French Lentil Rice Soup

French Lentil Rice Soup

Ingredients:

• 6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 cup lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 3 tablespoons uncooked rice
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon Herbs de Provence
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 cup chopped ham (or chicken), if desired
  
• heavy cream or sour cream, if desired
  
• chopped parsley, if desired
  

Directions:

1. stir together broth, lentils, carrots, onion, celery, rice, garlic, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper in crockpot. cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.

2. Remove one and a half cups soup and puree in a food processor until almost smooth. Stir pureed soup back into the crockpot. At this time add chopped ham in the soup and let simmer on " Warm" for a few minutes.

3. Serve soup in bowls, garnishing it with a dollop of sour cream or heavy cream and a little fresh parsley.

This so is so good! Everyone ate two bowls of it the night we had it, and then the boys ate it for dinner again last night. As leftovers I served the soup over some steamed rice. What was left I tossed in the Magic Bullet and pureed until smooth and then served it to the baby. This recipe is a keeper!

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala
Adapted from Pillsbury's Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
• 8 boneless skinless chicken breast cutlets (2-3 pounds)
• 16 ounces sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup sweet Marsala wine
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Saute' mushrooms and garlic in one tablespoon oil until soft.
2. Spray slow cooker with cooking spray. Add one tablespoon oil in bottom. Add chicken breasts, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread mushroom and garlic mixture over the chicken. Pour the wine over the chicken.
3. Cover, cook on low for 5 hours.
4. Remove chicken from cooker, place on a plate and cover to keep warm. In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and water, making a slurry. Slowly add to the liquid in the slow cooker (you will probably not need all of it!). Turn the slow cooker on to High for 10 minutes, or until liquid thickens.
5. Return chicken to slow cooker, and cook another 5 minutes, or until chicken is hot. Serve chicken with mushroom mixute on top, and sprinkle with fresh parsley.

As a meal:

Serve Chicken Marsala with a small side of angel hair pasta and marinara sauce, and roasted broccoli and cauliflower.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Want to have the easiest recipe for the crockpot ever? Here you go.

Ingredients:

4 pound bone-in pork butt
Salt

Directions:

Sprinkle salt on pork butt. Throw pork butt into 6 quart crock pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Remove bone and shred. That's it. No need for liquid. No need to trim the fat first. The only thing that would make it easier is if you didn't have to salt the meat. :-)

Notes:

We had this last night and I used North Carolina style barbecue sauce (vinegar and red pepper based sauce), and we ate it on hamburger buns with cole slaw. You can make this recipe and toss it in whatever type of barbecue sauce you like and serve it however your family likes it.

Pork Carnitas

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds bone-in pork shoulder (also called the butt)
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 5 whole cloves garlic, more if you like garlic
• 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1/2 cup beef broth

Directions:

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. In a small bowl, combine the salt and cumin. Rub mixture all over the pork, then plop into the slow cooker. Add whole garlic cloves. Squeeze on the citrus, and pour the beef broth evenly over the top.

Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the pork shreds quite easily with a fork. If your meat is still fully intact after 8 hours, remove and cut into chunks, then return to the crock and flip to high for about an hour or two.
Remove bone and shred meat fully and serve.

Notes:

I served this family style and had everyone create their own dinner. Along with corn tortillas and the fixin's for tacos (corn tortillas, flour tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, etc.), I made black beans and rice. Everyone made their own dinner, and each meal was unique.

You can make tacos with the pork. You can make burritos (like the ones you'd get at Moe's or Chipotle, complete with rice and beans). You can make black beans and rice and top it with pork. You can eat just the pork.

This stuff is so good. Mmmm. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

Source: Crockpot365, with modifications to the recipe by me.

CrockPot Hirino Psito, Slow-Roasted Pork

CrockPot Hirino Psito, Slow-Roasted Pork

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pound boneless pork butt or shoulder
• 10 whole garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon sage
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 tablespoon gluten free Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup beer

Directions:

Use a 6 quart slow cooker. Put the meat into your crockpot, and pour on dry spices, and brown sugar. Flip the meat over a few times in the stoneware so the spices are kind of stuck to all sides. Peel garlic cloves and add whole. Add Worcestershire sauce, mustard, honey, and cranberries. Top with bay leaves. Pour in the beer.

Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat shreds easily with a fork. I cooked on low for 12 hours, and while the meat was tender and flavorful, it did burn a bit on the top and sides. Serve over rice or pasta, or on your favorite sandwich rolls.


Source: Crockpot365 Blogger


My Notes: I liked it, but Dan did not. I thought it was better the second day, reheated with a little barbecue sauce. Honestly, since it was better the second day, I'm not likely to make it again soon. I'd rather just make a pulled pork in the crockpot to begin with...