1 Fast Recipe For The Slow Cooker

I have a bone to pick. I realize this in itself is not news, as I seem to go on “are you kidding me?!” rants on the blog here about once a week. So cathartic! So much cheaper than therapy! Maybe my tip of the day should be: start a blog.

But no, today’s tip concerns crock pots. I’ll get to that once I rant a little bit about the writers of crock pot recipes. Do they not realize  the reason a cook is using a crock pot is because she’s pressed for time? She doesn’t have 20 extra minutes to sauté or flambé or do other exotic, saucepan things to the meat. She barely has time to slice open the gross, meat container and throw the contents into the crock pot.

 

So why do all of these recipes require that you first spend a good chunk of time browning the meat in a saucepan first? And why do all of these recipes end up tasting the same? Vaguely stew-like?

The crock pot industry needs to do something about this. They need to pressure those recipe writers into coming up with crock pot dishes that are actually good and easy and don’t require onions (because onions are just the worst to cut up).

In all of my crock pot days -- and there have been many -- I’ve only come across one easy, and good, crock pot recipe. And it still requires that you do the meat-browning and onion-cutting steps. Grrrr… But at least it doesn’t taste like stew once you’re done.

I’m reprinting it here. It came from my friend Betsy. Last year I made if for Christmas Eve dinner for the entire guru girl clan. It was really, really good so it made the sucky extra steps worth it.   

Crock Pot Coconut Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

1 lb. skinless chicken breast tenders

¼ tsp each – paprika, salt, black pepper

1 yellow onion, thicky diced

1 cup baby carrots

8 small, red potatoes, scrubbed & quartered

1       cup haricot verts (I think these are green beans.)*

*This is how Betsy wrote the recipe. Seriously.

1 cup chicken broth

1 14 oz. can light coconut milk

1 tbs cornstarch

1 tbs curry powder

½ tsp salt

Preparation:

1.     Heat oil in large skillet. Place chicken in skillet and sprinkle each side with salt, pepper and paprika. Brown chicken over medium heat, 3 to 4 min. per side.

2.    Place browned chicken in crockpot. Add carrots & haricot verts.

3.    In same skillet, sauté onions and potatoes on medium heat 4-6 minutes. Stir often. Add to crock pot.

4.    In bowl, mix rest of ingredients.

5.    Add liquid to skillet and cook over medium heat, 3-4 min, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Pour in crock pot.

6.    Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours.

7.    Serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice. (If you get Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice, in the orange plastic package, it’s ready after a 90 second zap in the microwave.)

Happy crock potting, guru girls and guys! And if you have a decent crock pot recipe, consider sharing where you got it in the “comments” section!