Crockpot Chicken and Lentil Stew

Okay Crock Pot fans, this is a recipe for you!

I am getting ready to leave for the weekend for my annual Scrap Booking Retreat with my girlfriends. That meant we needed our annual trip to Craft's Direct to get all of our supplies last Monday. That place is craft heaven!

Normally on days like this when I will be gone I tell the husband he is on his own and I don't feel one bit bad about it! That man is spoiled! I would love to have had 3 meals a day all thought out, planned, shopped for, and cooked nearly everyday of my life for the past 16 years! But this time I was feeling nice and decided to throw some things in the crock pot quick for him before I left.

I looked in the fridge and cupboards quick and started tossing.

The usual suspects. A few carrots, couple stalks of celery, and one onion.

I had about 3/4 of a container of chicken broth in the fridge that I poured in but vegetable broth would work to make it vegan/vegetarian.

Yum! I love lentils. I forget about them and don't eat them nearly enough. I used 3/4 cup of each color just for some variety.

I ended up adding a second can of tomatoes and a can of tomato paste but one can of chick peas was plenty. Don't forget the tomato paste just because I didn't give you a picture of it now!

I L-O-V-E all the spices Pepper Creek Farms makes. Surprisingly enough I usually find them at TJ Maxx or HomeGoods stores but you can order directly from them online. I used a couple teaspoons of the sweet paprika but smoked would be excellent as well. If you can't find either than just use the regular stuff.

A dash of salt, teaspoon of pepper, and some garlic powder. Next time I will just use fresh garlic but I had forgotten and I was in a big hurry! I think I even ended up adding some parsley and oregano too but that hurry up mode is to blame for lack of pictures.

I never make a soup/stew without this magic ingredient. Usually 2 big spoonfuls go into the pot. It adds such tremendous flavor. I am happy to report that I have seen a vegetable based one now too for you vegetarians out there. I haven't tried it yet but I am sure it will be just as good!

I gave that all a stir and then I added about 3 chicken breasts to the pot quick before putting the lid on, turning it to low, and hoping for the best!

Now here is the dilemma.

I was not home.

This was made to make life easy on the hubster.

He is a man.

He said thanks. That was very thoughtful of you.

He took no pictures!

He is fired as a food blogger.

I don't know how to explain that. My kids even wait to start eating their dinner usually because I am taking a picture before we pray and eat. My apologies for no pictures of the finished product. I can however report that it was in fact delicious! I had leftovers for lunch the next day. It tastes very much like a stew without the fatty meat and I think next time I will make it vegetarian just because.

Just a few notes:

*Cook this on low for 5-6 hours. Lentils don't really take that long to get soft but the chicken needs that time. So if you leave the chicken out you could reduce the time.

*When the cooking is nearly finished take the chicken out and shred it. It will fall apart easily. Then return it to the stew and stir.

* Make a big batch. Eat the leftovers and freeze the rest. Heat that frozen stew back up in the crock pot another day.
* You can also use plain brown lentils if you can't find the pretty colors.

Crock Pot Chicken and Lentil Stew

2-3 large carrots, diced

2-3 stalks of celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

1 24-32oz. container of chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup black lentils
3/4 cup red lentils

2 cans diced tomatoes (undrained)

1 can chick peas

1 small can tomato paste

2 tbsp. chicken base

1 tsp. pepper

2 tsp. sweet or smoked paprika

1 tsp. parsley

1 tsp. oregano

3-4 chicken breasts

Directions: Add all ingredients to the crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove chicken and shred near the end of cooking time. Return chicken to the pot and stir. Allow chicken time to warm back up before serving.



Moroccan Chickpea Salad

Yesterday at the gym a friend asked me if this recipe was on my blog. Funny thing was I had purchased everything to make it almost two weeks ago intending to get it on my blog. It never happened and I used up the cilantro for something else so I had to get more at the store. And that my friends is why I am not a meal planner! If I make a plan I just can't stick to it! It is inevitable!

She tasted this salad at a church potluck. I like to bring "different" things to potlucks or get togethers because people seem to have an adventurous spirit when they walk through a line and pile things on their plates. Several people asked me that day for the recipe. It is an interesting combination and I think people are surprised how much they like it.

Hallelujah for the sun shining this morning. Picture taking went much easier! I guess I should always cook in the morning. Start by draining and rinsing two cans of chickpeas also known as garbanzo beans. I must say that I really do prefer chickpeas to be organic from a can. They are at Cashwise in the health food section. They just come out looking better and I swear they taste better but be cheap if you must.

Peel 2 carrots.

I have this special little tool that my mother-in-law brought to me one time. I think it might be an "As Seen on TV" kind of product. It works wonders if you need to julienne something. I am sorry for sharing what you can't have. You can borrow this from me if you want to make the perfect carrot strips too!

I just run it down the carrot like you would a regular peeler but it gives you these very thin strips that are perfectly sliced. The carrot will get too thin to slice so then I finish it up by cutting with my knife. It is nice to have both sizes in the salad I guess.

But the knife just can't get them as thin as I like them. Maybe you could slice them quick in a food processor with the slicing attachment. Enough with the carrots, I know!

Dice up 3 green onions, 1/4 cup of cilantro, and 2 Roma tomatoes. I also think cherry or grape tomatoes would be great sliced up.

You need about 1/2 cup of feta cheese and a little more to top the salad.

