Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken

 Don't have a tagine? Make Moroccan chicken in a slow cooker, it's easy! Chicken thighs, plenty of spices, onions, green olives, lemons, raisins, cooked low and slow until fall apart tender.

We are using boneless (and skinless) chicken thighs for this recipe only because they're easier to deal with. Feel free to use bone-in thighs (you'll need 2 1/2 pounds) if you prefer.
You can substitutes dates or prunes for the raisins.

• Prep time: 15 minutes
• Cook time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
• Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped, about 2 cups
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
• 1 cup pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 fresh lemon, thinly sliced
• Fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish

Method

1 Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the chicken thighs. Let sit while you prep the other ingredients.
2 Whisk together the spices in a small bowl—the paprika, ground ginger, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, allspice, crushed fennel seeds, and nutmeg.
3 Place chopped onions at the bottom of a slow cooker bowl. Layer the chicken thighs on top of the onions. As you layer the chicken thighs, sprinkle them all over with the spice mix. (Use all of the spice mix.)

Add the garlic, green olives, raisins, and lemon slices.

4 Cook on the high setting of the slow cooker for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or 4 to 5 hours on the low setting (depending on your slow cooker brand). Towards the end of cooking, stir so that the lemons olives and raisins get mixed into the liquid. The chicken is done when it is fall apart tender.
Serve with couscous or rice (use rice if cooking gluten-free). Garnish with fresh cilantro and/or parsley.

Simply Recipes http://www.simplyrecipes.com

Spiced red lentil, tomato, kale soup

Yield: 5.5- 6 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp coconut oil (or other oil)
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 & 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4-1/2 tsp smoked sweet paprika, to taste
• 1/8th tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 14-oz can diced tomatoes
• 5-6 cups vegetable broth, more if desired
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed and drained
• fine grain sea salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 handfuls torn kale leaves or spinach

1. In a large pot, sauté the onion and garlic in oil for about 5-6 minutes over medium heat. Add in the celery and sauté for a few minutes more.
2. Stir in the bay leaf and the spices (cumin, chili powder, coriander, paprika, cayenne). You can add half the spices and add more later if you prefer.
3. Stir in the can of tomatoes (including juice), broth, and lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes, until lentils are tender and fluffy.
4. Stir in kale or spinach and season to taste adding more spices if you wish.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/11/07/spiced-red-lentil-tomato-and-kale-soup/#ixzz3uUzbtL3z

Graham Cracker Toffee

Ingredients

• 16 graham cracker sheets
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans or almonds
• 6 oz. milk or semi sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line cookie sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray.
3. Cover prepared cookie sheet with whole graham cracker sheets.
4. In saucepan, bring brown sugar and butter to a boil over medium heat. Boil for four minutes stirring constantly. Pour over graham crackers and bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees F.
5. After baking, Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over the top of graham cracker and let sit for about two minutes. Spread melted chocolate with a knife. Sprinkle nuts over the top.
6. Let sit for about two hours and them cut and serve. Sometimes, if I am in a hurry, I will cool the cookies in the freezer for a quicker serve time.

Lentil Salad with Spinach, Walnuts and Parmesan Cheese

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils, picked over and rinsed
• salt and pepper
• 6 1/2 cups water
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 5 garlic cloves, lightly crushed and peeled
• 1 bay leaf
• 12 ounces spinach
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
• 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 1 1/2 ounces coarsely grated Parmesan cheese + more for garnish

Directions:

1. Place lentils and 1 teaspoon salt in a bowl. Cover with 4 cups warm water (about 110 degrees) and soak for 1 hour. Drain well. (Drained lentils can be refrigerated for up to 2 days before cooking).
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place drained lentils, 2 cups water, broth, garlic, bay leaf and 1/2 teaspoon salt in medium saucepan (we used a Le Creuset). Cover and bake until lentils are tender but remain intact, 40 to 60 minutes.
3. While lentils are cooking, place 12 ounces of spinach and 1/2 cup water in bowl. Cover and microwave until spinach is wilted and volume is halved, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove bowl from microwave and keep covered for 1 minute. Transfer spinach to colander; gently press to release liquid. Transfer spinach to cutting board and roughly chop. Return to colander and press again. Set aside.
4. Whisk oil and vinegar together in a large bowl. Set aside.
5. Drain lentils well; remove and discard the garlic and bay leaf. Add drained lentils, spinach, walnuts, shallot and Parmesan cheese to oil and vinegar dressing and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving dish and top with slices of Parmesan cheese (I used a vegetable peeler to get the larger slices).

