Tikka Masala--in the Slow Cooker

I'm not an expert on Indian food, but I know what my family loves to eat and this dish is great!  It isn't too spicy, but can be spiced up on demand, and can cook away making your house smell like a great family dinner while you are off at work and school.  I'm really not trying to be the poster girl for the slow cooker, but it works so well for our family and family meals.

I've seen a lot of different recipes for this dish that were not for the slow cooker, and just took them and made them my own.  It is mostly adapted from America's Test Kitchen and Merryweather Mama.

Chicken Tikka Masala
serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 1.5 pounds boneless/skinless chicken breast
• 1 tbsp fresh grated or minced ginger
• 2 tbsp minced or chopped garlic
• 1-2 red chilies, finely chopped (optional if you like a little heat)
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 tsp. ground coriander 
• 2 Tbsp. garam masala
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain yogurt
• 3 tbsp evoo
• 1 large diced onion
• 2 tbsp tomato paste28-32 ounces San Marzano diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp table salt
• 3/4 cup heavy cream

Mix the garlic, ginger, (chilies), mustard seeds, paprika, cumin, coriander, and garam masala in a bowl. Put half of this mixture in a large mixing bowl and set the rest aside.

Add the yogurt to the mixing bowl and mix it in with the spices and add in the chicken.  Marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Add the chicken and all the ingredients EXCEPT the cream to the slow cooker.  Cook on low 7-9 hours.  20 minutes before eating, use stick blender to blend in the cream, and cover and cook until dinner time.  Serve with Naan and basmati rice.  YUM!

Chili For A Cold Night

It's the Midwesterner in me, when it gets super cold outside, I think of making chili.  I've also been easing my kids into full-on chili since we have started camping a lot and bringing chili along to heat up on the fire is a lot easier than the "gourmet" camping meals that I've attempted this year.  But we'll get into that when camping season starts!

I also convert almost any chili, soup, or stew recipe into a slow cooker recipe because I just believe that smelling that wonderful dinner aroma when you walk in after school or work really gets you in the mood for eating a good dinner.  So tonight it was chili mac with a little shredded sharp cheddar and it was a success!  It helped that I had some blondies cooling on the counter for dessert--I'm not beyond a little bribery to get my kids to try things for the first time, but there wasn't any bribery involved tonight. 

The great thing about chili is that every family has a different recipe.  This is the one that works for us, but if we didn't have ground beef, ground turkey or chicken would work, and vegetarian is even better!  I made a recipe once that had peanuts substituted for meat, and after they cooked all day they really did have the texture and protein of a meat.  My daughter is allergic to corn and soy, but you could also add roasted corn, polenta, or corn meal to thicken it.

Down Home Chili

• 1 lb lean ground turkey (or lean ground beef, ground chicken or chicken breasts)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 28 oz fire roasted diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel, or Trader Joe's)
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Brown meat with onions and garlic, drain, add to slow cooker.  Add the rest of the ingredient and mix.  Cook on low in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours, serve over your favorite pasta--elbow macaroni is always good--with grated sharp cheddar to top, and cilantro to garnish.

Roasted Chicken

Our family loves a roasted chicken.  We have it once a week and why not?  It is inexpensive, easy to prepare, tastes great, reheats well for lunch the next day, and is a different meal each week when you pair it with different sides.

I have to admit, even though it's easy, we've had our share of mistakes.  You can under cook it, season it wrong for your family's tastes, or cook it to a crisp, but once you have it down it is a snap.  A whole roaster chicken is usually far less than a package of 3-4 boneless chicken breasts--it is usually about $5.  So make some mistakes!  And then, you will have a full proof meal that your family will always feel is nourishing and fulfilling.

Tonight we had it with a mix of green beans, cauliflower, peas, romanesco, and a little garlic butter sauce, and roasted polenta slices. 

Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken, cleaned, legs trussed with kitchen twine

kosher salt

ground sage

ground or fresh thyme

a few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Use kosher salt to generously salt the cavity.  Add sage, thyme, and any other desired herbs.  You can add onion and/or lemon to the cavity but you will have to add about 30 minutes to the cooking time.  Rub the outside skin with butter and lightly season with salt.  Cook about 90-115 minutes until instant read thermometer reads 180 in the breast.

And it's the weekend, right?  Oh, wait, it is only Thursday!?  You've got to be kidding me!  Well, I served a cocktail like we were kicking off the weekend and it was delicious!  My husband and I enjoyed a new concoction--a HONEY SIDECAR!  The perfect drink when you want to pretend it is the weekend.

Honey Sidecar

1 oz Cointreau

2 oz American Honey bourbon

1 oz sour mix

Shake with ice and serve up in a martini glass.  YUM!

Coconut and Chicken Curry Soup

Nine months of the year we grill almost every night.  It is a healthy, tasty and quick way to prepare meats, veggies, flat breads, and even dessert!  So on these cold, dark days of winter my family eats much differently than the rest of the year.  This time of year my slow cooker becomes my best friend, and we eat soup, soups, and more soups.  Soup is the best way for us to warm our bones, and feel satiated on cold evenings.

I transformed this recipe from Cooking for Seven to suit our needs and tastes and it has become one of our cold weather favorites.  EVERYONE gobbles it down, and if there is any left it reheats the next day beautifully for lunch.  That is IF there is any left.  There rarely is.  You could prepare it the way Cooking for Seven does, but I love smelling it in the slow cooker all day.  It fills the house with the smell of WARMTH!

Coconut and Chicken Curry Soup

• 3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk (I use light)
• 2 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 tablespoons lime juice (or a little more to taste)
• 1 small green bell pepper, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish
• 1/2 cup unsweetened chipped coconut
• 2 cups freshly cooked jasmine rice

Add the first seven ingredients to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

In the last hour of cooking open it up and shred the chicken.  Add the sliced green pepper. 

Serve spooned over jasmine rice and garnish with the cilantro and chipped coconut on top.  Heaven!
Makes approximately 6 servings