The RAISINS! The original recipe did not call for these but my sister and my husband both think the raisins make this salad what it is! My sister claimed, "That salad is a completely different salad with the raisins.!" You need about 1/2 cup plus a little more to top the salad as well.

Mix all of these ingredients together gently.

For the dressing you need 3 Tbsp. olive oil, 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 2 tsp. ground cumin, 1/4 tsp each of sea salt and pepper, and a pinch of cayenne or use Franks Red Pepper Sauce. ( I was out) Mix together and pour over the salad. It is best if the flavors have a little time to blend which is why I made it this morning for lunch this afternoon.

Piece of advice: Don't substitute lemon juice from a bottle! Go get a fresh lemon before you make this. You very much taste the dressing on this salad and it won't be good with that bottled stuff!

It makes a beautiful salad and it is so delicious and unexpected. My friend Ann who asked me about this at the gym said, "Who knew you would like chickpeas?" When I served this to my friend Melissa for lunch one day my husband called me later to tell me that he was sick of hearing about my salad at work! (She works with Miles) I should have sent you with the leftovers that day Melissa!

Moral of the story is give it a try! I think you will be pleasantly surprised! I think one day I need to have a salad smorgasbord with all my favorite salads and invite a bunch of skeptics over for some taste testing. Sounds fun don't you think?

Recipe lightly adapted from March 2011 Clean Eating Magazine

Moroccan Chickpea Salad

2 cans chickpeas drained and rinsed

2 large carrots, peeled and julienned

3 green onions, thinly sliced

2 plum or Roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup raisins

Dressing

3 Tbsp. Olive oil

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

pinch of cayenne or Franks

Mix together gently in a bowl.  Whisk dressing ingredients together. Add dressing to the salad and toss. Top the salad with a bit more feta and raisins. Let sit for 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

FYI: The original recipe also calls for 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint and 1 red bell pepper diced. I leave these two things out every time because I am not a super huge fan of mint and I am just not sure about the red pepper being in there. Someday I will try it with those ingredients but for now I am just sticking with my excellent addition, the raisins!

BLT & Chick Pea Salad

Wow! What a very busy day getting ready for a very busy weekend. I didn't think I was going to have time to post tonight. I am attending Faith's field trip tomorrow all day and the we are leaving to spend the weekend with some of our favorite people.....TEENAGERS! It is Fall Retreat time for us so off to Trout Lake Camp we go and off to Nana and Papa's the kids go! But I did want to share a couple quick things. First off all I did make that BLT with the olive oil cracked pepper mayo and leftover turkey bacon for lunch the other day. It was mighty tasty! We lightly toasted some of our sprouted wheat grain bread and piled on the toppings. The cracked pepper mayo definitely lived up to its expectations so you should give it a try. I found it at Wal-Mart.

We ate some fresh veggies on the side. I didn't want the last bite to come!

For lunch today I made a delicious and easy chick pea salad. This was one of those inventions I created a while back that I usually can't repeat because I don't bother to write down what I did. However, when I made this before, Miles asked me to please do this one again. I said I wouldn't be able to unless I wrote down right away what I had done and thankfully that is just what I did! 

Aren't you sad you didn't come home for lunch now Miles?

I use my homemade Greek dressing again with this recipe but you could use your favorite Greek dressing as well.



Here are the directions:

Greek Chick Pea Salad

2 chicken breasts diced and cooked

Olive oil

Garlic powder

Greek Seasoning

Half a red onion (I only had white today)

2-3 cloves garlic

1 can chickpeas drained and rinsed

1/3 jar of roasted red pepper diced

1/3 jar peperoncini

1/2 cup sliced Greek olives

4 green onions diced

Greek Dressing

Feta Cheese

Chopped Lettuce

Cook diced chicken in olive oil and add garlic powder and Greek seasoning. Sauté red onion and garlic with some olive oil. Add chick peas, pepperoncinis, roasted red pepper, green onion, olives, and some of the Greek dressing to chicken and onion mixture and stir frequently while warming all ingredients. Serve over fresh lettuce and top with feta and Greek dressing.

Dressing:

Approximate measurements:

1/3 - 1/2  cup olive oil
1/4  cup red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. basil

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper



For you visual people I buy Merzzetta brand olives, roasted red pepper, and peperoncini most of the time but I had this other brand of peppers today. Cavendars is the Greek seasoning I use most often. That is my homemade dressing minus the little bit I had already poured into the pan.

Today I opted to go vegetarian so no chicken but I can not even believe that I forgot to put feta on my salad. I eat feta almost every day on all kinds of things! I surprised myself while moving things around in the fridge when I spied the feta and realized what I had miss out on at lunch. Thankfully I made some quinoa to go with the leftover chickpea mixture for my lunch tomorrow. I get to take my lunch on the field trip too. I didn't forget the feta this time!

This is a very filling salad! You could also put this mixture all in a whole wheat tortilla or pita as well for another delicious way to enjoy it. I also love that it is a "throw it all in the pan and warm it up recipe" which is my kind of cooking!

Now I must go to bed because the sooner I go to bed the sooner I get to have breakfast. I also made some homemade apple butter in the crock pot today and it is screaming for me to mix it in with my quinoa and Greek yogurt with a little agave and walnuts and perhaps chopped apple in the morning. Plus I need some extra rest tonight since teenagers do not go to bed before midnight!