Slow Cooker Chicken & Black Bean Soup

Back when we got the slow cooker we’d decided to have a slow cooker meal at least once a week if we could and so I had been pinning quite a few slow cooker (or crockpot) recipes onto my Pinterest boards.

This is adapted from one of those, originally seen on skinnytaste.com - I hadn’t used the slow cooker enough myself yet to have the confidence to devise recipes myself. I needed to get used to it a bit more first. This though seemed like an excellent recipe to try out cooking chicken with. I love a hearty soup anyway and with a bit of zing and spice it is right up my alley.

This makes quite a lot of soup so we froze some of it. It is also healthy and good for you plus you can add more veg, such as sweetcorn, to bulk it out a little if you like. We served this with some sliced avocado and a little low fat soured cream but you could also add some broken up tortilla chips if you like for a bit of crunch.


Crock Pot Chicken and Black Bean Soup
serves about 6

2 tins black beans, rinsed and drained
900ml chicken stock
2 tins / cartons chopped tomatoes
1 red pepper, finely chopped
85g tinned diced jalapenos
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried ancho chili
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp onion powder, finely chopped
¼ tsp Mexican oregano
1 tsp chipotle en adobo paste
2 skinless chicken breasts
½ cup chopped coriander, divided
2 spring onions, finely chopped
cut limes, for serving
½ medium Haas avocado, sliced
sour cream, for serving (optional)

Take one can of beans and place in a blender along with 500ml of the chicken stock; blend then add to the slow cooker.

Add the remainder of the beans and chicken stock into the slow cooker along with tomatoes, red pepper, diced jalapenos, cumin, ancho chilli, garlic, onion powder, oregano, chipotle, chicken breast, and half of the coriander.

Cook in the slow cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8.

At the end of the time remove the chicken breasts and shred with 2 forks. Place the shredded chicken back into the slow cooker.

Add most of the chopped spring onion, most of the remaining coriander and adjust the salt and cumin (and maybe add a pinch of cayenne if you want it a little spicier), to taste.

Serve hot sprinkled with the remaining coriander and spring onion plus lime wedges, avocados, and sour cream if you like.

Read More »

Lamb, Bulghur & Butter Bean Stew

Despite having thrown a little shade at Martha Stewart not that long ago it seems that I have found myself adapting one of her recipes: it is something I repinned onto my lamb recipe inspiration board and didn’t even realised it was Stewart until I decided to cook it the other day. It’s good though and dead easy so I’m glad I did.

You’ll have noticed that due to the lag of cooking / writing up blog I am totally out with my seasonal cooking and in the summer was posting a lot of stews, casseroles and the like. And recently I seem to have posted some lighter and more salady fare. The fact is though that I don’t often take much notice of what I should cook when - if I fancy quiche and salad in the dead of winter that is what I will have. And if I fancy a lamb & bulghur stew in August, as was this case with this recipe, then that is what I will bloody well have.

By the way, the original had oregano in it which I have omitted here simply as I forgot it. I didn’t miss it and in honesty I’m not sure it is necessary but if you do want to add it, do so at the stage where you stir in the spinach and feta: 1 tablespoon of fresh or 1 teaspoon of dried. 

I’d added olives to the recipe which I think was a good call as they added a nice salty tang to the finished dish: the feta does a similar job and they complement each other well so I’d probably add a little more of that sprinkled on top next time.


Lamb, Bulghur & Butter Bean Stew
serves 2

1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
200g lamb mince
75g bulghur wheat
½ tsp red-pepper flakes
coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp harissa paste
small tin chopped tomatoes
125ml water
½ tin white beans, drained & rinsed
5-10 kalamata olives, stoned and roughly chopped
75 g spinach, chopped
50g feta cheese, crumbled, plus a little extra to serve

Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot (that has a lid) over a medium heat and add the onion, lamb, bulgur wheat, red pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring to break up lamb, until the lamb is cooked which will take about 5 minutes.

Add the paprika and harissa, stirring for a minute until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and water, bringing to a fierce simmer then turn the heat down to low and cover. Let the stew gently simmer, with the occasional stir, until the bulgur is tender, about 25 minutes.

Add the beans & olives at about 20 minutes in.

Once the bulgur is tender, stir in the spinach and feta and cook until feta is almost melted and the spinach wilted, about 2 minutes.

Serve in bowls garnished with a little extra feta if you like.

