I don't know about you, but I am always on the look-out for new crockpot recipes. I LOVE using my crockpot, but it's hard because between my workday and commute, I am gone from home for a minimum of 10 hours every day! Most crockpot recipes are for much less than that, even if I cook them on low instead of high. So far, I have only found 1 dish and 2 soups that are able to hold up to this timeframe. But then, I came across this recipe and saw that it could go 6-9 hours. I figured, I bet it could hold up a lot longer if it had just a bit more liquid and I tried it! Of course, I also had to tweak it! Here is my version:
Crockpot Salsa Chicken
from Clara Ogren, Six Food Intolerance Living
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts or thighs (can even use frozen)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes, NOT drained
1 jar salsa (chose the spiciness level that is right for your family)
2-3 tbsp lime juice
1-2 tsp of adobo powder
Half of a bunch of cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips or soft corn tortillas
Directions:
Place chicken, salsa, corn, beans, tomatoes (with juice), lime juice and adobo powder into crockpot, mix.
Cook on low for 10-12 hours.
Just before serving, sprinkle in the cilantro, mix in.
To eat, shred chicken (this can be done in the crockpot with a spoon) and serve with tortilla chips, over rice or inside soft corn tortillas.
Tips:
A nice lettuce side salad is the perfect accompaniment to this meal or instead top the salad with the chicken mixture for a fiesta salad
Top with sliced avocado or with a dollop of guacamole
If you are able to have dairy, this dish would be great topped with sour cream and/or shredded cheese
And wouldn't you know it, it held up beautifully for 12 hours. I mixed it around a bit to evenly distribute the liquids and it was perfect as it stayed nice and moist! I took my lid off and on a lot the last 2 hours or so doing a lot of mixing. If yours is too liquidy, just take the lid off, turn the crockpot on high, watch it and mix occasionally. That'll help boil out the liquid. I don't know about you, but I'd rather it be too liquidy and moist than dry and hard! ;)
I ate this rolled up in soft corn tortillas with a side salad. Hubby ate it with tortilla chips and was plenty happy without the cheese (though I'm sure he would have prefered it!).
This dish was super easy - effortless, really and was quite tasty. And, it's pantry-friendly! What more could you ask for? :D
I was quite happy when I found this in the store! It's GF/DF/SF! Woo hoo! Of course, it was also $5.00! Boo hoo! ;)
I kept it in the freezer for in-case-of-emergency-only. Well, I didn't have a lunch on hand the other day, so I grabbed it! The flavor is actually not bad. It was a little bland for my tastes, so I sprinkled a bit of Cajun spice on it and it was better. The only other thing that I have to complain about is the size. Maybe I'm a piggo, but I was still hungry afterwords. It just wasn't enough for me. Luckily, I had brought along some tortilla chips, so I ate some of those too.
All-in-all, this is a good in-case-of-emergency meal, but for the price, I would only keep 1 on hand at a time and still mostly try to use my bulk cooked meals, for economical reasons!
I know everyone is probably going to be super busy tonight, so I thought I'd share a recipe that is quick, easy and you probably already have all the ingredients on hand in your pantry!
Over at the Gluten Free Recipe Swap Yahoo Group (I told you that group is wonderful!), Natalie from Creating from Scratch shared this Black Bean Salsa recipe. It sounded super good and I had all the ingredients on hand, so I whipped up a batch. My oh my. Talk about YUMMY! It was so quick, easy, healthy and delish! The only tweaking I did was to add an entire bunch of cilantro (just because I love it so much) and added 2 avocados instead of just 1 (again, because I love it so). Also, be warned, this recipe makes A LOT. Probably fine for a family of 4 or so, but for just Hubby and I, it was a lot. So, I ate it for lunch for a couple of days ... by itself ... with just chips ... yeah, I'm a muncher ... I mean, that's how good and filling it is! Natalie says that she also serves it with chicken or rice to make a meal out of it.
Actually, it's been a few weeks since I made it last ... I think another batch is in order! :D
Growing up with a Thai mom, I never ate avocados. I mean, it's not like they are called for much in Asian cooking. I never ate them, so I never liked them. I also hated guacamole.
