Zesty Crock Pot BBQ Chicken

I just discovered this linked from someone's blog to someone else's blog. I love that you can put the chicken in still frozen and there's only a few ingredients.

INGREDIENTS:

6 frozen boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
12oz bottle barbecue sauce
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 T. Worcestershire sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

Shred chicken and eat on buns or baked potato.

Note: this can be frozen in ziplock baggies and later thawed in the fridge over night. Reheat in the microwave or in a skillet.

Super Quick Black Bean Soup

I found this recipe on another blog a long time ago and HAD to try it because it just sounded too quick and too easy. It really is good though and with chips and cheese, it's surprisingly filling.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cans black beans, undrained (i’d like to dry draining and rinsing sometime to get rid of 40% of the salt.)
1/2 c salsa
1 T Chili powder
1 c broth (I used chicken)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Dump everything into a pot and bring to boil
2. When it has simmered a little (not much), blend it with your stick blender, or pour into a blender to puree.
3. Serve with avocado slices, cheese and tortilla chips!

Vegetarian Chili

2 cans (each 19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained or 4 cups soaked, cooked and drained

1 medium-sized butternut squash, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes

2 medium carrots, diced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 can (28 oz) tomatoes, with juice

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chilies, with liquid

3 Tablespoons chili powder (I used Penzey's)

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

for topping:

sour cream

more cilantro

In slow cooker, combine everything except the cilantro; stir it up.

Cover and cook on Low for 6-8 hours or High for 3-4 hours, until bubbling and hot, and somewhat darker than when it all went in. Add cilantro; cook another 20 minutes. Spoon into bowls and top with dollop of sour cream and additional chopped fresh cilantro.

The whole thing can be assembled up to 12 hours in advance and refrigerated in the cooker stoneware. Just slip the insert into the cooker the next morning and cook away. I find that this is better cooked and eaten the following day; flavors meld and deepen.

Coconut Panna Cotta

I made this for dessert on Christmas; we needed a light dessert after all the chocolate, egg nog, and gingerbread goodness that was being consumed. This is SUPER EASY!!! It originally came from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson.

We served it after a pretty rich dinner: crown of lamb, roasted garlic potatoes, Brussels sprouts with bacon and a green salad (arugula, blue cheese, walnuts). We served it with Asti spumante; Martinelli's would work well too. I made the crackers a week in advance and they kept nicely in a tupperware.

for the panna cotta:

1(14 ounce) can coconut milk

1 1/4 cups whole or 2% milk

1/3 cup natural cane sugar (I used 1/4 cup and it was fine)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Agar Agar flakes or 3/4 teaspoon agar powder (I used the flakes)

Lightly oil 6 ramekins and set aside. Place coconut milk, milk, sugar and agar flakes in a pan. Stir, then let rest for 10 minutes to allow the agar to soften and start to dissolve (this is critical or you get agar clumps, which are fine but the overall effect is more like tapioca than panna cotta). Very slowly, bring ingredients to a gentle simmer and simmer a few minutes until the agar is incorporated. If it doesn't completely dissolve, pour the mixture through a strainer, pushing the undissolved agar through as well. Pour into the ramekins and chill until set, about an hour.

for the coulis:
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals or other light, organic whole cane sugar)
2 cups berries (I used frozen raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)
juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring to a simmer, then remove from the heat. Mash the berries a little with the back of a spoon and chill.

for the cracker toppers:
1 package of 6-inch Wonton wrappers
1/4 cup natural cane sugar (Florida Crystals)
1 1/2 teaspoons ginger (Penzey's)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, fine-grained
1/4 cup assorted seeds (sesame, white and black, fennel, poppy, cracked cardamom, caraway)
1 egg
1 tiny splash heavy cream (or yogurt or milk)
cookie cutters, smallish, like 2-inch diameter

Preheat the oven to 350 F, position racks in the middle and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment or a silpat.

Combine sugar, ginger, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk egg and cream together. Cut the wonton wrappers into various shapes, pressing down hard and cleanly cutting. I used a soft towel under the surface of the wonton to get my lame plastic cookie cutters from like 1982 to work. Brush the wonton shapes with a thin glaze of the egg mixture. Sprinkle each with seeds, and a generous dusting of the sugar mixture. Keep it all sort of in the middle, so you can see the cookie edges a bit.

Move the wontons into a single layer on the baking sheets and bake until the wontons are golden and crisp, 5-8 minutes. They go from not done to burnt really fast, watch 'em.

For the presentation: just turn the ramekins over on a plate, pour a little coulis on top, and stick a few crackers in the panna cotta.