 

Read More »

Sirloin Steak with White Bean & Leek Mash

A very simple Nigella recipe this, originally published in Nigella Express apparently but as I don’t have that particular book I must have taken it from her website.

Anyway it is super quick and as such an excellent mid-week supper.

You’ll need quite thinly cut sirloin steaks for this, as they are flash-fried for all 4 minutes in total, so visiting a decent butcher is probably a good idea.

I’ve used butter beans for the mash but any white bean, such as cannellini, will work. I also added some leek to the mash as I thought it would be interesting and also bulk it out a little with a bit more veg content to boot as well as some yoghurt to make it a bit creamier. Both worked well but you can omit it if you like.


Sirloin Steak with White Bean & Leek Mash
serves 2

2 tbsp olive oil (plus 1 tsp)
1 clove garlic, crushed
grated zest and juice of ½ lemon
600g butter beans (about 1 ½ tins), drained and rinsed
4-6 baby leeks, washed and finely sliced
a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
2 tbsp fat free Greek yoghurt
2 thinnish cut sirloin steaks (about 150g each)
sea salt & freshly ground pepper

Put 2 tbsps olive oil in a saucepan, and mix in the garlic, thyme, lemon zest and chopped leeks.

Sweat over a low heat for 20 minutes until the leeks are softened but not coloured.

Add the beans & yoghurt and a good splash of water turn down the heat to very low.

Heat gently: stirring and squishing the beans with a wooden spoon to make a lumpy mash. Season carefully to taste.

Meanwhile season the steaks well on both sides with salt and black pepper. Heat a teaspoon of oil in a large frying pan and cook the steaks on high for a minute and a half - two minutes a side. Remove to warmed plates and rest for 5 minutes.

Squeeze the lemon juice into the hot pan and let it bubble up with the meaty oil.

Divide the creamy bean mash between two plates and place the steak alongside drizzling over the lemony meaty juices.

Read More »

Green Chicken Chilli

After the fish tacos, another Tex-Mex influenced recipe: a green chicken chilli. As is often the case when I come up with something to cook, this was borne out of wanting to use up one of its key ingredients: a can of tomatillo salsa that I had bought a while ago.

What you’re looking for here is lightness & freshness: both in flavour but also in colour so use a light coloured bean rather than say red kidney, black beans or even pinto beans. If you don’t have butter beans something like cannellini (which I’d intended to use & I suspect would work best but I’d run out) or flageolet would be fabulous too.

You can serve this with rice or flour tortillas if you like or, as we did with an assortment of toppings (grated cheese, chopped avocado & spring onion and greek yoghurt laced with coriander) and some tortilla chips which I’d made by cutting up a couple of wholegrain tortillas into chip shaped pieces, spraying them with low fat cooking oil spray and baking for ten minutes.

Have some lime wedges and bottles of chilli sauce on hand and you’re ready to go!


Green Chicken Chilli

serves 2

½ tablespoon olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 chicken breast fillet, seasoned with salt & pepper all over
1-2 jalapeno chillis, deseeded & finely diced
1/4 tin of poblano chiili slices, chopped
½ green pepper, diced
1 tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
½ tsp dried Mexican oregano
6 tbsp tomatillo salsa
250ml chicken stock
½ lime, juiced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
chopped coriander and a quartered lime to serve
tortilla chips or strips to serve
chopped avocado (½) & spring onion (2-3), to serve

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a cast iron casserole and heat.

Add chicken breast and brown on both sides - you don’t want to cook it, just brown - then remove and set aside.

Add a little more oil if necessary & cook the onion & green pepper over a low- med heat for 10-15 minutes until the onion is translucent & both veg softened.

Add the jalapeno and poblano chillies, garlic, cumin, coriander, and a small pinch of salt. Cook for a few minutes more.

Add the oregano & tomatillo salsa.

Stir through before adding the lime juice & stock. Bring to the boil then reduce to a stir and add the chicken and any juices on the plate. Let simmer for about 20 minutes.

By this time the chicken should be cooked through, so you need to remove it again to a plate or chopping board and shred with 2 forks.

Add back to the pan along with the drained beans and cook for a further 10 minutes.

Stir through the chopped coriander.

To make the tortilla chips, brush or spray a couple of tortillas with oil, cut into strips and pop in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes

Serve the chilli in bowls sprinkled with chopped coriander and with sides of lime wedges; cubed avocado; Greek yoghurt laced with chopped coriander, garlic powder & lemon juice; grated cheese; tortilla chips and more chopped coriander.

Read More »