Friday’s Hot Tip: Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

Confession: I tend to make the same dishes over and over again, especially in my slow cooker. It’s usually chili, a bean dish, or I’m cooking dried beans so I can freeze them for later use.

While I have a slow cooker cookbook full of some very tasty recipes, I’d seen several recipes online for Indian dishes. Where I grew up I became friends with a lot of Indian kids, so I’d go to parties and other gatherings where the tables were covered in all different kinds of curry, dahl and other dishes full of potatoes, cream, meat, vegetables. Years ago, Momcat and I appealed to one Indian friend’s mom for a small quantity of her family’s special curry powder blend, because store-bought curry powder just doesn’t cut it.

A few weeks ago we were due for a big storm in NorCal, and I decided the cold, wet weather made it the perfect time to try one of the Indian slow cooker entrees. I looked at a couple recipes for chicken tikka masala to get ideas for ingredients, and came up with a chicken curry that turned out rich and flavorful, just like the curries at my friends’ houses back in the day.

Slow Cooker Chicken Curry

  • 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chunks
  • 6 ounces plain Greek yogurt (optional marinade)
  • 1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • ⅔ C yellow onion, diced
  • ⅔ C red onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1-inch fresh ginger root, peeled and grated
  • 2 T tomato paste
  • 2 T curry powder, divided
  • 1 t brown sugar
  • 1 t ground cinnamon
  • 2 t kosher salt
  • Fresh cilantro (optional)
  • 6 ounces plain Greek yogurt

Optional: The night before you make the curry, coat the chicken pieces in 6 ounces of plain Greek yogurt – I used a large Ziploc bag – and refrigerate overnight. This yogurt marinade makes the chicken extra moist and flavorful.

Put chicken and tomatoes in slow cooker. Saute onion, garlic, ginger, tomato paste and 1 tablespoon curry powder in a small amount of vegetable oil until soft, then add to slow cooker and mix well with chicken and tomatoes. Add remaining 1 tablespoon curry powder, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, stirring to combine. Cover and set cooker to High for 4 hours, or Low for 7-8 hours.

Before serving, add yogurt to curry. If you’re not serving the entire batch in one sitting, you may want to add the yogurt to individual servings. (I put a large spoonful of curry in a metal bowl, then mixed in about ¼ cup of yogurt.)

Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro and serve over basmati or jasmine rice.

Variations

  • Use only yellow onion.
  • Use ¾ C heavy cream instead of yogurt prior to serving. You can do this about 15 minutes before it’s done cooking.
  • To make this more tikka masala style, use garam masala instead of curry powder.
chicken curry, curry, Indian food, East Indian, cooking, slow cooker, Crockpot, chicken
Slow cooker chicken curry over jasmine rice.

 

Friday’s Hot Tip: Homemade Salsa

When I was growing up, my parents and I would frequently go out to lunch on Saturdays. It was a post-church treat as Momcat didn’t have to cook or clean anything up. One of our preferred lunch spots was Alamo, a Mexican restaurant with a more Tex-Mex flair. The salsa came to the table in a big Melamine bowl and was the perfect consistency: finely blended fresh tomato, onion, garlic and cilantro. This is the place where I first heard Pops say “Don’t fill up on chips! You’ll be too full to eat your tacos.” But they were so good, and the salsa was so tasty, it was hard to stop.

For many years I have searched for the perfect salsa like Alamo makes (yep, they are still in business), without much success. Sure, there have been some strong contenders – I particularly like Trader Joe’s Salsa Especial. Only in recent years did I consider the possibility that making my own salsa could bring me to that same blissful state as Alamo’s chips and salsa did so many years ago.

A few months ago, I had lunch with a friend who makes all sorts of fabulous sounding dishes at home. I mentioned wanting to make salsa and she whipped out a notebook and started writing down a recipe a friend had given her years before. I believe its origins are from someone’s Mexican grandmother. Todo del mundo ya sabe that abuelitas make delicious food, and this salsa is no exception. Even better? It’s super inexpensive to make and all you need is your blender or food processor. I’ve even made a short video to show you how easy it is.

You can easily adapt this recipe to suit your tastes. Can’t get fire-roasted tomatoes? Use regular instead. Don’t like cilantro? Leave it out. (You have made abuela cry, but she understands.) Too spicy? Use mild chiles instead. No lime? Use a lemon, or, if you must, use ReaLemon or ReaLime in the plastic container.

Homemade Salsa

  • 2 14-oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (Make sure there’s no added garlic, onion or chiles in the can. Trust me on this. You’re going to be adding fresh garlic, onion and chiles anyway, so why do you need it here?)
  • 1/4 C onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 4-oz can diced jalapenos
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro, rinsed (jam the cilantro – leaves, stems and all – into a measuring cup)
  • 1/2 lime, juiced

Put all ingredients in food processor or blender. Process/blend on low speeds until ingredients are combined. Makes approximately 4 1/2 cups.


Friday’s Hot Tip: What’s Cookin? Penne with Spinach & Chickpeas

The hardest part about giving up a lot of wheat and gluten is giving up pasta. Fortunately there are several companies who have come up with rice pasta. Tinkyada makes excellent gluten-free pasta but at $3.99 or more a bag, it can be quite expensive. I buy Trader Joe’s Brown Rice Pasta and find it to be just as good. By using rice pasta I don’t have to stop making my favorite pasta dishes, such as this incredibly delicious penne with spinach, chickpeas and tomatoes tossed in an olive oil-based sauce.

This recipe is a very slight variation on one I got from Kirsten over at NilsenLife. I love chickpeas and especially love them in this dish, which is so full of garlicky tomato-y chickpea goodness that I often eat more than I should in one sitting. I use baby spinach leaves instead of frozen – while I’m loving spinach more now as an adult, I still have issues with frozen spinach. It’s just not aesthetically pleasing.

Earlier this week I visited Kirsten at her home and we briefly discussed our love of this dish. We were in agreement about the addictive qualities of this dish, but couldn’t quite define what makes it so…craveable. The olive oil? The garlic? The combination of flavors? Whatever it is, this pasta dish is well worth turning on the stove for, even during these hot summer days. Pro tip: if you have leftovers, try them cold or at room temperature – still tastes fabulous.

Penne with Spinach and Chickpeas in Garlic Sauce

5-6 oz. loose fresh spinach OR 1 small pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
8 oz. penne pasta
1/3 C olive oil
3-6 garlic cloves (depending on how garlicky you like your food, or if you are trying to ward off vampires)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 15-oz can of chickpeas, drained but not rinsed
Kosher salt & ground pepper
1/4 C grated Parmesan (optional)

Clean spinach, discard stems. (Chop leaves if they are on the large side.) Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook 2 minutes. (Don’t let the garlic burn!) Add the tomatoes and chickpeas and cook 2 minutes more. Add freshly ground pepper for added zing. Throw in the chopped spinach, add kosher salt and stir well. Turn off the burner and allow the spinach to cook on its own – it will be much fresher & bright green in color.

When the pasta is done, drain it thoroughly. Add pasta to saucepan or mix pasta with sauce in a separate bowl. Sprinkle on the Parmesan, and toss again. You can have this pasta without the Parmesan if you have issues with dairy products, but the cheese adds another lovely flavor to the dish.

Serves 3-4 (Pro tip: use entire bag of penne and spinach if you’re feeding a larger group.)

Friday’s Hot Tip: What’s Cookin’? Vinaigrette Dressing

I’ve written before about my cooking phases, but I’m also very conscious of going through phases in salad dressing. When I was growing up, Momcat and I would notice new dressings in the condiments aisle of the grocery store and we would try them out. I remember when ranch dressing made its way onto the scene, usurping many a bottle of Thousand Island not only in our house, but across the land as well. We also tried a tomato dressing that featured sun-dried tomatoes in a vinaigrette-style based – I’d love to find it again, or recreate it, the flavor was so good. When Paul Newman started making his own dressing, we were on it and many a meal at the Moxie kitchen table included that blue-eyed devil staring at us from a bottle of his finest vinaigrette.

About five or six years ago, I was inspired by a former friend to start making my own salad dressings. She would make these incredible salads full of fresh veggies, beans, and other delectables, but instead of serving them with a store-bought dressing, she would mix up olive oil with vinegar, different herbs and spices, and add some ingredients I wouldn’t have thought to add to a homemade dressing.

Over the years I’ve adapted this recipe for my own purposes, and every batch turns out differently, but the following recipe is a good place to start if you are new to DIY salad dressing. Add or remove ingredients as you see fit.

Moxie’s DIY Vinaigrette Dressing

6 T olive oil
4 T rice wine vinegar (balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar is also good)
1/2 T honey
1/2 T spicy brown mustard
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 T fresh thyme
1 T water

145 calories per 2 T serving

Mix all ingredients together using a whisk or hand-held electric beater. Store in a jar with a tight lid or a cruet.

Friday’s Hot Tip: What’s Cookin’? Chicken with Potatoes & Green Beans

Yep, this is another one-pot dish – we’ve already discussed how I feel about one-pot cooking. This is a recipe I saw on the label of a Swanson’s chicken broth container & I decided to make it for my Christmas dinner. I modified the dish by using a mix of small red, white and blue potatoes – it made the dish much more fun to look at with all the color. I also added a shallot because I’ve recently discovered just how very cool shallots are. It’s a baby red onion, all cute and wrapped up in pale brown onion skin! How can you not love them?

The name of this recipe suggests it’s only for eating in the fall months, which is rather limiting and I hate feeling limited. If you want a good meal and you’ve got chicken breasts and green beans in the freezer and a few potatoes in the pantry, plus a can of chicken broth or some bouillon cubes, you’re good to go.

Golden Chicken & Autumn Vegetables

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (4-6 tenderloins work fine too)
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves, crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen whole green beans
  • Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until well browned on both sides. Remove the chicken from the skillet.
  • Stir the stock, garlic, shallot, rosemary, thyme, black pepper, potatoes and green beans in the skillet and heat to a boil.  Cook for 5 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat to low.  Return the chicken to the skillet. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender.

RECIPE TIPS

  • Flavor Variation: for Herbed Chicken Dijon with Wine, add 1/4 cup white wine, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard with the stock.
  • Substitute mixed red, blue and yellow potatoes for sweet potatoes.
  • If you like your green beans crisp and bright, do not add them to the pot until the last 10 minutes.

Friday’s Hot Tip: What’s Cookin’? Chicken with Quinoa & Veggies

When it comes to cooking for myself, I go through phases:

  • Phase 1: buying items that allow me to assemble quick, easy meals
  • Phase 2: having zero interest in making anything that involves a pot, pan or a spatula
  • Phase 3: getting bored with everything I have been making during Phase 1 so seeking out new recipes and experimenting

I’m currently in Phase 3, which can lend itself to some pretty tasty dishes…or some culinary horror stories. Fortunately last week’s experiment turned out very well, and I’m posting the recipe here so you can try it for yourself. I’m a big fan of one-pot cooking, and I eat a lot of chicken at home, so this is my variation on a one-pot chicken recipe I found on Real Simple‘s website.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is an itty-bitty grain first harvested by Native Americans. It’s got loads of protein and can be served for breakfast (the texture is similar to oatmeal and you can make it sweet or savoury) or as a side dish with vegetables for lunch or dinner. It can be cooked like rice, so it’s very easy to substitute quinoa in entrees calling for rice. Plus you get the fun of saying quinoa.

Chicken with Quinoa, Mushrooms, Peppers & Spinach

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenderloins
  • 1 T extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 C mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 C mixed bell peppers, chopped (I use frozen mixed but fresh red bell pepper would be great here)
  • 1/4 t basil, dried
  • 2 C vegetable broth
  • 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 C baby spinach, washed, stems removed
  • Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add chicken and saute until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to plate.

Add mushrooms to skillet and saute until browned, about 3-4 minutes (Note: you may want to add more oil or a little water to keep the mushrooms from burning; I added water). Add peppers, garlic and basil. Cook until peppers have softened, about 3 minutes.

Add broth and quinoa, stirring gently to mix with vegetables. Increase heat to medium-high and allow broth to come to a slow boil. Return chicken to pan, spacing pieces evenly. Lower heat and cover pan. Simmer for 12-15 minutes or until quinoa has cooked through and broth has been absorbed. Season with pepper.

Remove lid, turn off heat and add spinach, tearing up larger leaves. Season with salt, then stir spinach into quinoa and chicken mixture, allowing heat from the dish to wilt the spinach.

Serves 2-4.

Got any quinoa recipes to share? Tell me in the comments!

Friday’s Hot Tip: Make Use of Your Freezer

I was just standing in the kitchen, trying to think of a hot tip to share, when it came to me:

The Freezer.

While I love the oxymoron of a hot tip having to do with the freezer, I’m completely serious. You don’t necessarily need a lot of freezer room in order to take full advantage of its long-term storage capabilities. And it’s a great way to keep certain staples on hand for cooking and baking without worrying if they’ve gone bad.

Here’s a few ideas, taken from my own freezer:

Chopped onions. You can either buy a bag in the frozen veggies section of the store, or buy a bag of fresh chopped onion in the produce section and throw it in the freezer. When you need some onions for any recipe, you just pour out what you need from the bag and stick it back in the freezer. If you don’t mind cutting your own onions, you can save a little money. Make sure you don’t chop the onions too finely, as you can wind up with an onion popsicle that stubbornly refuses to chip off into nice workable chunks for cooking.

Butter. I always try to keep several sticks of butter in the freezer for those moments when I feel inclined to bake. I’m not sure if margarine sticks would keep as well – if you’ve tried this, let me know.

Bread. Joe loves bread and will go through a loaf in about 4 days. I buy 3-4 loaves when they are on sale and stick all but one in the freezer. This does take up a bit more room, but if your freezer is well-organized and your family goes through bread quickly, the clutter doesn’t last for very long.

Nuts. Again, if you like to bake, keeping chopped nuts in the freezer prevents them from going rancid too quickly.

Covered container for ice. I hate how ice can take on the smells and flavors of the freezer. If you don’t have an automatic icemaker, keeping a small bin of fresh ice might not be something you’ve considered – but now you can! At the dollar store, I bought a small square plastic container with an attached snap lid. I washed it out and stuck it in the freezer to hold ice cubes. It doesn’t take up much room, the closed lid keeps the ice fresh, and holds 4 trays’ worth of ice. You can stack items on top of the box if necessary.

Pre-marinated/seasoned chicken breast. This does require some prep time, but means that you have less work when you actually cook it.
1. Buy the family/value pack of fresh chicken breasts.
2. At home, set aside several squares of aluminum foil and about 3-4 freezer bags in varying sizes.
3. Dice several of the chicken breasts into small pieces and put into a medium size freezer bag, then add seasonings. Possibilities include barbecue sauce, honey, lemon, ginger, garlic powder, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Seal the bag and mark it accordingly (e.g., “Stir Fry”, “BBQ”, “Spicy”).
4. Take one of the whole chicken breasts and place on a piece of foil. Make small slits on both sides of the breast using a sharp knife. Add herbs and spices as desired, rubbing them in to the meat. Good options include Italian seasoning, curry powder, chili powder, no-salt seasoning blends, pepper, and lemon or lime juice. Fold the foil around the breast to make a packet, then place into a large freezer bag. Label the bag accordingly – if you put several different types of packets into one bag, don’t forget to mark each packet.
5. When you’re ready to cook, grab a bag of chicken pieces or the foil packets. The foil packets can go right into the oven or on the grill, sealing in the juices and seasoning and eliminating extra fats. The pieces are ready for stir-frying, sauteeing, or stewing.

Got anything in your freezer that makes life a little easier? Share in the comments!

Friday’s Hot Tip: Savory Chicken Crescent Squares

This week’s hot tip is actually a recipe that I’ve had for many years. It was a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner back in the ’70s – Momcat used to make it occasionally for me and Pops, but used a vegetarian chicken substitute instead (still very tasty). Out of all the dishes I’ve cooked for Joe in the 6 months we’ve been together, this is his favorite.

Savory Chicken Crescent Squares

3 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T margarine, melted
2 C chicken, cooked and cubed
1/4 tsp salt or Season-All
1/8 tsp pepper
1 ½ tsp milk*
1 T chopped onion or chives
1 T chopped pimiento
8 oz can Pillsbury crescent rolls
3/4 C seasoned bread crumbs OR crushed seasoned croutons
1 T margarine, melted (optional)

Combine cream cheese, 2 T margarine, chicken, salt, pepper, onion, pimiento, and milk. Mix well. Separate can of crescent rolls into 4 rectangles, sealing perforations, on a cookie sheet or flat baking pan. Spoon 1/4 to ½ cup of chicken mixture onto each rectangle. Pull corners to center and seal, or fold sides over to make a small square. Brush tops of squares with 1 T melted margarine and sprinkle bread crumbs/croutons on top.

Oven Temp = 350°
Baking Time = 20 – 25 minutes, or until golden brown
Serves = 4

*You can eliminate the milk all together, as it makes the mixture very runny.

Hints:

  • Use real cream cheese–lowfat or fat-free cream cheese will make the mixture too watery.
  • The bread crumbs or crushed croutons can be brushed on without using any additional margarine.
  • To make this vegetarian, use 1 can Worthington Fri-Chik instead of chicken. You can also try chickpeas (I haven’t done this yet but I bet it would be really good), seitan, or seasoned tofu.
  • Try different fillings! Possibilities include chili with cheddar cheese, spinach with ricotta or feta cheese, pepperoni and mushrooms with mozzarella…man, now I’m hungry.