It has been a long time but the Duncan Divas and I are back and looking forward to sharing our new favourite recipes with you. Unfortunately a few surgeries interrupted my life the last three years. Now with my bionic knee and ankle I am right back in my happy place, the kitchen.
In my recovery time I still managed to get in the kitchen and create some great meals. I have been a long time user of Epicure products and became an Independent Consultant so I could share my love of the products and help to inspire clean and healthy eating. Since all of the products are gluten, nut and MSG free as well as sodium and sugar conscious I can feel better about what I am feeding my family and myself.
With one Diva now in high school and the other in a rep sport, our weeknights are fast and frantic so the slow cooker is a staple in the kitchen these days. We enjoy the ease of takeout but not all of the hidden ingredients or the cost. A craving for Asian led me to a recipe on the Epicure website for Slow Cooker Asian Chop Suey. I made a few adjustments in terms of seasoning just to spice it up a bit.
A bag of coleslaw mix, some fresh produce, ground beef and seasonings were all that were needed to assemble this dish in a short time. The slow cooker did the work and we came home to amazing aromas and an incredible dinner.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs (900 g) lean ground beef, chicken, or pork, your choice
- 2 C (500 ml) coleslaw mix
- 1 C (250 ml) bell peppers, sliced
- 1 C (250 ml) mushrooms, quartered
- 1 C (250 ml) celery, cubed
- 1/2 C ( 125 ml) Miso & Ginger Dressing, prepared
- 2-3 Tbsp (30-45 ml) Asian Stir-Fry Seasoning
- 1 C Pho Broth Mix, prepared
The Asian Seasonings from Epicure are among my favourites in the pantry. The original recipe calls for Sesame Ginger Dressing but I am a huge fan of the Miso Ginger. The Miso & Ginger can be mixed with olive oil, orange juice and cider vinegar to make an amazing dressing that I love to use on Nourish bowls or a fresh spinach salad. Asian Umami is a Nutritional Yeast sprinkle that is great on cooked vegetables, in soups, on proteins and in on salads.
The recipe calls for ground beef and you can add it to the slow cooker with all the other ingredients and cook from a raw state. I don't like the sheen from the fats in my dishes so I prefer to brown the meat in a skillet first and then drain the fat into a small dish, freeze and then discard. We actually switched to ground turkey which is usually what I use for any meat dishes calling for ground beef and you will find there is much less fat residue when you cook with this instead of ground beef. I wanted to try this with the beef for the blog but it was delicious with the turkey as well.
My favourite part of this recipe is the use of the coleslaw mix which you can purchase at any grocery store these days to save you a lot of time. It took me just a few moments to prepare the peppers, celery and mushrooms.
Everything went into the Crock-pot which I just recently purchased at Costco. It is programmable so that you can set a time and it will automatically switch itself to the warm setting once the cooking is done. Combine all the ingredients and stir gently. Cover and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low setting.
Three hours later we had a wonderful smelling dinner that just needed some sides.
The recipe suggests using noodles or rice as a side or base for this dish. I like to use my Silicone Steamer with Basmati rice and some seasonings which vary depending on what type of cuisine we are having. One cup of Basmati, 2 cups of water or broth and a sprinkle of Wasabi ginger.
10 Minutes in the Microwave with the lid on and I get perfect fluffy rice every time with no messy pot to clean. I use this steamer for seafood, pasta, vegetable, potatoes and even popcorn.
Give me a dish and give me chopsticks and I am happy. The Divas love to have rice when we cook Asian food but I love using rice noodles. Some people boil them but I find they get too overdone so I soak mine in hot water for about 15 minutes before eating.
The finished product served on rice noodles, sprinkled with fresh bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, Asian Umami, sesame seeds and for the extra heat a good drizzle of Sriracha sauce. We did have leftovers which were great for a teen to reheat before heading off to practice.
Bon Appetit!
* This recipe is great to assemble ahead of time to freeze and cook later. Add all the ingredients except the broth to a large freezable bag, seal it and lay flat in the freezer.
When ready to cook, remove from the freezer at least one hour before cooking. Add contents to your slow cooker, add prepared broth and cover and cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours the low setting.
No comments:
Post a Comment