from Palatable Pastime
• Slow Cooker Chicken Tortellini Soup from Our Crafty Mom

The post Simple Slow Cooker Breakfast Pizza appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

I have made this version of cacciatore for few years now. It’s been evolving and changing throughout the years. I’ve added more ingredients that add to the complexity of the sauce and flavor of this easy slow cooker chicken cacciatore.

I started with peppers, onions, olives, and crushed tomatoes. Which is a really good combination but just not quite the depth of flavor I was looking for. Even with adding in some herbs and spices like oregano, thyme, rosemary, and garlic.

Then I remembered when Mom and I took those classes and we made puttanesca. They started with a couple of anchovies in the pan. I was wary because I cannot stand anchovies. I can’t even stand to smell them cooking, but I stuck it out. And that puttanesca was a delicious dish! I haven’t made it since and I really should. Maybe that will be next on my list of pasta dishes to finalize and share.

Anchovies add a richness to the sauce!

And did you know that anchovies are in a traditional Caesar salad recipe? True. Not lying. The hubs jokes that we should add anchovies to our Caesar salads. Yeah. No. Not gonna happen. And we’re not getting them on pizza either. But, yes, I will melt one or two in the pan when I brown the chicken before putting it in the slow cooker.

My husband makes a killer piccata. I mean, it’s lick the pan delicious. And he keeps evolving that recipe, too. I keep telling him he needs to make it final so I can share it on the blog. It’s in the works. That’s all I can say.

Piccata has capers in the sauce. Their briney goodness makes piccata absolutely delicious! They pair with the lemon and cuts through the richness of all the butter, wine, and broth-y goodness that is piccata. And they are just the bit of brine-y flavor that truly brightens the cacciatore sauce. The richness of the anchovy laced crushed tomato sauce is elevated with the capers in there.

But there was still something not quite there with this easy slow cooker chicken cacciatore. As if there is other types of cacciatore. I’ve only known chicken cacciatore. Not like there’s pork cacciatore and beef. Or is there?

See that caper right there? I strategically placed that there. Along with the strip of pepper and the olive. Oh yes. There’s salty kalamata olives in there. And, ironically, it’s the Walmart kalamata olives that I love the most. Or all the brands on the shelf. I would have thought Mezzetta would be the fave.

Walmart has the best kalamata olives IMHO.

They’re not to salty or brine-y. They have a great combination of kalamata and black olive flavors. Of course, well know how much I love black olives.  I talked about it in this Tuscan Pomodoro recipe.

As if that’s not enough, there’s thin slices of meat in there. I usually have prosciutto in there. Use prosciutto of you have it. Or you can use pancetta if you have that. And if you have chorizo use that!

For whatever reason I didn’t have any prosciutto in the fridge. But I did have chorizo. So, this has chorizo in there. It adds a nice smoky flavor I wasn’t expecting. And it wasn’t a spicy chorizo like I had in my pumpkin chorizo tamales. This was the hard salami type chorizo which, in my experience, isn’t the spicy type. Maybe it’s just the ones I’ve had, but they’re usually not too spicy for me.

Just look that bowl of goodness right there!

Now, I’m not one to brown things before putting it in the slow cooker. I think it’s sort of against what the slow cooker should be about. But I make an exception with this recipe. And it’s due to anchovy. You really do need to melt the anchovy or it will taste like fish.

What is it about the anchovy?

The process of curing the anchovies they’re transformed from fishy ick to umami goodness with very little fishy taste. Especially if you melt them completely into the oil. And I do that before I brown the chicken. I want the chicken to have that rich, anchovy scented oil to brown in before pouring all that goodness into the slow cooker.

I see you turning your nose up.

But don’t. If I can have anchovies in this easy cacciatore then you can, too. Because I am the epitome of picky when it comes to fishiness. There’s certain fish I can’t eat because of their flavor. And anchovies are tops on the list. Along with sardines. The canned type. I haven’t had fresh ones, but I’m guessing they’re fishy, too.

