Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Such a lovely meal with so little work. In my humble opinion...restaurant quality.

6 chicken thighs, bone-in
2 tbsps olive oil
14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
3 tbsps tomato paste
2 tbsps paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch hot pepper flakes
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 small carrots, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1  1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup red wine
8 oz spaghetti

Serves 4-6

Mix the drained diced tomatoes and tomato paste together and spread evenly over bottom of slow cooker. Top with sliced onions.

Salt and pepper the chicken thighs then in a skillet lightly brown both sides in olive oil. Sit the thighs on top of the sliced onions in the slow cooker.

Add broth and wine to the skillet to deglaze, then stir in the seasonings.

Pour or ladle this mixture over the chicken

and add the carrots, cherry tomatoes and garlic.

Cover and slow cook on low for 6 hours.

When the time is almost up cook spaghetti and drain. Remove chicken to platter. Toss the spaghetti in the sauce then plate with the chicken.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the chicken thighs didn't fall apart in the slow cooker, but the meat fell right away from the bone when eating it. Perfect!

One Pot Tomato Linguini

One pot and about 15 minutes is all you need. 

1/3 cup lightly packed, sliced sundried tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsps butter
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups milk
8 oz linguini
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup parmesan
a handful or two of cherry tomatoes, halved

In a large pot melt the butter on medium heat and add minced garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes until just slightly golden.

Break the linguini in half by wrapping it in a dish towel before snapping in the middle. Otherwise you'll have pieces of linguini flying all over the place!

Add broth, milk, sundried tomatoes, linguini and black pepper to the pot. Make sure the linguini is covered by the liquid. The reason for breaking it in half.

Bring everything to a boil, stir once, then reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 10-12 minutes stirring halfway through.

Remove the lid and stir in the cherry tomato halves. Simmer to thicken a couple of minutes.

Serve with parmesan cheese and more black pepper.

From https://www.budgetbytes.com/2015/11/one-pot-creamy-sun-dried-tomato-pasta/

Berry Peary Smoothie Bowl

What a refreshing summery bowl of goodness! Alright, it looks like summer is never going to come, but right here, right now, it's summer in my kitchen!

Smoothie for 2 :

3/4 cup frozen strawberries
3/4 cup frozen blueberries
1 frozen pear
1 frozen banana
1  1/2 cups plain yogurt
2 tbsps honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsps ground hemp seed

Toppings:

coconut
ground flax seed
chia seeds
pumpkin seeds
mango slices
kiwi slices
strawberries
oats

Whirl the frozen berries, pear and banana in your blender to chop. I had a frozen Bosc pear whose skin is naturally light brown and upon freezing became more brown, so I peeled it. But if you aren't afraid of making a weirdly brown smoothie then by all means don't peel your pear.  As you can see the banana is still in the skin. That's how I freeze my bananas, peel and all.....but I did remove this one before whirling. Apparently banana peel is a good source of nutrition, but I haven't tried it yet. 

Next add the yogurt, honey, vanilla and hemp seeds.

I've got to tell you about this yogurt. It's Halal 3% fat probiotic plain yogurt. Nice and thick like Greek yogurt, which of course you could use as well.  I saw this yogurt in the grocery store, regularly priced at $2.79 for 750 ml but it was marked down to $0.25!!  Then an additional 30% OFF and there were still 6 days left before the expiry date !! So it only cost me $0.17....I love a good sale!

Anyways, once everything is blended together pour into serving bowls and top with your favourite things!

I sure hope the sun comes out soon!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

This one is a good make-head veggie dish!

1 lb brussels sprouts
1 large sweet potato, cut in 1" cubes
1 large carrot, cut in 1/2" slices
2 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp dried thyme
Pepper to taste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar


Trim stem end off brussels sprouts and leave whole or, if you have larger ones, cut them in half.

Toss sprouts, sweet potatoes, carrots and garlic together with olive oil, cumin, garlic powder, thyme and pepper.

Spread out on a parchment lined baking sheet and roast in a 400F oven for 40-45 minutes.

Remove from oven and toss with red wine vinegar if serving immediately.

Or to prepare ahead of time, which works really well, cook the veggies and then cool. Do not add red wine vinegar. When ready to serve spread out on a baking sheet and pop in that 400F oven for only 5-10 minutes. Now toss with red wine vinegar and serve.


From  http://thefoodcharlatan.com/2015/11/23/roasted-sweet-potatoes-and-brussels-sprouts-recipe/

Spinach and Feta Stuffed Potatoes

All the spanakopita flavours...

