Two New Recipes

Last night we needed a quicker dinner, as we were heading to our nephew's football game for 6:00. 

We made chili verde with sausage and pumpkin, and started by broiling this tray of veggies.

Then everything went into one pot, starting with some onion, then sausage meat, garlic, oregano, cilantro, and chopped pumpkin or squash.  It called for canned hominy too, but we couldn't find any, so we just added a can of corn, and it tasted great.

I thought it needed more liquid, as it wasn't saucy or liquidy enough for chili, in my opinion, so we added a can of beef broth that we had on hand, and about a 1/4 cup of water.

We made this dinner, ate, and were only five minutes late to the game.  I call that a win!  (And the team won too!)

This chili was so good, and it had just the right amount of kick.  I loved the leftovers for lunch today.  We'll add this to our make-again list, and you can find the recipe here if you want to try it out.

Tonight we made another new dish - grilled chicken thighs with ginger scallion noodles, but had mixed feelings about it.  I didn't think it was anything special, although Christopher really enjoyed it.

I thought this dish needed something more.  I added sriracha, but it still wasn't really doing it for me.  Anyway, the recipe is here, and it's an even quicker one.

I used to subscribe to many food and cooking magazines, but now I only have one subscription - Food Network Magazine.  Often, when we are menu planning and can't think of what to make, we turn to this magazine for quick and easy ideas.

(Note: I am not affiliated with them; I just like the magazine).

What's on the menu at your house this week?

Do you have any magazine subscriptions?

Where do you look for new ideas when you're meal planning?

Easy Slow-Cooker Butter Chicken

Last week I made an easy slow-cooker butter chicken.  The flavours are mild, so it would be good for someone who is just getting into Indian food.  It's not the most authentic, elaborate Indian food we've ever made, but it's quick to throw together and fool-proof, and we'll definitely make it again if we need something that's no-fuss. 

You start by throwing 3 T of flour, 1 T of garam masala, 1 tsp cumin, and 1 tsp curry powder into a slow cooker:

Then add 3 lbs of chicken thighs (quartered) and toss to coat:

Add 1/2 cup of ground cashews:

Then add 1 small chopped onion, 4 chopped garlic cloves, 1 seeded and chopped jalapeno (I used a red one), and chopped ginger (I used 3-4 T).

Next add 2 seeded and chopped tomatoes:

2 T of tomato paste:

And 3/4 cup of cream:

I seasoned it a bit with salt and pepper before cooking, but added more later on.  The recipe says to cook it on low for 4 hours, although I turned it up to high for a while, and also probably cooked it for 4.5 hours total. 

A bit more salt and pepper to taste (salt makes a big difference - don't skip it).  Once it was done I stirred in 3/4 cup of Greek yogurt:

We garnished it with cilantro and served it over basmati rice:

The best thing about this recipe is that you don't have to pre-cook anything; you just throw it all into the slow cooker, and ta-da, it's done!

As I mentioned before, this is a very mild curry/butter chicken.  We're usually fans of much stronger flavours, so we'll likely tweak the recipe a bit the next time we make it.  That being said, it's definitely good, and was even better the next day.

You can find the recipe here on the Food Network site.

Do you use a slow-cooker?  Have you ever made butter chicken or a curry in it?  What have you been cooking lately?