Melting the anchovies in the oil before browning the chicken smells weird. I’m not going the lie. And you’re going to think I’m off my rocker and this is going to be a disaster. But trust me. You will not taste anchovies. However, you WILL taste the richness that they bring to the table in the sauce. And I can’t imagine having cacciatore without them.

If you told 10-year-old me that I’d have anchovies AND chicken thighs in a recipe that I would love and devour on a regular basis I’d laugh my butt off! I’d say you were off your rocker and crazy. But, it’s true. Chicken breasts do not hold up well, in my opinion, in the slow cooker. They always get dry. No matter how hard I try.

Chicken thighs have just enough fat and flavor in there to keep the moist. And adds to the richness of the dish. I just have to be careful when I’m eating them. I always manage to get cartilage in my mouth. Which is gross. And there’s that whole artery looking vein thing that I have to pull out when I’m eating thighs, too. But they really are becoming my chicken part of choice lately.

There are noodles under there.

I swear. But I love the sauce so much, I pile it on high! There’s so much flavor in this sauce with the peppers, onions, capers, anchovies, and olives. Not to mention the herbs and spices. Oh, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Not enough to make it spicy, but just enough to add a little heat on the back end.

My mouth is watering. I cannot wait to have this again! We have it at least once a month. That’s how much we love it. I know you’ll love it, too. And you really need to have it with the anchovies. It will be a game changer. Trust me!

Yield: 4

Easy Slow Cooker Cacciatore

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Total Time: 16 minutes

Easy Slow Cooker Cacciatore is hearty, rich, and perfect for cold nights!  It has complex flavors from simple ingredients.

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Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used garlic flavored)
• 2 to 3 oil cured anchovy filets
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless chicken thighs
• 1/2 cup diced prosciutto (or pancetta or chorizo)
• 2 cups thinly sliced peppers
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons capers
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons onions powder
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• Pinch crushed red pepper
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 4 to 6 cups cooked egg noodles

Instructions

1. Place the olive oil and anchovies in a medium skillet over high heat. Using the back of a wooden spoon, smash the anchovies as they cook until they melt into the olive oil.
2. Place the chicken in the skillet and brown on both sides.
3. Transfer the chicken to the liner of a slow cooker. Sprinkle the prosciutto over the chicken.
4. Pour the pan drippings over the chicken and use a rubber spatula to get all that anchovy goodness into the slow cooker.
5. Add the next eleven ingredients (peppers through crushed red pepper) to the slow cooker.
6. Pour the crushed tomatoes over everything and cook on low 6 to 8 hours or until the chicken thighs are fork tender.
7. Server over the cooked egg noodles with garlic bread or crusty bread to soak up all that rich, delicious sauce!

Notes

You can cook on high 3 to 4 hours.

You can also cook this in the pressure cooker on low for 20 minutes with 10 minutes of natural pressure release.

Nutrition Information

Yield

4

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 2024Total Fat 61gSaturated Fat 13gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 42gCholesterol 527mgSodium 1740mgCarbohydrates 270gFiber 18gSugar 17gProtein 104g

WOW! Two THOUSAND calories per serving? Eat at your own risk.

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Welcome to our #NationalSlowCookerMonth Celebration! 

This week we are celebrating all things slow cooker! We have delicious recipes from across the country to fill your meal plans with delicious slow cooker recipes!

• Slow Cooked Corned Beef and Cabbage from Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Easy Chicken Cacciatore from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna Soup from Magical Ingredients
• Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup from Kathryn’s Kitchen Blog
• Sweet Potato Lentil Soup from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Cherry Cobbler from Blogghetti
• Slow Cooker Peanut Butter Cup Crème Brûlée for Two from The Spiffy Cookie
• Slow Cooker Texas Chili from Palatable Pastime
• Bacon Ranch Potatoes from A Day in the Life on the Farm

The post Easy Slow Cooker Cacciatore appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

I keep hearing about these tacos al pastor. Have you heard about them? I hadn’t until recently. No. I’m not really a taco person. Don’t get me wrong; I love a good taco, but I don’t go to a lot of Latin American restaurants to eat tacos.

