Tag Archives: food

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Slow Cooker Butter Chicken – Vegetarian Substitute Tofu

 

If you’ve never tried Indian food, this is a good place to start.  Butter chicken is one of my favorite dishes.  It is so decadent and really very bad for you, but so so delicious.  There’s ways you can cut back on the fat and calories, but it just won’t taste as good!

My crock pot broke 😦 so I wasn’t able to make this with step by step pictures as per usual.  If you don’t have a crock pot you can make this on the stove and just simmer for a while.  The flavor really matures over time, but it will still taste good either way you do it.
This isn’t entirely from scratch, but it is the easiest way to do it at home.

Here’s what you need:

4-6 boneless chicken thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
1 onion diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp oil

Stir fry these ingredients on medium heat until the chicken has some color and the onion is translucent. Then pour entire contents of pan into crock pot.

Then add:

15 cardamom pods (we just eat these, but if you don’t just put them in some cheesecloth)
2 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp curry paste (like Patak’s hot curry paste)
1 tsp red chili powder (optional)
2 tsp tandoori masala
1 tsp garam masala
8 oz (?) of heavy cream or milk (you can use coconut milk, but that makes it Thai!)
1 cup plain yogurt
1 5.5 fl oz can of tomato paste
Salt/Pepper to taste

Throw all of that into your crock pot and mix gently.  Set it to high for 4-6hours or medium for 6-8 hours.
Serve it with some rice or naan.  I have a good recipe for home made naan without a tandoor!  Ours tastes just like the restaurant kind!  I’ll give you that recipe soon.

 

A couple of notes from the chef 🙂

If you have Indian spices at home use those to customize this dish.  If you like more of certain flavors.  The ingredients I listed make this dish less complicated and more user friendly.  If you aren’t used to cooking with Indian spices, it can be intimidating until you learn them and figure out what each one adds to the dish.  You should be able to find the things I listed here in the international aisle.

Also feel free to increase the amounts of curry powder or curry paste.  2 tsp is really very little, usually I am putting spices in by the tablespoons.

Another thing that really adds to the flavor is using bone in chicken and getting it cut so that the marrow is exposed.  The marrow darkens the gravy and just adds a nice flavor to it.

For vegetarians just add in tofu where there’s chicken!  Simple!  You should probably saute the onion and garlic before you add in the tofu because tofu doesn’t take long to brown.

If you have any questions, feel free to write me.  If you end up making it please tell me about your experience!

 

 

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Ugly Pie

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July.  We decided to take it easy this year and just have a little meal at home.  The heat is just unbearable so going to a picnic anywhere seemed unrealistic.  Especially with the little man.  We just grilled up some brats and I made my famous watermelon salad.  We also had potato salad and a really delicious dessert.  What was for dessert you ask?!!!!

Recipe courtesy of my good friend Belkis.  (Go visit her blog: belkiscruz.wordpress.com)

I call it Ugly Pie because it’s pretty ugly when I scoop it onto my plate…but so SO good.  It’s incredibly simple, and goes down really easy.  It’s a nice light dessert for the summertime.

Here’s what you need:

1.5 Graham cracker packets

A tub of Cool whip

8 oz of softened cream cheese

2 packets instant chocolate pudding

sugar

1/2 stick of butter (melted)

Mash up the graham crackers, add sugar and melted butter and mix it all up.  To take this crust over the top add a few shakes of cinnamon.

Pat that graham cracker mix into the bottom of a 9×13 pan.  Make sure it’s packed tight.  If the graham cracker mixture isn’t sticking to itself add more butter.

Next mix together half of the cool whip and the cream cheese.  Mix until it is fluffy and lay it down on top of the crust.

Make the chocolate pudding according to the instructions on the packet.  It should be 2 cups of cold milk and mix until it sets.  Once it sets pour it over the cream cheese/cool whip layer.  Add the rest of the cool whip on top and decorate with graham crackers.  I decorated with Oreos because I didn’t want to open another pack of graham crackers.

Let it sit in the fridge to set a little and dig in!