But then, I married a Mexican man. He loves avocados, so I decided to give them another try ... by itself, just a small slice. Whoa! Delicious! Buttery, rich, creamy - wonderful! I ate them by themselves, over tacos, over soup, in salads, yum, yum, yum! Then I attempted guacamole ... and it was good! I realized that all the other guacamole that I had before had 4 main faults (at least for me): too much garlic, not enough cilantro, not enough lime juice and they were too dry/pasty (probably from the lack of lime juice!). So, over time, I perfected my own guacamole recipe, and I'm here to share it with you today. I'm so glad that it is naturally GDSYWP free! And, it's just so naturally simple! Oh, I will apologize in advance: I do not measure, and have made this recipe a million times, so I just sort of know what "feels" like the right amount ... although I still tend to put in too much lime juice from time to time ... weird? Anyway, here we go:
2 ripe avocados
1/2 - 3/4 onion (depending on your tastes), finely diced (in my order of preference: red, then Vidalia, then sweet yellow)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
pinch of kosher salt
dash of granulated garlic (actual garlic provide a flavor that is too strong for me)
dash of adobo powder (be very careful with this - it is quite strong and salty)
splash or two of lime juice
I usually throw everything in, then mash it together. When it's done separately, I don't think the flavors mesh as well. Usually, I try not to mash everything super well. I like my guacamole to be a bit chunky. Note that there are no tomatoes in my guacamole. I don't like them in there. I think it takes away from the flavor and messes with the creamy texture. But, if you like them, just fold them in after everything is mashed! Oh, and if you can have dairy, it is really delicious if you add a couple spoonfuls of sour cream and mix it in!
I always serve this guacamole with My Tacos and love it as a dip for these chips.
Other things that I love to do with avocado:
Slicing it up and eating it alone with a dash of salt
Slicing avocado onto any sandwich
Or, over any salad ... especially:
Cobb Salad (obviously leaving out the cheese and subbing turkey or beef bacon for pork bacon)
Mexican Poached Eggs over Polenta with Tomatillo-Avocado Salsa from Weight Watchers
If you have not already done so, please read the disclaimer information both off to the side and exceptions and disclaimer in this post.
I just have to say that I honestly love Chipotle. I know their food isn't really authentic Mexican, but when I'm in a hurry and in the mood for Mexican, Chipotle does hit the spot! And, I have to say that their website is pretty neat and contains lots of information on their food. I also love that their food is pretty basic. According to their website, "Our foods at Chipotle have no artificial colors or artificial flavorings." So, as long as you avoid the obvious (staying away from cheese, sour cream, flour tortillas and shredded pork), you should be set! If you're super sensitive, you may want to ask that the employees put on fresh gloves since they do handle the flour tortillas. There are only 2 things that I will note - 1) they use a small amount of bacon in their pinto beans, so I always get the black beans and 2) they use soybean oil in uh, everything - they claim that it is not indicated as an allergen. Me personally? If I have too much, I feel icky. But, I have had several large meals there without a problem.
I think it's time we had a non-dessert post, right?
Today, I am going to share with you one of my all-time favorite GDSYWP-free soups: Organic Black Bean Vegetable Soup by Amy's Kitchen.
This soup is high in fiber (10 grams for the whole can) and low in fat (3 grams for the whole can). And, it is one of the tastiest soups I have ever had (and I'm a big soup person!).
This soup is a constant in my kitchen - it makes a great quick lunch when paired with a sandwich wrap, the frozen Chicken Tamale Meal that I talked about before, or even just by itself!
As an added bonus, I usually can find it in the health-food or organic section of the "regular" grocery store, making it easily accessible when traveling.
As Rachel Ray would say, "Yum-O"!
As promised in my last post, I will now give my Tweaked Spanish Rice recipe.
One of my Hubbys favorite childhood dishes is my Mother-in-Laws Spanish Rice. He just loves it. I made it a couple times and had to call her each time for the recipe! I would write it down and lose it or scribble it so poorly that I couldn't read my own writing later. Well, one day, I wanted to make it, couldn't find her recipe and couldn't get a hold of her (she and my Father-in-Law often go camping in places where they do not have cell reception). Anyway, I Googled "Spanish Rice" and came across this recipe from a lady named Elise. I really liked hers, but I tweaked it a bit to give it a bit more "umph" and switched around the cooking method a bit to work a bit better for me. Here is my take on her original recipe:
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Tweaked Spanish Rice
Originally by Elise, Tweaked by Clara
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 sweet onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups of jasmine rice
3 cups chicken stock (if using different type of rice, check the rice to liquid ratio for your rice)
2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste
1 small can of sliced or chopped black olives, drained (I think this is a 4 or 6 oz can?)