And I don’t go to food trucks to eat tacos. I haven’t even been to District Taco even though they’re just up the street from work. I just don’t.

And since I have never been to a place where tacos al pastor were on the menu they’ve never been on my radar to make. That is until now. Because, well, I love a good food mystery and for me, this was a food mystery.

What is Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor?

How do you make it? What flavors are in there? Where does it come from? You see where I’m going with this?

So, typical me, I started to do my research.

Compiling the ingredients, selecting the flavors that I liked and, well, I liked pretty much all the ingredients. Except this achiote paste. I didn’t know what it was and I wasn’t sure I could get it.

I knew Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor is made with annato seeds and also knew that it’s pretty essential to some Latin American cooking. I’ve had annato seeds before, but I haven’t really used them much. This time I did.

Annato seeds have an aroma that doesn’t smell like anything I’ve ever experienced before. Granted, I’m not well versed in the ways of traditional Latin American cooking, but I’d like to think that I have decent knowledge of herbs and spices.

A substitute?

Not sure. I think I read online that you could make a similar paste with paprika? But this stuff doesn’t smell like paprika. At all. It’s like a – well, I just can’t explain it. If you can’t find any, let me know and I’ll mail ya some.

For me, I don’t think I could have made Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor without it. It’s the flavor that is prevalent in the pork. Then there’s the sweet of the pineapple, the spicy of the chipotle, the punch from the garlic and onions, and that lovely aromatic oregano.

The hubs just doesn’t believe in oregano in Latin American cooking. He just think it’s an Italian herb. Little does he know…

All of these ingredients truly made for interesting tacos. There are so many complimentary and competing ingredients, that it’s really difficult not to enjoy every last bite of this tender and juicy pork. Thankfully, there was a large roast in the freezer, so I can have them again this week if I wanted to. Tomorrow, probably. You’ll find out why in a few posts.

Have you made or even had tacos al pastor?

Yield: 8

Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours

Sweet, spicy, and tangy, this Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor has unique flavors. If you want something different for taco night, whip up some of this amazing pork.

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4.0 Stars (1 Review)

Ingredients

• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped
• 8 ounces crushed pineapple in juice
• 1 cup thinly sliced onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoons pepper
• 2 tablespoons annato seeds, ground
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 2 pound pork roast

Instructions

1. Combine the first twelve ingredients (chipotles through oregano) in a medium mixing bowl. Pour the ingredients in a zip top plastic bag and add the pork. Marinate the meat for at least one hour or overnight for best flavor.
2. Place the contents of te zip top platic bag in the liner of a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until the pork is tender and shreds easily. Remove the pork from the slow cooker, shred with two forks, and return to the slow cooker.
3. Serve the pork as tacos, taco bowl, enchiladas, with pasta, on toast, straight out of the slow cooker; however you like.

Nutrition Information

Yield

8

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 392Total Fat 25gSaturated Fat 9gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 13gCholesterol 102mgSodium 399mgCarbohydrates 14gFiber 1gSugar 9gProtein 28g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Slow Cooking Suppers

• Pulled Pork Chili by That Recipe
• Slow Cooker Asian-Style Pot Roast by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Slow Cooker Chili by Art of Natural Living
• Slow Cooker Cottage Ham by Palatable Pastime
• Slow Cooker Creamy Tortellini and Sausage Soup by Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Slow Cooker Meatball Sliders by Blogghetti
• Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Vegetarian Chili Mac by Magical Ingredients

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! While you’re at it, join our Pinterest board, too!

The post Slow Cooker Pork al Pastor appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

I have had a version of this slow cooker chicken recipe on the menu for many years now. Ever since the slow cooker Tuscan cheese steaks hit the blog, to be honest. Yes, I do realize that’s six years. It’s one that I’ve been tweaking and working on at least once a month or every other month for 6 years.

