Slow Cooker: Stacked Cauliflower Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower

1 white onion, cut vertically into 8 pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 (15 oz) can of black beans

8-12 small corn tortillas

1/2 lb grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 (28 oz) can green enchilada sauce

fresh cilantro, for garnish

sour cream, for garnish

Instructions:

1. Trim and core cauliflower. Slice head vertically and cut into thin pieces.

2. Pull sliced onion layers apart.

3. In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, onion, tomatoes, and black beans. Mix evenly using hands.

 4. Grate your cheese (I usually don't include steps like this that are preparation work, but I set up my self-timer for this shot, and I just really liked how it turned out).

 5. Oil the inside of your slow cooker. Place 2 or 3 overlapping tortillas in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add about 1/3 of the mixed vegetables, sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese, and cover with 1/3 of the enchilada sauce.
6. Create two more layers of tortilla, vegetables, cheese, and  sauce.
7. Top with a layer of tortillas and remaining sauce.

 8. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 6 hours, or until cauliflower is tender. 
9. Top with a handful of extra grated cheese, and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until cheese is completely melted.
10. Scoop onto plates and top with cilantro leaves and sour cream to serve.

I've decided Mexican food and Indian food are some of the most delicious foods to eat, but the worst foods to photograph. They just never look pretty. But since they're so tasty, I'll allow for the lack in appearance.

This meal serves a small army. In my cookbook, it claims to serve 4 to 6. I must wonder, do they mean 4 to 6 giants? I made this meal on Sunday and had 2 friends over for dinner to help me eat it. We each had seconds; the seconds were probably smaller than the first serving, but still, you have to assume that's a good 4.5 servings total at least. I've also eaten the leftovers for the past two nights, so now we're up to 6.5 servings, but THERE'S STILL MORE! I'm going to have to eat this for probably another 2 meals before it's gone. That's 8+ servings. This meal was so tasty though, I'm definitely not complaining about eating these leftovers!

I continue to love my slow cooker! My food cooks all day while I'm doing homework and I don't have to worry about it. Then I not only have dinner that night, but for the next several nights! I wonder how much time this slow cooker has been saving me? I'm not sure, but with my school schedule, I can use all the extra time I can get!

Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, sliced

3 celery stalks, chopped

4 cups diced sweet potatoes

2 cups diced parsnips

3 3/4 cups vegetable stock

Garnish:

fresh cilantro leaves

roasted strips of sweet potato and parsnip

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the leek, celery, sweet potato, and parsnips. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent browning.

 2. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.
3. While the soup is cooking, roast strips of sweet potato and parsnip on a baking sheet in the oven. (5-10 minutes)

4. Remove the soup from heat and allow to cool for several minutes. Puree in a food processor or blender.

5. To serve, garnish with roasted Sweet potato and parsnip strips, cilantro leaves, salt and pepper.

I'm sure this is painfully obvious by now, but I love blended soups. I especially loved the addition of the roasted vegetables on top of this one. They were truly delightful. I think it was the multiple textures that I enjoyed. Blended soup texture + roasted root vegetable strip texture = good sensations. Of course, the texture wouldn't mean anything if the flavor wasn't also enjoyable. Luckily, it is indeed quite lovely.

Slow Cooker: Armenian Apricot Soup

Ingredients:

1 cup dried lentils

6 cups water

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 cup apricots

1 tsp ground cumin

nutmeg

ground cinnamon

Greek-style yogurt or sour cream

fresh mint

Instructions:

1. In slow cooker, combine lentils, water, carrots, onion, apricots and cumin. Sprinkle with nutmeg and cinnamon.

2. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

3. Puree the soup using a food processor.

4. Garnish with yogurt or sour cream and fresh mint.

This soup was quite delightful, and amazingly easy. The apricots are definitely the strongest of the flavors, so it had a very sweet warmth. I also made a salad to go with the meal; the salad was spinach, carrots, chopped pear, slivered almonds, and dried cranberries with a raspberry dressing. Accompanied by some white wine, it was overall a very sweet and fruity meal. 

Slow Cooker: Curried Chickpeas

Ingredients:
2 cups dried chickpeas
6 cups water
1 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp black peppercorns
8 whole cloves
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 fresh serrano chiles, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
fresh cilantro leaves


Instructions:
1. Put the chickpeas and the water in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours until chickpeas are tender.
2. In a frying pan, saute the onions in the oil for 15 minutes.

3. Using a mortar and pestle, grind the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, chili powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, curry powder, and cayenne into a course powder.

4. Add the ground spices to the onions and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Add the onions and spices to the chickpeas in the slow cooker and cook on low for 30 to 60 minutes.
6. Using a handheld immersion blender*, puree some of the chickpeas to thicken the mixture.
7. Add salt to taste. Garnish with cilantro leaves and chile slices.


