I used cheese tortellini, grape tomatoes, peppers, cucumber slices, artichoke hearts, and olives.  The original recipe included fresh basil leaves, which would have been a nice touch.  You could even include grilled vegetables like onions, zucchini, and mushrooms.

The skewers are a clever way to serve pasta salad, and would complement any BBQ.  I offered a salad dressing for “dipping” that’s not pictured.  Whether you make these skewers or not, have a great Memorial Day!

The method is simple.  First, you wash the potatoes and pat them dry.  Then, prick them with a knife in several spots.  Rub them with a little olive oil, and wrap them up on foil.  Place them in the crockpot, and cook on High for 4-5 hours, or Low for 8-10 hours.  That’s it!

The original recipe warns against crowding too many potatoes in the crockpot, so I cooked 2 white potatoes, and 2 sweet potatoes.  Both of them came out great!  In a blind taste test, I don’t think I could tell the difference between a traditional baked potato and the crockpot version.

You might think of potatoes as a fall/winter food, but potatoes make a great lunch or dinner any time of year paired with a big green salad.  And when it’s 90F in your kitchen, you’ll be happy you don’t have to turn on the oven.  Enjoy-

I admit, cooking a whole turkey is very intimidating, and I’ve never actually done it in my own kitchen.  Instead, I’ve cooked turkey breasts which yield all white meat, without all the fuss. And now I discovered you can cook a turkey breast right in the crockpot!

This recipe, inspired by Skinnytaste,  is perfect for summer.  You don’t have to heat up the kitchen by using the oven, and you can either make a turkey dinner, or use the meat for sandwiches for the week.  If you find a turkey breast on sale (I got mine for $1.19/lb. at Target) it can also be cost effective compared to deli meat.

The turkey in this recipe came out amazing; it was tender, juicy, and reminded me of Thanksgiving.  I did have some trouble with the gravy not thickening up very well.  Gravy is really not my ‘thing’, so I played with it a little but gave up pretty quickly.  If you do love gravy, I think the cooking liquid in this recipe is a flavorful base, but you may need to add more flour.

Even without perfect gravy, I am calling this recipe a success!

Crockpot Turkey Breast and Gravy

1 T oil
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 t minced garlic
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1/3 c. flour
2 c. vegetable broth
1 c. water
1/2 c. white wine
2 t seasoning (I used Penzey’s Mural of Flavor, but the original recipe called for sage)
1 (4-5 lb.) turkey breast

Heat oil in a frying pan.  Add onion, garlic, and carrot, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until soft and beginning to brown.  Add flour and 1 c. vegetable broth.  Stir to combine, and break up any lumps.  Pour mixture into the crockpot.  Add remaining broth, water, wine, and seasoning to crockpot, and stir.

Sprinkle turkey with salt and pepper, and place in crockpot, breast side up.  Cook on Low for 5-6 hours, until an instant read thermometer registers 165F.  Remove from crockpot, cover loosely with foil, and allow to set for 15 minutes.  Remove skin, and carve away.

For gravy, allow liquid to cool slightly in the crockpot for 10 minutes.  Remove visible fat with a spoon.  Strain remaining liquid into a saucepan.  Simmer on medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until thickened.  (Note: My gravy didn’t thicken up well, and needed more flour.)

-Adapted from Skinnytaste

You could add some salsa verde, or queso fresco, but I was very happy with this combination.  The other ingredients balanced the spice level of the rice, and this was both delicious and filling.  It could be breakfast, lunch, or dinner!

The original recipe is a clever take on refried beans, using white beans instead of the traditional pinto beans.  The  cilantro and lime flavors are fresh, and perfect for spring.  The jalapeno adds the heat, but you can leave that out of course.

You could eat the rice and beans all by themselves, or along side something like Oven Fajitas.  I ended up using this dish as the base for another meal.  Come back tomorrow to see; you won’t be disappointed!

Cilantro Lime Rice and Beans

1 T canola oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 t minced garlic
1 t cumin
1 (15 oz.) can white beans
1/2 c. water
1 c. cooked rice
1/2 c. cilantro, chopped
2 T lime juice

Heat oil in a large frying pan.  Add onion, and saute over medium heat for 10 minutes, until starting to brown.  Add pepper and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes more.  Add cumin and stir to mix.  Add beans and water, and simmer until most of the liquid has been absorbed.  Using a potato masher, mash about 1/2 the beans in the pan.  Add cooked rice, cilantro, and lime juice and stir well.  Cook on Low until heated through.

-Adapted from Closet Cooking

I started with this recipe from the Crockpot Recipe Exchange.  But there was something that bugged me about using a whole bottle of BBQ sauce in a lasagna.  I can’t claim to always avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup (hello, ketchup!) but I thought I could do better.  You might say I was inspired by the Penzey’s BBQ Seasoning in my spice cabinet.

Just like in my Crockpot Vegetarian Lasagna, there’s a lot of extra sauce.  It’s perfect for scooping up with some freshly baked bread.  I really liked the BBQ flavor as a spin on traditional lasagna.  So even if this was a mess in my dish, it was a yummy mess, and I’ll make it again.

Crockpot BBQ Chicken Lasagna

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
2 T Penzey’s BBQ Seasoning
1 (24 oz.) container fat free cottage cheese
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg
6 oz. lasagna noodles, broken as needed
2 c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
2 c. shredded, cooked chicken breast

In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, sauce, paste, and BBQ seasoning.  In a medium bowl, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan, and egg.

Layer in your crockpot as follows:  1 c. sauce; 2 oz. noodles; 1/2 cottage cheese mixture;
3/4 c. reduced fat cheddar; chicken; 2 c. sauce; 2 oz. noodles; remaining cottage cheese mixture;
3/4 c. reduced fat cheddar; 1 1/2 c. sauce; 2 oz. noodles; remaining sauce; remaining cheddar.