It’s not because those other Tuscan chicken recipes were not good. They were delicious, but always needing something to be adjusted. A slight increase in Tuscan spice mix here, some more vegetables or tomatoes there. Just a little bit of tweaking. You know what I mean?

In all honesty, it started with those sun-dried tomatoes. You see, they’re not the kind in oil. They’re just dried in a pouch. Which means that they absorb all the flavors of the broth and become sweet and tart little gems throughout the dish.

At the last minute, I decided OT add the rest of a jar of sliced kalamata olives and a couple of tablespoons of capers. With all that sweet and creamy goodness in this Tuscan flavored chicken recipe I thought a little salt and brine would add a nice bite.

I don’t know about you, but I love me some simple chicken recipes. You know the kind with a few, uncomplicated ingredients, takes very little time to prepare, and taste amazing. Well, this is one of those recipes. Not only that, but it’s a delicious garlic chicken recipe to celebrate National Garlic Day which is tomorrow.

We are celebrating all things garlic for National Garlic Day today!

When we selected this theme, I knew I wanted to make a creamy garlic chicken recipe. And while I was making the menu, I saw the Tuscan chicken pop up there again and decided to make this a slow cooker Tuscan garlic chicken recipe.

And since we use the sun-dried tomatoes that are in a pouch and not in oil, and a little bit of cream just for richness, this is a healthy sun-dried tomato chicken. So, you can serve it to you family once every month of so and they’ll devour it every time you make it.

I know because we devour it every time I’ve made it.

During times like this it’s great to have an arsenal of quick and easy chicken recipes. Especially ones that call for other cuts of chicken. I don’t know about you, but chicken breasts are not the easiest things in the world to find right now. So, I appreciate the thighs in this recipe. Not to mention thighs work better in the slow cooker than breasts any way. Breasts just dry out in my opinion.

I did not realize that I have over 30 slow cooker recipes on my blog. They range from slow cooker NC pulled chicken to Russian chicken meatball soup to even a pepperoni pizza bread and sourdough bread. That is quite a range of recipes! All of them are listed at the bottom of this post. Feel free to check some of them out while you’re here.

Our slow cooker is in almost every week. Sometimes in the summer we grill more, but it’s used a few times every month. I’m not one that keeps it just for winter months. Who doesn’t love to throw some ingredients in there, leave it to smell the house up with it’s amazing aroma, and then sit down to a somewhat effortless meal.

I’m not going to go so far as to say that this is one of the best chicken slow cooker recipes ever on my blog. However, it is tops on my list as far as chicken recipes go. I’m still partial to pot roasts in the slow cooker, but that’s just me. I really should make and share one because I just realized I don’t have a slow cooker pot roast recipe on here. No sure how I missed that.

However, I will say that this is an easy creamy garlic chicken recipe. You can brown the thighs if you want. You’re choice. That adds a little extra effort on your part. This can easily be converted to an Instant Pot or electronic pressure cooker recipe. Those are in the notes section. It’s just as easy in there, too.

In fact, that’s how I made it the last time. I spaced on putting the ingredients in the slow cooker and whipped it up as a pressure cooker recipe when I got home from work. It’s a good thing to able to make this either way in case you’re like me and totally space in the mornings. Just been on of those years, you know?

Either way you cook it up, it’s delicious. Rich and creamy with so much flavor. And the thighs are perfectly tender and full of flavor. I cannot wait to serve this up again. I have thighs in the fridge. Hmm…

Yield: 6 servings

Slow Cooker Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Cook Time: 8 hours

Additional Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes

Slow Cooker Tuscan Garlic Chicken is creamy, full of garlic
and tomato flavors, and perfect for any night of the week.  It’s a recipe that’s on our menu at least
once a month.

