So I'm not sure about you, but I definitely have my "go-to" dinners. Now I'm Italian so most involve pasta and some type of red sauce but occasionally a Mexican-inspired dish sneaks in, or, now that I'm married to a 'meat and potatoes' kind of guy, steaks and burgers on the grill.
As Darrin and I are settling into married life (today is our 19th day anniversary by the way!), life is starting to take over again. On Tuesday nights we both have small group. Thankfully his small group meets at a restaurant so I don't have to worry about feeding him on those nights. Wednesday are a different story. He has another church activity that starts at 6:30 and doesn't end til almost 9. I get home after 5:30 so that's not a lot of time for me to get dinner ready and let him eat so he's not ready to eat his own foot when he gets home at 9!
I've decided this is the perfect opportunity for me to start using my crock pot more. I pretty much make two things with my crock pot, but that's going to get really old REALLY fast! So I started searching for crock pot recipes. I have a Betty Crocker Crock Pot recipe book that's pretty good and I've also been searching the web for some good ideas. I'm a little obsessed with TheNest.com right now and there are a handful of great slow cooker recipes there and the Facebook Group I joined, CrockPot Girls, has a lot of great ideas too.
Tonight I decided it was time for me to "Go big or go home!" and break out an all new recipe for dinner. I decided to stray from the tried and true cuisines and go Indian! I made Slow Cooker Chicken Curry tonight and I we really liked it. I'm a "tweeker" so I always change a recipe after my first try and this one is no different, but right out of the book I'd give it a solid 3.5 out of 5!
Ingredients:
3 TBSP flour
3 TBSP curry powder
1 1/2 TSP cumin
1 TSP salt
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast, cubed
2 medium potatoes, pealed and diced
1 onion, chopped
4 carrots, bias cut
1 jalapeneo, diced
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 can light coconut milk
Cooked rice
Mix the flour, curry, cumin and salt in a large food storage bag.
Add the chicken and shake to coat
Place the chicken, potato, onion, carrot, garlic and jalapeno into the crock pot
Cover with 1/2 cups water
Cook on low 6-8 hours (I did 8)
Add the coconut milk and turn heat to high
Cook for an additional 30 minutes
Serve over rice
A few modifications I would make: Season the veggies with salt and pepper before cooking. I thought this dish lacked a little salt. Also, the next time I make this I'm either adding another jalapeno or lots of red pepper flakes - there wasn't enough heat for me.
One word of warning - the prep is a little much for the morning. There is a lot of pealing and chopping. I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to get all of my stuff done this morning. If you tend to cut it close in the AM (I couldn't push it any more if I tried in the morning) give yourself an extra 10 minutes or so, just to be safe. I'd assume you could probably dice and coat the chicken the night before and just leave it in the refrigerator overnight, but I'm not sure I'd try that -
I'm a little afraid of chicken, as I'm sure you'll find out!
All things considered, this is actually a pretty healthy dish, yummy and easy dish. I used brown rice for added fiber and of course light coconut milk instead of regular but I doubt anyone could tell the difference. It also made a pretty decent amount so this is dinner tomorrow too - only two week into marriage and I'm already learning the beauty of leftovers!
Any good slow cooker recipes out there? I'd love for you to share some of your favorites!
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