*I don't have an immersion blender, so I used my handheld mixer, which worked pretty well. 


I forgot to make any rice or buy any naan to have with this, so I ate it with crackers. It was thick enough to make a nice dip, so it was really good with the crackers. The cilantro was also really great with this flavor. I added even more cilantro after the picture was taken.
I'm clearly enjoying my slow cooker! I'm also excited that this recipe allowed me to use my mortar and pestle. I talked to my grandma on the phone today and told her that I used the mortar and pestle, and I continue to love it. I know she's glad that she gave it to me, because she knows I'm sentimental, so I'll keep it forever. 

Gardein: Amazing!

I passed by a fast food restaurant on my way to the grocery store yesterday, and they were advertising some kind crispy chicken sandwich. Now, fast food is not something that usually entices me. The last time I had fast food was over 9 months ago; before that it had been about 6 months. It's just not part of my life. I don't like it, I don't crave it. But, some kind of crispy chicken sounded fantastic at that moment. Once I reached the grocery store, I perused the frozen food aisles and found the answer to my craving: fake meat chicken tenders.

I tried them for the first time tonight, and I'm completely amazed. While they were cooking in my oven, my house really smelled like chicken! I put them on top of a salad, and I would swear to you that what I was eating was real chicken! I'm so thrilled with this product that I'm blogging about it, even though I did no cooking, this is not a recipe, it's just some frozen "chicken" tenders I warmed up and put on top of a simple salad.
I compared the nutrition information of these with McDonald's nuggets, and these are the results:

	MCDonald’s 6 piece Chicken Nuggets (3.4 oz)	4 pieces Gardein Seven Grain Crispy Tenders (3.6 oz)
Calories	280	180
Calories from Fat	160	30
Total Fat	17g (27% DV)	3g (4% DV)
Saturated Fat	3g (15% DV)	0g
Trans Fat	0	0
Cholestorol	40mg (14% DV)	0mg
Sodium	600 (25% DV)	520mg (22% DV)
Carbohydrate	16g (5%)	18g (6% DV)
Fiber	0g	2g (8% DV)
Sugar	0g	0g
Protein	14g	18g
Vitamin A	0	0
Vitamin C	2% DV	0
Calcium	2% DV	8% DV
Iron	4% DV	30% DV

Pretty interesting, huh? I know what I'd give my kids, if I had kids. My seven year-old nephew loves chicken nuggets. I've told my mom to give these to him and see if they fool him. I think they will. They are really, really amazingly good.

Slow Cookers are Awesome!!!

I had to make a video using still images for a class assignment, so I decided to make a video about how awesome I believe my slow cooker is. I made another great slow cooker recipe last night, and have plans for another one tomorrow night, so there will be even more slow cooker goodness up here soon!

Slow Cooker: Potato, Carrot, and Coconut Milk Curry

Serves: 4 to 6


Ingredients:
3 lbs. red potatoes
1 cup water
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 white or yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 lb carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
3 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp chili powder*
1 can (14 oz) coconut milk
4 serrano chiles, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
salt


*for a more mild curry, omit chili powder


Instructions:


1. Wash potatoes, then put in slow cooker with water on low setting for 4 hours.*

2. When potatoes are tender, remove from slow cooker and cut into medium chunks (I cut mine into eighths). 

3. Return potatoes to slow cooker.


4. In a frying pan, heat oil over a medium flame. Saute the onions for about 10 minutes. 

5. Add the garlic, cumin seeds, and fennel seeds to the onions and continue cooking for another 3 minutes.


6. Transfer the onions to the slow cooker. Add the carrots, curry powder, chili powder, and coconut milk.


7. Stir evenly, then cover and continue to cook on low for an additional hour.


8. Sprinkle with serrano chiles, salt to taste, and serve.


*cooking time depends on the size of your potatoes. I used somewhat large potatoes; for smaller potatoes, you'll need less time.


I've had my slow cooker for a year, but this is the first time I've used it. My mom gave me a vegetarian slow cooker recipe book for Christmas, so I finally feel motivated to use my slow cooker! This curry was pretty good. I made it for a potluck, and I forgot to add the salt, so last night when I ate it I felt it was somewhat bland. However, I added salt when I ate the leftovers this afternoon, and it made a world of difference! It had great flavor, and was quite filling. 


I've had a brief hiatus from updating this blog; I had final projects to do at the end of the term, and then winter break. I did some cooking in that time, but mostly things I'd made before. Now that I have my slow cooker cookbook, I expect to be updating regularly again. A slow cooker is pretty conducive to a student's schedule; my meal can cook itself while I'm in class or studying!