Crockpot Turkey Sausage Wheatberry Soup

The day I decided to make this, I had a pack of sweet Italian turkey sausages thawed and ready to go from the night before. We ended up going over to my parents that night, so I had to use it or it would end up as trash. I hate to waste food, and since I had gone grocery shopping the day before to stock up on some staples, I had plenty of vegetables to use up. It was so easy to prep and prepare, and I love that I went out and came home to a dinner ready to eat!

A while back, I heard about wheatberries and its many benefits. Since Gary started liking quinoa, I decided to make a hearty soup using this other superfood. Since this is packed with protein and fiber, it's a great addition to this soup. It had a nice texture and blended in nicely. Although I thought it was just enough, Gary wanted to add even more wheatberries next time around.

Once again, Branny Boils Over is hosting a Souperbowl, and all soup entries each earn $1 to the ASPCA. Hurry up and make a soup recipe and send it over! The deadline is 1/31/12!

This year I'm dedicating my recipe to Matt. This little guy was found wandering around and causing traffic on the freeway until Gary's sister found him and brought him in. Check out the crazy before and after and what a little TLC does!

After a few weeks, nobody claimed him and he had nowhere to go. My sister in law already had 2 dogs, one which is a shih tzu as well. Luckily, Gary's other sister and her family came to the rescue and took him in. They named him Matt, because his hair was so matted when they first found him. He's great with the kids, and very protective of the family.

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Crockpot Turkey Sausage Wheatberry Soup

a cathy's kitchen journey original recipe





ingredients:

• 3 TBSP olive oil, divided
• 1.25 lb sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3 small bay leaves
• 3/4 cup wheatberries, rinsed and drained (to sub rice or quinoa, add during the last hour of cooking)
• 4 cups water

directions:

1. In a hot skillet on medium-high heat, add 2 TBSP oil. Crumble and brown the sausage until no longer pink in the middle. Drain the fat and transfer to a 3-4qt crockpot. In the same skillet, add the remaining 1 TBSP oil, and sweat out the onions. Remove from heat and transfer onions to crockpot.
2. Combine the rest of the ingredients into the crockpot and stir slightly.
3. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours or until wheatberries are cooked through.
4. Remove bay leaves, stir well to mix evenly, then serve.

Yield: 4-6 servings

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Crockpot Curry Chicken and Chickpea Stew

While I was browsing through a whole bunch of holiday magazines one day, I decided to start ripping out recipe pages I thought I would try.  This recipe stood out because it was a curry chicken recipe, and it was made in the crockpot!

I originally thought I wouldn’t like the chickpeas because I’ve tried them in salads, and I ended up picking them all out. I was wrong! I just don’t like them raw! I also love them mashed up in falafels. I guess I too can be picky with some vegetables.

The original recipe called for 1.5 lbs each of boneless chicken thighs and boneless chicken breast, cubed, but I used chicken wings instead, since I had some on hand. They were also frozen solid when I put it in the crockpot, so I cooked it for the 6 hours it needed. I followed the instructions to use 1 TBSP of curry powder, but I thought it was a bit mild, so I’ll probably add a little more next time. Gary also thought there were too many chickpeas, so I may also reduce that to 1 can next time.

Curry Chicken and Chickpea Stew
adapted from: All You December 2009
printable recipe

ingredients:
3 lbs chicken (wings, thighs, breasts, or any combo)  
1  tablespoon  olive oil 
1-2  tablespoon  curry powder (according to your taste)
1/2  teaspoon  salt 
1 large onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
4  cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
2  15-oz. cans beans (chickpeas, red kidney, black beans, or combo), rinsed and drained

directions:
Combine chicken, olive oil, curry powder and salt in slow cooker and toss to coat.

Sprinkle onions and garlic on top of chicken. Add tomatoes on top. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

During last hour of cooking, stir in chickpeas. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6

Crockpot Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew

I love fall colors and flavors. There’s something about the warm colors of the trees and food around this time that is so comforting. One of my favorite foods in the fall is squash. I love all squash, whether it be pumpkin or anything other type. I’m so glad that Gary likes it as well, so it’s not hard to convince him to eat recipes using squash or pumpkin.