Hearty sprinkle of Adobo powder (maybe half a teaspoon?)
Splash of lime
1 teaspoon salt
Optional: Cilantro, one quarter to half a bunch, chopped
Optional: Tomatoes, diced
Directions:
In a pot, add chicken stock, tomato paste, splash of lime juice, and salt, stir and bring stock to a boil.
In a separate large skillet, brown rice in olive oil, on medium/high heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook mixture, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes, or until onions are softened. Toss in black olives, a sprinkle of Adobo powder and optional cilantro and/or tomatoes, stir.
Turn heat in skillet off, wait for a minute or so.
Add boiling broth to rice mixture, give it a quick stir and cover the skillet (you have to turn the heat off and wait otherwise the boiling water into a super hot pan will cause the boiling water to boil even more and jump out of the pan onto your stovetop and burn your hand ... ask me how I know!).
Turn heat back on low, just to a simmer.
Cook about 20 minutes more or until all the liquid is absorbed.
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When I'm having this dish with the Tacos, I usually leave out the tomatoes. But, this also makes a great accompaniment to eggs in the morning for breakfast, in which case I sometimes add the tomatoes in to make it more hardy. I'll even add diced zucchini, asparagus or mushrooms if I have them on hand. The cilantro addition is something that adds A LOT of flavor. Personally, I really like it, but it was too strong for Hubby, so I don't usually put it in.
Oh, and if your not familar with Adobo powder, it is simply a mixture of Hispanic spices. I find it in the Hispanic section of the grocery store. It looks like this:
Now, look carefully when you are purchasing this. There are a lot of variations - with cumin, with lemon, with pepper, etc. I buy it just plain old Adobo, without pepper. It is also really good sprinkled in your salsa, guacamole, refried beans or on black beans. Just be light with it. It is pretty salty and very flavorful. A little goes a long way with this stuff!
As usual, if you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Along with the Chili, another dish that Hubby was THRILLED that was able to stay around in it's original form was my tacos. Some background information, Hubby is of Mexican decent and was born and raised in San Diego. He is used to authentic, *really* good Mexican food. However, when Hubby and I were dating, we were going to college in Alabama, and then returned there after we were married, so obviously, true, authentic Mexican food was hard to come by. We attempted to satisfy his cravings by sampling lots of different restaurants, and I even attempted a recipe or two. But, nothing was quite "right." Being of Thai decent, and I myself trying to find authentic Thai in Alabama, I could completely understand his missing real Mexican food and I searched for ways to do it right. Well, one night, in another attempt to do so, I decided to try a new marinade that I had spotted at the local grocery store. I tried it, and it turned out GREAT! Hubby was SO happy. This recipe has been in heavy rotation ever since (Fall of 2005) with no complaints! So, I am here to share the recipe with you. It is GDSYWP-free, is deemed fairly authentic by my Mexican-American Hubby and is SUPER easy to make! The most important ingredient is:
Mojo Criollo Marinade by GoyaThe marinade can be found in the Hispanic food section of the grocery store, and is also available on several websites. It gives the most delicious citrusy/garlicy flavor without much spice. As for the meat, we usually use flank steak, but whatever you have on hand will do, even chicken! Just keep in mind if you decide to use beef, just be sure to cut the meat across the grain because this marinade doesn't really tenderize (or at least not on the type of meat we use), and so the meat can be super tough.
To keep things authentic, and GDSYWP-free, use soft corn tortillas like these to wrap your delicious meat. Actually, you're supposed to use 2 of these to wrap your meat, like Hubby does, but that is sometimes too much tortilla for me.
I usually have Hubby throw those on the grill too after the meat is done for just a minute or two to heat them up a bit. You could also do it on a skillet in the stove, but again, it's nice to have Hubby deal with it while I tend to the sides. And, the grill gives the tortillas a sort of smoky flavor.One side item that I often make with this dish is Spanish Rice. I have finally found a great recipe and tweaked it to be just right for Hubby and me - and it is deliciously GDSYWP-free! I will share that recipe with ya'll in my next post!
If you try this recipe, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of it!