I didn’t take a picture of it scooped out because we weren’t patient and didn’t let it sit in the fridge to harden.  It was a mess, but I don’t care, it was SO good.

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Watermelon Salad

It is sweltering all over the country and that means it’s time for a refreshing recipe.  This salad is really easy to put together and so delicious.  It’s an interesting mix of flavors and it is certain to peak some interest.

I haven’t made it after I moved here to Minnesota, because watermelon costs about $4 for the tiny ones.  It’s ridiculously over-priced.  But when I lived in Texas, I made this all summer long!

Here’s what you need:

Watermelon

Red onion

mint

salad greens

salt/pepper

cumin/coriander powder

feta cheese

red wine vinegar

olive oil

Chop up all your ingredients and put in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper and cumin-corainder to taste.  Mix the olive oil and vinegar in a container and pour over the salad.  If you’d like a crunch, some chopped almonds go well with this salad.

Grab a cool glass of water, it’s going to be pretty stinkin’ hot for a bit.

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Let’s have some Pho!

Today we went to one of the many Vietnamese restaurants here in the twin cities. It’s called Quangs Deli and it’s in uptown. It’s spacious but cozy if that makes sense. They have a variety of things on their menu, but we go for one reason. Pho!! I had a craving today and so off we went. We always get the chicken pho or pho ga and its so good!! Its basically chicken noodle soup with the most amazing broth. I believe they season it with star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and a few other things. Chinese five spice comes to mind. There’s a million videos on youtube showing how to make it and one of these days I’m going to attempt it. My son enjoys the chicken from our soup and someday we’ll all be slurping away at the long vermicelli together. If you haven’t tried this delicious comfort food, you must!! It’s great for when you’re sick, on a rainy day, or just when you want something warm and soothing. My freshmen year of college I ate pho every single day and lost 20 lbs!! It’s not totally balanced but it’s basically water so it goes a long way.

Check out this picture…is your mouth watering??

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I also took a picture with flash and got a pretty cool image.

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So our router died and I’m having to write this from my iPhone which isn’t easy. Hopefully I have some time this week to pick up a new router. If any of you have a good recipe for pho please tell me!! If you live in the twin cities please check out Quangs they have good egg rolls too. Another place we frequent is Pho Tan Phat and Pho 79. There’s also Pho Hoa but we don’t go there often. If you like egg rolls you’ll LOVE the rolls at Que Viet…they’re HUGE and really good!!

Also if you have suggestions for routers that don’t crap out after a few years please let me know!

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Chicken Enchilada Pasta

This a fairly easy and very impressive meal. Anytime I’ve made it I’ve gotten a ton of compliments. So here’s what you need:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cooked and shredded) or a rotisserie chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 medium onion (diced)
1 red bell pepper (diced)
1 diced green chili or a 4 oz can
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
2 (10 ounce) cans green chili enchilada sauce
2/3 cups red enchilada sauce or an 8 oz can
2 cups shredded Colby-jack cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
Toppings Suggestions-
avocado
green onions
tomatoes
sour cream
black olives

So the first thing I do is break down the rotisserie chicken. I put it in a bowl and put it aside.

Chop up your fresh ingredients.

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Next heat up the olive oil and sauté the onions for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and bell pepper and sauté for a few more minutes.

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Next add in the chicken, salt, cumin, chili powder, and green chilies.

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Stir it all and add in the enchilada sauces. You can use 2/3 of a cup or just the small 8 oz can. It doesn’t make much of a difference and you won’t have a random 3 oz of sauce sitting in your fridge.

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Bring the sauce to a boil and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes. At that point add in the 2 cups of cheese and then the sour cream.

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Once it’s all incorporated its done. Usually when I add the sauces in I start the pasta. Everyone in my family likes different amounts of sauce on their pasta so I leave it separate but you can mix it together. We like avocado and pico on top but you can dress it anyway you want.

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If you don’t want to use chicken and have a vegetarian option you could easily add in vegetables at that point. Or roast some veggies and throw them in right before you add in the cheese and sour cream. That way they won’t get mushy. Let me know how your version turns out. I’m sure you’ll love this dish!!