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Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless chicken thighs
• 2 tablespoons Tuscan spice mix
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup
• .87 ounce packet chicken gravy mix
• .75 ounce packet mushroom gravy mix
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 3 ounces chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I used the Bella San Luci in the pouch, not in oil)
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1 cup cream (or milk)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour

Instructions

1. Sprinkle thighs with the spice mix, garlic salt, and black pepper. Set aside.
2. Combine the cream of chicken soup with the gravy mixes and the milk. Set aside.
3. Browning the chicken is optional but does make for deliciously rich sauce. If you decide to brown them, make sure you cook the garlic 1 to minutes and use the wine to deglaze the pan.
4. Place the thighs in the slow cooker (optional instructions for pressure cooker in Notes section).
5. Combine the garlic with the wine and pour the mixture (or the juices from deglazing the pan) into the slow cooker.
6. Sprinkle the tomatoes, onions, peppers, olives, and capers over the chicken and drizzle with the soup mixture.
7. Cook on low 8 to 10 hours (or high 5 to 7) or until the thighs are fork tender.
8. If cooking on low, turn the heat to high.
9. Combine the cream with the flour stirring with a whisk to prevent lumps.
10. Pour the cream mixture into the slow cooker, stir, and continue cooking until thickened.
11. Serve over noodles, polenta, rice, or even mashed potatoes.

Notes

For the pressure cooker:

Set your cooker to brown. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the liner and brown the chicken on both sides.
Add the wine, and garlic and cook 1 to minutes.

Sprinkle the vegetables, olives, and capers over the chicken and drizzle the soup mixture over top.
Turn the valve to pressure cook and set it to high for 15 minutes. Allow the pressure to naturally release.
Set the cooker to brown again and cook until boiling.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 540Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 14gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 14gCholesterol 235mgSodium 943mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 3gSugar 10gProtein 43g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Garlic Lover Recipes

• 30 Minute Garlic Parmesan Rolls by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Drunken Garlic Crock Pot Roast by Palatable Pastime
• Garlic and Cheese Country Bread by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Bread Carbonara by Cheese Curd In Paradise
• Grain Free Garlic Naan by Frugal & Fit
• Peanut Garlic Tabouleh by Art of Natural Living
• Roasted Garlic Hummus by That Recipe
• Slow Cooker Tuscan Garlic Chicken by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

We share Recipes From Our Dinner Table! Join our group and share your recipes, too! 

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The post Slow Cooker Tuscan Garlic Chicken appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.

Mmmmmmm rice.

I love rice. Don’t you love rice? It’s so versatile, delicious, and a great way to stretch a meal. Don’t have enough soup for everyone? Add some rice! Don’t quite have enough meat for everyone? Add some rice! It works in meatloaves, meatballs, and can be tossed in almost any dish or soup.

Rice is also pretty darned in expensive, too. You can buy a huge bag for just a little money. It’s one of those pantry staples that I keep on hand all the time. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, appetizer; pretty much any meal of the day you can eat rice. Heck, you could eat it every meal of the day and probably still not get bored.

Well, if you were my husband you probably would. But I, most assuredly, would not. I could eat rice every day and never get tired of it. But I’m sure I’ve chatted about that before. There’s plenty of rice recipes on my blog for you peruse and read all about how much I love rice.

However, this Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowl isn’t about how cheap rice is and how healthy it is on your budget. This post is about how healthy rice is in general especially when topped with lean proteins and hearty vegetables. Of course, we’re talking about more than just rice here. There’s other hearty grains like quinoa, couscous, barley, amaranth, millet, and loads of other grains you can use in place of rice.

At the start of the New Year, some people resolve to eat healthier. They resolve to exercise, go to the gym, stop drinking so much coffee, or just caffeine in general, and eat out less and eat in more. Of course, we do that last one all the time. We cook dinner 6 nights a week most weeks. Sometimes I fall off the wagon and forget to take protein out for dinner. This leaves us to make something up or order in. Then, of course, we order in on Fridays most weeks. It’s our night off from cooking.

Every other night of the week, we have dinners like this Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowl.

