My best friend Carrie Anne had her third knee surgery in one year a few weeks ago, and I really wanted to help her in any way that I could. Before surgery she asked if I could create a meal plan for her that was easy, fast and healthy. She also added that anything crock pot would be nice. I said, done!
In about two hours’ time I chopped, browned and sautéed my way to a week’s worth of healthy crock pot meals that could be frozen in bags and simply dumped into her crock pot each morning. Since she’s been receiving so many other meals from other friendly neighbors, I wanted to make sure that my meals would freeze well so that on the days when she didn’t have anything planned she could literally just pull a bag from the freezer to crock pot in the morning and have a healthy and hearty dinner by evening.
I’ll include recipes in the following weeks in my Recipes section, but here’s what I made for her:
Carrot Curry Soup
a healthy and simple soup whose ingredients start off cubed but get pureed after cooking in the crock pot all day. Coconut milk is a nice addition to the red curry flavor and the soup can be topped with healthy additions like tofu, tempeh and peanuts!
Recipe (simply combine the following in the crockpot)
2 cups mirepoix (equal mixture of diced or shredded celery, carrots, onions)
2 cups butternut squash, cubed
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 2-inch piece of ginger
2 cups carrots, sliced thinly
2 tbsp. red curry paste
1 tbsp. soy sauce (or more to taste)
Add water to cover ingredients
Cook on low for 6-8 hours, puree, taste and adjust seasonings, then add
1 can coconut milk
Serve with lime wedges if desired.
White Beans & Greens Soup
my classic soup that everyone seems to love for the flavor and health factors combined. I baked my white beans my usual way (in the dutch oven) as a 1 pound batch of dried beans, then reserved some for the soup and the rest for my fridge. (I also did the same thing with the chickpeas in the following recipe.) The soup base is a mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery), which I shredded in my food processor this time since I had so much food to make and I wanted to be as efficient as possible. The greens came straight from my freezer!
Recipe
Add 4 cups white beans, cooked
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups mirepoix (equal mixture of diced or shredded celery, carrots, onions)
2 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Fill with water or stock to the top.
Cook for 6 hours on low. An hour before serving, add 1 bag frozen kale and 1 bag frozen collards, chopped.
shredded celery
Moroccan Lamb Stew
this is always a comfort-food favorite: chickpeas, lamb chops, fire roasted tomatoes, raisins, prunes and of course a hearty mix of earthy spices like cumin, curry, chili powder and cinnamon. The lamb literally melts off the bone. This was the first meal they cooked and it was a huge hit.
Recipe
Dredge lamb on both sides in a mixture of flour and a couple pinches salt and pepper. Cook in an oiled saute pan until browned, but not cooked through all the way. Add to the bottom of your crock pot. Then…
Add these ingredients to your crock pot:
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 onions, sliced
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 cup mirepoix (equal mixture of diced or shredded celery, carrots, onions)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup pitted prunes
1/2 cup raisins
1 can tomato paste
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1-2 cups water to fill crock pot 2/3rds of the way
salt and pepper to taste
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4. Serve over couscous.
Using kombu (seaweed) when cooking dried beans helps to neutralize the phytic acid (the stuff that promotes gas).
dried.
See how the lambs chops are not cooked through but just nicely browned? That is key.
an hour later: cooked! Use this method.
Polish Sausage Bake
this is my new favorite because it’s so easy and so very flavorful! Also, Carrie’s family is Polish, so this was a tribute to them!! I layered all of the ingredients in reverse so that when she flipped it into the crock pot the ingredients would be in the proper order, with the potatoes being on the bottom and the sausage on the top. She fired this one up for the Super Bowl!
Recipe
Brown 5-6 sausages (kielbasa, brats) in a saute pan. Remove from heat.
Layer into your crock pot in the following order:
4 Yukon gold potatoes, cleaned and sliced thinly
2 bell peppers, sliced
2 onions, sliced
2 cans sauerkraut
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste
sasuages on top.
Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
I sauteed the sausages before adding them to the crock pot to give the dish a greater depth of caramelized flavor.
A lot of onions melt down quick!
Braised Beef with Beets & Carrots
this is a minor throwback to my Braised Brisket post for Relay Foods. I really loved how it came out and I knew it would be perfect for the crock pot.
Recipe
Dredge beef in a flour + a couple of pinches of salt and pepper. Cook until browned on all sides but not cooked through. Add to the bottom of the crock pot.
To the crock pot, add:
3 large beets, peeled and sliced
1 1/2 onions, sliced
5 carrots, sliced thickly on the bias
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 tsp caraway seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Cover with beef stock or water. Cook on low for 8 hours.
Serve with potatoes or over rice.
I always dredge my meat in flour and brown in a cast iron pan before adding it to the slow cooker. This helps to keep it moist!
I put these bets in raw.
Each meal fit perfectly into gallon-sized Ziploc bags and was labeled so that finding it in the freezer would be easy.
And as if all of that weren’t enough, I also had a job for Relay this week making a week’s worth of crock pot meals for them, too! A true Crock Pot Meal Plan. Here’s a sneak preview of what I made:
Nashville Hot Chicken with Sauerkraut Slaw
Pierogi Lasagna with Borchst
Mushroom & Wild Rice Soup with Smoked Tempeh Spring Rolls (Vegan)
Moroccan Lamb Tagine (similar to the meal above) with Stuffed Artichokes
Cauliflower Provencal with Minted Peas over Crispy Polenta Cakes
Look for this Relay Meal Plan to be published in the next month or so.
1