When I first showed him this recipe, he thought it would be a winner. While he was eating this, he asked me if I was going to add this to our favorite recipes box.

The original recipe called for using beef stew meat, but neither of us are big red meat eaters, so I used chicken instead. I also omitted the mushrooms because I didn’t have any on hand even though I thought I did.

Crockpot Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew
adapted from: about.com
printable recipe

ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 small butternut squash
1 large onion, sliced
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced (I omitted, since I didn’t have it on hand) 
4 ounces baby carrots left whole (about a handful)
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano

directions:
Peel and halve the butternut squash. Deseed, then cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Add squash, vegetables and chicken into a 4 or 5qt crockpot.

Add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and oregano.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Serve over rice or eat as is.

Crockpot Vietnamese Chicken

Sometimes, when I don’t make something for a while, Gary requests it. Like a crockpot meal for one. He actually said, and I quote, “We haven’t had a crockpot meal for a while. Why don’t you make something”. Well, if it were only that easy. He remember an orange peanut chicken recipe that I made probably 2 or 3 years ago. It was super simple crockpot dish that I found on Yahoo one day, tried it, and it was delish. It was super simple because it required about 5 minutes time, and only 5 ingredients…but I couldn’t remember that last ingredient. Of course, I couldn’t find that recipe again anywhere, but while typing this post, I decided to search Yahoo again, and of course I found it! I don’t know why I didn’t think of searching Yahoo first…duh!

Well, since I didn’t find it in time to make that recipe, I decided to look for something else that would involve chicken. This recipe for Vietnamese chicken was so easy and flavorful. I’ve been meaning to make it for a while now, but I forgot about it because I never had fish sauce on hand. I also hadn’t defrosted any chicken, so this was the perfect recipe to use up the chicken in my freezer.

The original recipe called for adding foil balls on the bottom of the crock to make it similar to roasting the chicken in an oven. I didn’t add the foil, so I let the chicken cook in the marinade.

Crockpot Vietnamese Chicken
adapted from: A Year of CrockPotting
printable recipe

ingredients:
4-6 chicken thighs (I used 2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1 1/2 TBSP fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 TBSP canola oil

directions:
Place chicken on the bottom of the crockpot. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Pour sauce over the chicken.

Cook on low for 6 hours or 3-4 hours on high. I checked mine at 5 1/2 hours on low, and it was fully cooked already.

Serve over rice.

Edited 12/7/09: I made this again with 2 leg quarters and it was a lot better. The meat was juicy and just fell off the bone.

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken with Coconut Rice

I saw this recipe come up on my Google reader, and I knew I had to try it. It was a great use of ingredients I had usually had on hand. I was also home and I wanted to put the crockpot to use while I did other things around the house. I know, I know, the crockpot was meant for things such as when you’re out of the house and need to have dinner ready when you get home. However, I still get paranoid (all Gary’s fault) if I leave it plugged in for an extended period of time without supervision. I’ll probably have to use it a few more times under my watch before I leave it on when I’m away. I also don’t have a programmable one, so that’s one of my concerns too. Mine just has low, high, and warm. It doesn’t shut off after a certain amount of time.

With that said, I made this with chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts, because that’s what I usually have on hand. I’m much more of a dark meat fan myself. The pack had 5, so I added it all in there. I also used pineapple chunks instead of rings. I thought I had rings, but I was mistaken. It worked just the same though. I also paired it with some coconut rice that made this a great meal. We both enjoyed this a lot.

The others mentioned that it was a bit sweet, but I didn’t find it sweet at all. I think it was the extra piece of chicken or because it was paired with the coconut rice that balanced it out.

Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken
Adapted from: Stephanie Cooks, Lauren’s Kitchen, and …and a cookie for Dessert, originally from the Easy Slow Cooker Cookbook.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I used a pack of 5 boneless skinless thighs)
salt to taste
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple slices, juice reserved (I used a can of pineapple chunks)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup cornstarch

Directions:
Place chicken in slow cooker sprayed with non-stick spray and sprinkle with a little salt.

Place pineapple slices (or pineapple chunks) over chicken.

