Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (13 page)

G
etting the proportions right to cook rice or pasta to perfection in the slow cooker is tricky. The following meals are those which “made the cut”—and have become not only family favorites, but favorites on my Web site. Making casseroles is a fantastic way to use up leftover food in your refrigerator or pantry, and is a great way to stretch meat from a previously slow-cooked roast or chicken.

AUTUMN SAUSAGE CASSEROLE

serves
4

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the rice into the stoneware crock, and add the sliced sausage. If you are going to use uncooked sausage, I’d recommend browning it on the stovetop, and then draining excess fat before adding it to the slow cooker. Add the onion, apple, carrots, raisins, brown sugar, parsley, allspice, cinnamon, and pepper. Pour in the broth or water. Stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 5 to 7 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. You’re really only heating it through, and allowing the vegetables to soften. This will not stick together like a gloppy casserole; it has the consistency of fried rice. Use bowls when serving rather than plates. We decided that eating this felt exactly like eating a bowl full of Fall. The spices are spot-on, and taste comforting and hearty.

BAKED SPINACH AND CHEESE NOODLES

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and whisk in the flour. Add the milk, ricotta cheese, drained spinach, bell pepper, mustard, nutmeg, salt, and black pepper. Set aside.

Spray the inside of your crock with cooking spray, and dump in uncooked noodles. Pour in the milk and spinach mixture. Top with the Parmesan cheese. Cover and cook on high for 2 to 4 hours, or until the noodles are tender. I really like the hint of nutmeg in this meal.

BARBECUED CHICKEN AND CORNBREAD CASSEROLE

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. Add the chicken and sweet potato to the crock. Add the corn and onion. Empty the contents of the barbecue sauce bottle into the crock, then add ¼ cup of hot water to the bottle, shake, and pour in. Mix well with a spoon.

In a mixing bowl, mix together cornbread topping with a fork. Spread onto the chicken mixture. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until the cornbread has browned, and starts to pull away from the sides.

The Verdict

Barbecue and cornbread pair just as well as peanut butter and jelly. The cornbread cooked perfectly in the slow cooker, even though I didn’t vent the lid at all. We all really enjoyed this meal.

BUFFALO CHICKEN LASAGNA

serves
8

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, pasta sauce, and buffalo wing sauce. Ladle a big spoonful of the sauce into the bottom of your stoneware. Cover with a layer of uncooked lasagna noodles. You’ll have to break them to get a proper fit. Add a smear of ricotta cheese to the top of the noodles. Add a layer of bell pepper, and top with some shredded cheese. Repeat the layers until you run out of ingredients. Add the blue cheese crumbles. Put the water into your empty pasta sauce jar and shake. Pour the liquid over the top of the entire lasagna. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours. When the cooking time is complete, unplug the crock and take off the lid. Let the lasagna sit for 20 minutes before cutting.

The Verdict

Delicious. Quite tasty, with a mild buffalo tang that is noticeable, but not overwhelming. The kids picked out the chicken and ate crumbles of blue cheese. This is a dish that is in our regular meal rotation, and what I prepared on
Good Morning America
.

CABBAGE ROLLS

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Separate 12 cabbage leaves from a head of cabbage. Steam lightly by placing them into a covered casserole dish with a few tablespoons of water. Cook on high for 2 minutes in the microwave. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, raw rice, egg, onion soup mix, cheese, and tomato sauce. Mix well—the mixture will be like a gloppy meatloaf. Scoop about one-third cup of the mixture into each cabbage leaf and roll or fold. Put the stuffed cabbage leaves into the bottom of your cooker, seam side down. Pour tomato juice over the top; it’s okay if the cabbage rolls aren’t fully submerged. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or until meat is cooked through and rice is tender.

The Verdict

Cabbage was invented for cabbage rolls. And for hiding babies. Or is it for growing babies? Or for growing dolls with huge heads? I honestly was not expecting to like cabbage rolls, but I really did. Adam and I both ate three, and happily gobbled the leftovers for lunch. The children had boxed macaroni and cheese, and then played dolls for hours.

CHICKEN AND BROWN RICE CASSEROLE

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Combine the chicken broth and ½ cup milk in a saucepan and heat over medium heat on the stovetop. In a separate bowl, whisk the remaining 1 cup of milk wit ¾ cup flour. When the broth and milk have begun to boil (it will be quick; don’t wander off!), reduce the heat, and slowly stir in the milk and flour mixture. When everything is fully incorporated, set the saucepan aside to cool.

Spray the inside of your stoneware with cooking spray. Add the rice and seasonings. Add the onion and mushrooms. Stir in the broth, flour, and milk mixture. The rice will turn a bit red from the paprika. Lay the chicken pieces on top. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or low for about 8 hours. When you take the lid off the slow cooker, stir the rice. If the rice is fully cooked and you
have extra liquid, keep the lid off for about 15 minutes. The liquid will absorb quickly. Season with salt to taste.

The Verdict

I was happy with the way that this turned out—chicken and rice casserole was one of the first things I learned how to cook as a newlywed, yet I always managed to burn the edges.

The brown rice held up nicely in the slow cooker, and had good flavor. The kids ate their chicken separate from the rice.

CHICKEN POTPIE

serves
4
to
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Spray the stoneware with cooking spray, and add the chicken. Add the vegetables and seasonings. Stir in the cream-of-something soup and add 2 tablespoons of milk to
the can; swish it around to get all the good stuff out of the can, and pour it into the crock. Stir well. In a mixing bowl, make the biscuit topping. The dough will be pretty “play-doughy,” and I pretty much mixed it with my hands. Spread the dough on top of the chicken and veggie mixture. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, or on high for 3 to 4 hours. The potpie is done when the biscuit topping is golden brown, and is hard to the touch in the middle. If you find that your slow cooker seals really well and you have a lot of condensation building up, you can prop open the lid with a wooden spoon or chopstick.

The Verdict

This was neat to try, and I’m glad that I did it. I like that you can use whatever vegetables and meat you have on hand, and throw it in under the biscuit topping. My brother really likes potpies, and next time I make this, I’m going to have him over. The filling is really good, and the flavor reminded Adam of stuffing.