4 russet potatoes
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cups fresh chopped spinach
3/4 cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon pepper
1/3 cup cream cheese
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, divided

Heat oil in a skillet and add onion and cook 2-4 minutes. Add spinach, garlic and oregano and cook an addition minute or two.

Bake potatoes your usual way and once cool enough to handle cut in half and scoop out, leaving about 1/4" of potato on the skin.

Mash the potatoes with cream cheese and the seasonings, then stir in the spinach mix and 1/2 cup feta. Fill the potato skins and top with remaining feta.

Place in a baking dish and bake in a 375F oven for 25-35 minutes.

Original - http://www.eatingwell.com/recipe/251250/spanakopita-loaded-potatoes/?crlt.pid=camp.EB7bF1QzLTKs

Eggplant Parm

This classic Italian dish is a super flavourful meat free choice for dinner.

Serves 4-6

1 eggplant, sliced
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1/3 cup milk
1  1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup fine cornmeal
1 tsp cornstarch
3 tbsps parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded cheese (mozza, provolone, cheddar)

Sauce:

1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 - 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 - 5.5 oz can tomato paste
2 tsps dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp sugar

To make the sauce:

Heat olive oil in a saucepan and brown the chopped onion. Add garlic and cook 1 minute to soften the garlic. Add the rest of the ingredients. (Don't forget, when you drain the canned tomatoes keep the juice. You can freeze it for when you're making soup.) Simmer the sauce about 5 minutes. It should be quite thick.

Set the sauce aside and start preparing the eggplant.

Take a thin slice out of one side of the skin. That will give you a flat surface to sit your eggplant on for slicing. You should be able to get about 12 slices out of a good sized eggplant.

Place the flour in a bowl.

Mix eggs and milk together in another bowl.

And in another bowl mix bread crumbs, cornmeal, cornstarch and parmesan together.

Your dredging station is ready!

Dredge each slice of eggplant in flour then dip in egg/milk and finally in the breadcrumb mix.

Prepare a broiler pan with cooking spray and place the breaded eggplant side by side. I only have one broiler pan so had to bake two batches.

Bake at 400F for 12 minutes, then slowly and carefully remove from oven. Flip them and return to oven for another 8 minutes.  I say slowly and carefully because on my first batch I reached in and pulled the broiler pan out of the oven and my eggplant slices slid right off the pan and onto the oven floor. Grrrr! (5 second rule, right?)

Once all the eggplant slices are baked oil an 8 X 11" baking dish and spoon in 1/2 cup tomato sauce. Next a layer of eggplant and another 1/2 cup of sauce.

Here you add 1/3 cup of your choice of cheese. I used herb and garlic cheddar. Then eggplant, 1/2 cup sauce and 1/3 cup cheese and the final layer of eggplant. Top with the remaining sauce.

Bake at 375F for 30 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake 10 more minutes.

Remove from oven and let rest about 10 minutes before cutting to ensure nice neat servings.

Mango Fish Flowers

The sun is shining and it's warm out, and it's FriYAY!

3 or 4 - 6" whole wheat soft tortillas

400 g basa (or other white fish)
Salt and lemon (or black) pepper
Zest of 1 lime
1 tbsp coconut

1 avocado, sliced

Mango slaw:
1 mango, diced
2 cups coleslaw (or beet slaw) mix
3/4 cup shredded carrots
2/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
1/2 cup sliced green onion
1/4 cup diced red pepper
2 tbsps fresh lime juice

Lime Cream:
1/4 cup sour cream
3 tbsps mayo
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp honey

Start by making the tortilla flowers. In fact, you can make these a day or 2 ahead of time.  Turn a muffin tin upside-down, no need to oil, just place a tortilla in between the muffin cups and shape.

Bake at 375F for 10-12 minutes. Remove, cool and just keep in a bowl on the counter until ready to use.

Toss the mango slaw together in a bowl. I just love all the colours!

Mix the lime cream ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.

I like basa but any mild white fish will work. Sprinkle salt and lemon pepper on both sides of the fillets. Heat coconut oil in pan and fry fish 2-3 minutes per side or until fish flakes easily. Remove to a plate and flake or break into pieces.

Now to assemble, simply add fish and sliced avocado to the tortilla flowers, top with a good heap of mango slaw

and a drizzle of lime cream.

Yummy!
And here's a variation that's tasty too!

Eliminate the mango and top the fish off with a heaping spoonful of Spicy Peach Salsa!
Find the recipe here:

http://hotandcoldrunningmom.blogspot.ca/2016/09/spicy-peach-salsa.html



Adapted from: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/mango-chipotle-fish-tacos-recipe/