In a small bowl, combine pineapple juice, brown sugar, lemon juice, ginger and cornstarch and stir until combined. Pour over chicken.

Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Serve over rice.

See below for coconut rice recipe.

Coconut Rice
Adapted from: About.com

Ingredients:
2 cups Thai jasmine-scented white rice (note that other types of rice, such as brown rice, do not work for this recipe)
1 1/2 cups thick, good-quality coconut milk (not "lite")
2 cups water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

Directions:
Place rice in rice cooker. Add the water, coconut milk, salt, and sugar. Stir well (use a plastic or wooden utensil to avoid scraping off the non-stick surface).

Cover and set to cook.

Once your rice cooker switches to "warm" mode, allow another 8-10 minutes for rice to finish "steaming". This will ensure your coconut rice is fully cooked and pleasantly sticky.

Gently fluff with chopsticks before serving.

This is the recipe that uses a rice cooker.
For Coconut Rice made in a pot on your stovetop, see: Thai Coconut Rice Recipe (stovetop version).

Before I started the coconut rice, I had a can of coconut milk that was new and not opened. I opened it up and saw that it was in chunks! It still smelled like coconut, but I couldn’t use it. I guess it was because I put it in the fridge when I bought it. DO NOT PUT CANS OF COCONUT MILK IN THE FRIDGE. If you do, this is what it will look like:

Luckily, just this past weekend, I found coconut cream powder at the Chinese supermarket and bought it.

This was a life saver! It had instructions for both coconut cream and coconut milk. Whew!

Crockpot Chicken Adobo

Adapted from: A Year of Crockpotting
Made by: Cathy



Ingredients:
3 to 5 pounds of chicken meat (I used 4 pieces boneless thighs)
1/4 cup soy sauce (I used 1/2 cup)
4 cloves garlic, chopped (I used 2 tsp minced garlic)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (can use regular white) (I used 3/4 cup)
4 bay leaves
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 yellow onion, sliced in rings
2 potatoes peeled and sliced thick


Directions:
1. Rub the chicken with salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. I placed everything in a bag then shook and rubbed it. If using a whole chicken, shove 2 bay leaves inside. I had 4 thighs so I nested a bay leaf in each thigh. Set aside.
2. Slice the onion in rings and place the rings at the bottom of the crockpot. Add in the shredded carrot. I grated my carrots. Layer the potatoes on. Put the chicken on top. Pour in the soy sauce and vinegar.
3. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the chicken is cooked through and has reached desired tenderness.

I cooked the chicken on high for a little over 4 hours. I put a little more vinegar and soy sauce because I added the potatoes, but I probably didn't need to. It was a bit sour for us. Next time, I will probably try it with some wine or grape juice.

Crockpot Chicken Congee

Made by: Cathy

So with the carcass (I know, sounds gross) of the chicken, I made congee (aka rice porridge) in my crockpot overnight. I woke up with the apartment smelling like yummy congee goodness. I couldn't get back to sleep!

It was a great way to another meal to get out of the whole chicken I made last night. I took it to work and ate it with toast. Gary took it to work for lunch. I took some leftover chicken for lunch.


Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup rice, washed well
about 3 quarts water
1 chicken carcass
a couple of chicken pieces
1 dried scallop
salt an pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, soak the dried scallop with warm water for 30-60 minutes.
2. Using the crockpot insert, wash the rice in cold water (about 2-3 passes). Fill the pot with water (I had about 2 inches from the top before I put the carcass in).
3. Drain and squeeze out extra water from the scallops and add to the pot. Place the carcass and chicken bits in the pot.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste. I only added salt because the chicken was already seasoned.
5. Set on low for 7-8 hours, or until desired consistency. Do not mix before it's done, otherwise it will stick to the pot.
6. Remove the carcass from the pot. Skim the fat or excess liquid off the top as needed. Mix well and serve.


Looks gross, I know, but it tastes good. I have a 4 qt pot, so adjust the recipe and time accordingly.

If you can't find dried scallops, you can omit. I think it adds a nice seafoody flavor. You can also do this with a turkey carcass. My mom made it many times after Thanksgiving.