Cover and cook on Low for 4-5 hours.  Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

-Adapted from the Crockpot Recipe Exchange

I was a little bummed when the strap broke last week, but to be fair,the bag was (over) stuffed with a container of overnight oats, a container of chicken pot pie, a piece of fruit, and an ice pack.  I emailed the company, thinking ‘it can never hurt to ask.’  They got back to me quickly, and said they’d check for a strap in the warehouse.  When they found one, they immediately shipped it to me, free of charge.  The bag is back in action!

Now, onto the main dish.  I was inspired by this chicken pot pie recipe from Eating Well, which features a biscuit topping.  Like most aspects of life, I went ahead and made things a little more complicated.  Note that this is NOT a weeknight dish.  I had boiled the chicken the day before, and it still took well over an hour to prepare from start to finish.  Then I had to let it cool before I could eat it.

This is a great pot pie recipe though, and the leftovers were incredible.  The filling was rich, and the biscuits were tender.  You could easily adapt this further to whatever vegetables you have on hand, and you could expand the recipe to feed a larger crowd.

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

1 T + 2 t canola oil, divided
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 c. chopped celery
1/2 c. chopped carrot
1 (10 oz.) package sliced mushrooms
2 c. vegetable broth
2 T cornstarch
1 c. frozen broccoli, thawed
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken, boiled, and shredded
1/4 c. nonfat plain Greek yogurt
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. white flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1 t thyme
1 T cold butter
3/4 c. nonfat buttermilk

Heat 2 t canola oil in a large frying pan.  Add onion, celery, and carrots, and cook for 10-15 minutes, until just starting to brown. Add mushrooms, and cook for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is evaporated.  Add 1 1/2 c. vegetable broth and bring to a simmer.  Mix cornstarch into remaining vegetable broth, and add to pan.  Cook for 5-10 minutes, until thickened.  Add broccoli and chicken and stir well.  Add yogurt, stir well, and remove from heat.  Pour filling into a 2 qt baking dish.

To prepare biscuits, whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda, and thyme.  Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter.  Add buttermilk and 1 T oil, and stir just until moistened.  Place large spoonfuls of biscuit dough on top of the filling.  Bake at 400F for 30 minutes.  Allow to cool before cutting.

-Adapted from Eating Well

Wegmans has a seasonal magazine called “Menu”, with recipes that use ingredients you’ll find at the store.  They’re designed to be quick, convenient, and health oriented.  I decided to put their Sesame Chicken with Lo Mein recipe to the test.

List in hand, I walked into Wegmans.  To be fair, I am still not very familiar with the store layout.  It took a bit of time for me to find all the products I needed.  Eventually I was able to round up the following: cleaned and cut green beans, cleaned and cut Asian slaw, Teriyaki seasoned chicken thighs, lo mein noodles, and a bottle of Sesame Garlic Sauce.  I had oil and minced garlic at home.

The recipe calls for just 20 minutes of “active time”.  Now, I am not a speed demon in the kitchen, but 20 minutes would be very tight.  You need to blanch the green beans and the noodles, stir fry the chicken, and then mix it all together with the sauce.  The steps were fairly simple though, and you don’t need a lot of cooking experience to execute the recipe.

I wasn’t sure that I’d like using a bottled sauce, but I really did like the taste of this dish!  I had a friend for lunch, and she enjoyed it as well.  There was a part of my brain screaming, “you could make this all from scratch and it would probably be so much better, and less expensive, and have less sodium…..”  But I was also grateful that I had time to do errands that morning, and the meal was still less expensive and healthier than typical take-out.  So I am calling it a win!

But first, we need to go back in time to 2 weeks ago, when my cooking club had a Titanic-themed meal.  The idea was to recreate some of the dishes served on the ship, whether they were enjoyed by First Class, Second Class, or Third Class.  There is a whole book dedicated to this topic, but many of the recipes are posted online.

I decided to make the Curried Chicken and Rice discussed here, with a clear influence from India, a British colony at that time.  I used boneless skinless chicken thighs instead of a whole chicken and made a few other changes for convenience.  I was really happy with the end result; the chicken was very tender and the dish had a great flavor.

We had many great dishes that evening, including my favorite: Punch Romaine.  It was a ‘palate cleanser’ featuring wine, champagne, orange juice, and simple syrup, mixed with crushed ice.  It’s always interesting to go back in time and explore food history!

Titanic Curried Chicken and Rice

1 lime
1/4 c. garlic ginger paste
3-4 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
2 T canola oil, divided
2 T curry powder
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 T honey
1 1/3 c. white rice
2 1/2 c. chicken broth
1/4 c. golden raisins

Zest lime.  Squeeze juice.  Toss lime zest, lime juice, and garlic ginger paste with chicken thighs.  Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat 1 T oil.  Brown chicken thighs, working in batches as needed.  Remove from pan onto a plate and set aside.

Heat remaining oil.  Add curry powder and stir for 1 minute.  Add chopped onion and honey, and saute for 10-15 minute, until tender.  Add rice, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown.  Add broth and raisins.  Nestle chicken pieces into pan, and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.

That something turned out to be this egg and tomato wrap.  It’s more of a meal idea than a recipe, but so good that I had to share.  I put some of the roasted tomatoes in a frying pan, and added 2 beaten eggs.

When the eggs were done, I place them on a tortilla and sprinkled cheese on top.  I wrapped the tortilla, and placed it seam side down in the still-hot frying pan.  I flipped it after a few minutes to brown the other side, and then breakfast/brunch/lunch? was served.