The key, I think, to really good Cuban pork is to marinate the meat. I marinated our pork roast overnight before putting the whole thing in the slow cooker. I’m convinced it’s the deal breaker between good pork and amazing pork. It really does allow the flavors to completely penetrate the roast; ensuring Cuban flavored goodness in every last bite.

Once it’s marinated, you pop the whole thing in the slow cooker with some onions and let if cook, filling your house with an amazing aroma. It will be difficult to resist the urge to eat the whole roast while you’re shredding it. Trust me on this one. I fought the entire time!!  #StruggleisReal

And that broth?

Holy wow! I couldn’t let it just sit there. I had to put it to good use. If you have the time, you can cook the rice in it. I didn’t. I set the rice cooker to do its thing while I was at work. But, I did drizzle some over the rice and beans when I combined them with the spices to set in the bottom of the bowl. You won’t want to miss this step. It’s a game changer for the rice.

Now. I have a confession to make. And I told the hubs this when I was sampling the pork. I cannot stand garlic cooked in the slow cooker. It changes in flavor. It becomes overpowering to me and I usually refuse to use it in the slow cooker. I know it’s an essential part of the delicious flavor in the Cuban marinade, so I decided to put in there. If that flavor was too much, I knew it would just be me that had issues.

So, I’m standing there shredding the pork and eat half of it take a few bites. I said to S, “Ya know, this is the first time I’ve put garlic in the slow cooker and didn’t hate it.” “Really?” “Yes!” And I meant it. Maybe it’s the large amount of citrus? Maybe it’s because I marinated it overnight? I don’t know. But seriously, this is the first slow cooker recipe with garlic that I loved.

And look at it!!

Who wouldn’t love a bowl full of that goodness? The tender pork, the sharp cheddar, sweet tomatoes, tangy onions, and deliciously flavored rice and beans; who can resist? I know I can’t. I honestly can’t wait to shred the other half and use it for sandwiches, or maybe another bowl and even saved the left over rice.  The rice is something I could easily have for lunch. I wasn’t kidding when I said I loved rice. Sometimes, do eat just rice with a little butter, salt, and pepper for lunch. And that’s just fine with me!

And then, there are times where I have lunches like this at work. I know. It’s tough being a food blogger. Heck, it’s tough just being a foodie! I have such a rough life, don’t I? *snort*

I really hope you make this pork. You don’t have to make the taco bowl, but at least make the pork. Serve it with some rice and beans, make a Cubano sandwich, make some tacos like the hubs did. Either way you serve it you, this pork is amazingly delicious. It’s the perfect way to travel from your kitchen.

What would you make with this flavorful pork?

Yield: 4 servings

Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowl

Prep Time: 8 hours

Cook Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 16 hours

Spice up your Taco Tuesday with some tasty Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowls! The perfect combination of zesty flavors and mouth-watering pork.

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Ingredients

• 2 pound lean pork roast
• 1 1/2 cups orange juice
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 4 cups cooked rice
• 14 ounces black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced onions
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Place the pork roast in a zip top plastic bag. Combine the next five ingredients (orange juice through garlic powder) in a small mixing bowl. Pour the mixture in the plastic bag with the pork and marinate over night.
2. Place the onions in the liner of a slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Remove the roast from the bag and place on top of the onions. Pour the marinade over the roast and cook on low 8 to 10 hours or until the pork is fork tender and shreds easily.
3. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and allow it to cool enough to handle. Using two forks, shred the meat and return the slow cooker.
4. Place the rice in a mixing bowl. Top with the black beans and 1/2 cup of the pork juice, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt, and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
5. Place 1 cup of rice mixture in the each of 4 bowls. Top with 4 ounces pork, 1/2 cup tomatoes, 1/4 cup onions and 1/4 cup cheese and serve

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1
Amount Per Serving Calories 827Total Fat 40gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 20gCholesterol 155mgSodium 462mgCarbohydrates 65gFiber 9gSugar 12gProtein 51g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

The post Cuban Style Pork Taco Bowl appeared first on Bring Gourmet to your Every Day - A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures.