Slow Cooker Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers

Chicken breast has become my go-to meat protein after my cardiologist convinced me that giving up red meats would benefit me greatly. He was right... labs are the best they've been in a very long time. White meat is not the easiest to work with as there's just no fat at all, so I'm always looking for new ways to have fun with this nutritious meat.

I was inspired by a recipe in America's Test Kitchen's cookbook Slow Cooker Revolution. Swapping the protein and leaving out the rice along with a few seasoning adjustments made the dish my own, and I'm happy to share this very flavorful creation especially with my diabetic followers. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb ground chicken breast
• 1 yellow onion - chopped
• 5 cloves garlic - smashed & minced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp crushed Aleppo pepper
• 4-5 orange and red bell peppers depending on size
• 1 club roll or hard roll - just the white part from inside
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 small zucchini - cut into 1/4" pieces
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp table salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 tbsp minced fresh basil
• shredded Parmesan for final garnish 

Preparation:

Combine onion, garlic, tomato paste, Aleppo pepper and evoo in a microwave-safe bowl. Mix, microwave 2 min on high, mix and repeat once.

Cut the tops off the peppers, making them as even as possible and remove core and seeds. Chop some of the tops to add to filling mix.

In a large mixing bowl combine the bread and milk and work it into a paste. A fork works well for this. Add the onion/garlic mix, chopped pepper top, zucchini, ground chicken, both cheeses, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Use your hands to mix thoroughly.

Stuff the peppers with a spoon, making sure there are no air pockets.

Place peppers into your slow cooker along with 1/3 cup water. Lean the peppers against each other and or the sides as they will tend to droop otherwise when they get soft. Cook on low for 4-5 hours.

It can get a little tricky getting the peppers out. I have found working with tongs and a large slotted spoon works best. The pepper will be filled with liquid, so instead of trying to lift them out upright, I roll them onto the slotted spoon so excess liquid stays in the slow cooker. Garnish tops with fresh chopped basil and a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan. Serve with a tossed salad made with a homemade dressing to avoid sugars all around. :-)

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken

This is one of those really simple dishes that is chock full of flavor simply by way of the ingredients themselves. You'll notice the only spices are a bit of salt and lemon pepper, allowing everything else to shine in its natural glory. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1.75 - 2 lbs brined chicken breast
• 1 tbsp lemon pepper - I use FreshJax... great blend and the company donates meals to kids in need.
• 2 onions cut in quarters or eighths
• 6 cloves garlic diced
• 1/2 cup white wine (Not cooking wine - too much salt)
• 1 can whole tomatoes, drained and halved
• A handful of fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil, salt & pepper

    Brine:

• 4 cups water 
• 1tbsp salt
• 1 lemon

Preparation:

Brining the Chicken

Trim the breasts of fat and junk. Lay breast flat,

cut in half lengthwise and then cut halves into stew size chunks.

Mix 4 cups water with 1 tbsp regular salt and fresh squeezed juice from 1 lemon.

Add chicken to brine, stir a little so chicken pieces are in brine on all sides.

Refrigerate and let sit for 1 hour.

When time's up, pour chicken into a colander and give a quick rinse to remove most of the salt.

Gather the Slow Cooker Components

Place drained & rinsed chicken in large mixing bowl. Add olive oil and lemon pepper... mix. Heat a large skillet on medium high and sear the chicken on all sides. Spray the slow cooker with cooking spray and place chicken in bottom of pot.

Add wine, garlic and onions to skillet and stir/toss over medium heat until slightly browned.

Spread evenly over meat.

Cover with a layer of basil leaves and then tomatoes, cut side down.

Sprinkle with kosher salt as you see fit and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Gently break up the tomatoes before serving and fold in carefully with the chicken.

Serve with fresh broccoli and quinoa or barley made with a chicken broth.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Slow Cooker Chicken & Shrimp

This is a very easy and versatile dish.  You can add shrimp or scallops or just use chicken.  I like to serve it with barley, but it’s great with rice or pasta also.  And it smells really good while it cooks!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, white or dark, cut in chunks
• non-stick cooking spray
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup parsley, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine - use the good stuff :-)
• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes – drained and cut up
• 1 tsp. dried leaf basil
• 1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined - use Wild Alaskan Company spot prawns to really elevate the dish! :-)
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

Cut chicken into cubes or strips.  Lightly brown in frying pan with olive oil.  

Generously spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Place chicken in slow cooker.  Sautee onion, garlic and parsley in same skillet for about 1 minute.  Stir remaining ingredients, except shrimp, into skillet and then pour over chicken.

Cook on LOW 3 1/2 hours.  Add shrimp and cook an additional 30 minutes on LOW.  Be sure shrimp is cooked through before turning off slow cooker.  Serve with pearl barley, rice or pasta.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Sunny's Pot Roast

My dear friend Sunny was a total foodie. We could talk about food for hours and shared many recipes, processes and kitchen hacks. She taught me all about "free scallions" and introduced me to up-to-your-elbows-in-butter Dungeness Crab feasts on newspaper covered tables at crab shacks in Florida. Unfortunately my dear friend is no longer with us, but she did leave me with the recipe for her coveted slow cooker pot roast. Sunny, like me, never shied from sharing as she was one of the most giving people I was ever honored to know. To that end, here is my friend Sunny and her delectable pot roast... pretty much the way she gave it to me. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 pound beef roast, the cheaper the better
• 6 peeled carrots in chunks
• 4 peeled onions, cut up
• 4 unpeeled potatoes, cut bite sized
• 2 ribs of celery sliced bite size
• 1/2 pound of button or baby portobellos, scrubbed and whole
• Fresh garlic
• Roasted garlic
• 1 can of beef broth
• 2 cans of reduced fat condensed cream of mushroom soup
• About 1 cup Marsala wine
• 1-2 cups Cabernet or other red wine
• 1/2 envelope onion soup mix
• Adobo seasoning (regular)
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of butter

Preparation:

We're going to start this around 10:00 AM and you’ll need at least a 6 quart slow cooker minimum J Drizzle some olive oil into a hot heavy sauté pan. Place your roast in the oil, sprinkle it with Adobo and brown the meat on all sides. Once that's done, remove the roast and place it in a slow cooker that's been coated with cooking spray.

Add the butter to the pan, then the onions and some roasted garlic. If you aren't keeping roasted garlic in the house, you're missing out. Sauté until the onions are just a little tender, and then pour them over the roast in the slow cooker. Deglaze the pan by pouring Marsala wine into it and scraping the bits off the bottom. Add this to the slow cooker as well. Add the carrots, mushrooms, potatoes, the celery and the tablespoon of fresh garlic, the onion soup mix, the beef broth and Cabernet to taste ...then cover and set on high.

After 6 hrs add the mushroom soup, give the whole mess a good stir, set to low and go turn on a movie. It needs about two hours more to blend the flavors. If you don’t have room for the two cans, scoop out some of the gravy into a saucepan and add a dash of the mushroom soup. You’ll add this back to your main gravy after the meat is removed from the slow cooker.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!

Slow Cooker Cranberry Orange Pork Loin

I have been cooking for decades. When I was diagnosed type 2 back in 2013 my whole culinary world went into a tailspin, and I basically had to learn to cook all over again. I'm not gonna lie... it was very very hard to give up so many things that I had loved for years. Yes... there was anger and there were tears. I started this blog to share my newly learned skills but could never quite let go of my culinary past completely. That is why I have the quotation marks in the blog's name.

My "Diabetic" Food

My goal is to share good food for all with a strong lean toward recipes that serve the diabetic foodies well. This slow cooker is not one of those recipes. Today's slow cooker is for the folks following me who are not diabetic and it is a culinary memory that makes me salivate to this day. If this dish does get made in a diabetic home, please be sure you stick to one slice of meat and maybe 1 tbsp of the sauce. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 4.5 - 5 lbs boneless pork loin roast
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp avocado oil
• 1 - 14 oz can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 3 - 3” strips orange zest (no white stuff)
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Preparation:

1: Dry pork with paper towel and season all sides with salt & pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat until almost smoking. Brown pork well on all sides, about 7 – 10 minutes.

2: Stir cranberry sauce, cranberries, orange juice, orange zest and cinnamon into slow cooker. Nestle browned pork into slow cooker. Cover and cook until pork is tender and registers 140 - 145 degrees on meat thermometer. This will take about four hours on low.

3:Transfer pork to cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Discard orange zest. Transfer braising liquid to saucepan and simmer until reduced to ~ 2 cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

4: Remove twine (if used) from pork, slice into 1/2” thick slices, and arrange on serving platter. Spoon 1 cup sauce over meat and serve with remaining sauce.

Blessed be... and happy cooking!