Make It Fast, Cook It Slow (19 page)

SMOKY REFRIED BEAN SOUP

serves
6

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the refried beans in the crock, and turn to high to begin melting the bean blob. Drain and rinse the black beans, and add to the crock. Add the tomatoes, carrots, and roasted corn. Pour in the vegetable broth. Stir in the Tabasco sauce garlic, spices, and salt. Cover and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours. The soup is done when the carrots have reached the desired tenderness.

The Verdict

This recipe comes from Susan Voisin, who writes at blog.fatfreevegan.com. That means that along with being delicious, this soup is both fat-free and vegan! It was a bit too spicy for the kids, but had a wonderful kick for Adam and me. I liked the thickness a lot, and how it cleared my sinuses nicely.

SPLIT PEA SOUP

serves
4

Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Put the peas, vegetables, broth, and water into the cooker. Mix in the salt and pepper. Add bacon, reserving 4 to 6 pieces for later use (or add ham hock). Cover and cook on low 8 to 10 hours, or on high 4 to 6 hours. If you are using the ham hock, scrape off any remaining meat and discard the bone. If you use bacon, remove the strips and discard. Use a handheld immersion blender to blend the soup to the desired consistency. Cook the reserved bacon on the stovetop or in the microwave, and crumble over the soup.

SWEET POTATO SOUP

serves
4

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Peel and cube the sweet potatoes and add them to your slow cooker with the broth, mangoes, and allspice. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4 hours. When the potatoes are tender, blend with an immersion blender. Stir in the heavy cream.

TORTILLA SOUP

serves
8

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 4-quart slow cooker. Add the chicken, all the vegetables, the garlic, spices, salt, and broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4 hours. Your soup is done when vegetables have reached the desired tenderness, and the broth is fully heated, but you really can’t overcook this one. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.

The Verdict

I ate this for lunch for four days in a row. It was a bit spicy for the kids, which was totally fine with me. The liquid absorbed a bit, so it was more chowdery than soupy after the first day, but still amazingly good, and much healthier than Taco Bell for my Mexican food fix.

TRADITIONAL BEEF STEW

serves
8

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Put all the vegetables into the cooker. Dredge the meat in flour, and add to the crock. Discard any remaining flour. Add the dry seasonings, Worcestershire sauce, wine, and beef broth. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 12 hours.

The Verdict

There are as many different variations of stew as there are missing Barbie shoes. Use what you have on hand in the crisper drawer and pantry. I don’t think I’ve ever made the same beef stew twice. This is a great basic recipe; feel free to create your own variation.

TURKEY AND WILD RICE SOUP

serves
8
to
10

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. This is a 1½-day project. We are going to use the turkey bones to make broth. If you are using chicken broth and 2 cups of turkey, bypass this step.

Put the turkey carcass into the slow cooker and cover with 8 cups of water. My carcass was only from a tiny turkey, so if you need to break the bones down to fit in your slow cooker, do so. My turkey was still stuffed with a quartered onion and some apple, so I didn’t bother to add any vegetables to season the water. You may certainly add some onion, celery, or anything else you’d like to season the broth with. The more meat and skin left on the bones, the more flavorful the broth.

Cover and cook on low overnight, or 8 to 10 hours. Drain the broth into a large pot (do not discard), pick off meat, and add it to the broth.

Rinse out your stoneware and put in the chopped vegetables. Return the broth and meat to the
stoneware and add the wild rice, sage, bouillon cube, and balsamic vinegar. Stir. Add 2 heaping handfuls of baby spinach to the mix. It will look like a lot, but will wilt down nicely while cooking. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or on high for 4 to 6 hours. The soup is done when the vegetables have reached the desired tenderness.

The Verdict

Kalyn Denny, from kalynskitchen.blogspot.com, gave me the recipe for this soup. I love it. The wild rice exploded a bit, and actually resembled barley by the time we ate it. Adam proclaimed it the best turkey soup he’s ever had, and the kids both ate two bowls. I may have wept.

C
ooking fish and seafood in the slow cooker is sometimes thought of as off-limits, but I was thrilled to learn that slow-cooking seafood is terribly easy and doesn’t leave a “fish smell” in the house—a huge bonus for me. I played around with placing foil packets in the slow cooker, and found them to work perfectly. Foil + fish = good fish. And foil + fish + slow cooker = a real, live American family eating fish. Seafood doesn’t take long to cook; I recommend staying home to keep an eye on it.

BARBECUED SHRIMP

serves
8

The Ingredients

The Directions

Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Rinse the shrimp, but don’t soak them too much. Put the shrimp into the stoneware with the butter, olive oil, and Worcestershire sauce. Add the Tabasco, salt, and pepper, then add the lemon juice and basil. Toss just a bit with a big spoon to mingle the flavors. The butter will be in a big stick, but that’s okay. Cover and cook on high for about 2 hours, checking every 30 minutes. You’ll know the shrimp is done when it has turned pink, and can be peeled easily. I turned ours off at exactly 2 hours. It was perfect.

Serve with French bread to sop up the juice. If you are gluten-free, make a fresh loaf of your favorite bread to go along—the juice is amazing.

The Verdict

This recipe is adapted from Ree Drummond, who writes
The Pioneer Woman Cooks
, a fantastic blog and cooking resource. I brought this shrimp to my friend Nancy’s house, where eight grownups and three kids gobbled it up. I was thrilled with the way the shrimp cooked in the slow cooker with very little attention.