Soy Sauce Chicken

From: http://thewoksoflife.com/2015/02/soy-sauce-chicken/

Ingredients

1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds (preferably free-range, never frozen)

2 teaspoons oil

7 slices ginger

2 scallions, cut into 3-inch pieces and smashed flat

3 whole star anise

1 ½ cups rose-flavored rice wine (mei kwei lu) or shaoxing wine

1 ½ cups soy sauce

1 1/4 cup dark soy sauce

1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons

2 teaspoons salt

10 cups water

 

Take your chicken out of the refrigerator an hour before you plan to cook. You'll want it at room temperature when it hits the pot. Remove the giblets, and thoroughly rinse the chicken inside and out.

Grab your stock pot. It will ideally be a tall, narrow pot that will just fit the chicken, since it should be totally submerged in the cooking liquid (if you use a larger pot, you'll need to increase all the ingredients proportionally to create more cooking liquid). Put it over medium low heat, and add the oil and ginger.

Let the ginger caramelize for about 30 seconds. Then add the scallions and cook another 30 seconds. Add the star anise and rice wine, and bring to a simmer to let the alcohol cook off. Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, salt, and water. Bring to a simmer again and cook on low heat for another 20 minutes.

Increase the heat to bring the liquid to a slow boil (i.e. a little stronger than a simmer, but not a rolling boil). Use a large roasting fork inserted into the chicken cavity to lower the chicken slowly into the pot breast side up. Make sure any air pockets in the cavity fill up completely with liquid. The chicken should be entirely submerged at this point.

Once the chicken goes in, the cooking liquid will cool down. Let it cook for about 5 minutes at medium high heat. Next, use your large fork to carefully lift the chicken out of the water and empty the liquid inside the cavity, which will be cooler than the liquid surrounding the chicken. Lower the chicken back into the pot, making sure once again that there aren't any air pockets in the cavity. If the chicken is not completely submerged, periodically baste the exposed area with cooking liquid.

Bring the liquid back up to a lazy simmer, which should take about 10 minutes. Keep it at this slow simmer (the liquid will be about 210 degrees F) for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and let the chicken sit in the pot for another 15 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. If you like, you can use a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh to confirm it's reached 165 degrees F.

Use the sauce from the pot to occasionally baste the chicken and keep the skin moist as it cools. Serve over rice with some sauce from the pot!

**Note: You can also make this recipe with chicken leg quarters and reduce the cooking time accordingly, since they are easier to handle and faster to cook. Also, once you're done cooking the chicken, you can actually freeze the sauce/cooking liquid for use again later (though you may have to re-season the sauce).

Peanut butter, banana and chocolate baked oatmeal

Ingredients

• 4 cups old fashioned oats, gluten free certified if necessary
• 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tsp chia seeds (optional)
• 2⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
• ¼ cup coconut sugar or brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 3 mashed bananas
• ½ cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• Optional toppings: sliced banana, coconut whipped cream, ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Add all of the dry ingredients to a medium sized bowl and mix.
2. In a large bowl, add the almond milk, sugar, vanilla, maple syrup and lemon juice and mix together. Next add the mashed bananas and peanut butter and carefully beat with an electric mixer until bananas and peanut butter are evenly incorporated.
3. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until combined. Add in chocolate chips. Pour mixture into a greased 9"x13" baking dish and shake dish or use a spoon to make sure everything is evenly spread out. Bake oatmeal for 20-25 minutes, until set. Can be served immediately or re-heated each morning. Oatmeal bake will last for about 5-7 days in the refrigerator.