Novice Slow Cook Moroccan/Brit Chicken Casserole

Me and the boy recently spent a long weekend away at my Papi's house in a Devon village (views of his garden above). Whenever I go there I tend to come back with a different mindset. It's completely relaxing, and the food is just top notch. My dad and stepmum eat very well-always organic, local where possible. Whilst I was there they also described to me the benefits of a slow cooker (amongst other things) so as soon as I was back, I popped to Argos and got the Cookworks 6.5 litre Slow Cooker for a mere £19.99
I googled many recipes, many of which still seemed to be quite complicated, and required pre-cooking and exotic ingredients I'd never heard of. Horror! I bought it because I literally wanted to bung some food in and have a delicious meal a few hours later, using meat and veg.



Ingredients: 4 chicken thighs, 2 red onions, Half a butternut squash, 7 medium carrots, handful of dried dates, salt, pepper, cumin, honey, half pint water, tablespoon of flour.

So that is what I did. I didn't follow a recipe, I just used common sense. I chopped the onions, carrots and butternut squash (thank you M&S for selling it pre-peeled) and bunged them in, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I rubbed 4 chicken thighs with honey and cumin, and placed them on top with some dates (I watched a lot of Moroccan themed TV at my dad, hence the cumin also).



I added some boiling water by eye (probably a little too much, I would now say you only need about half a pint) and a tablespoon of plain flour. A pinch more cumin, a bit of a swirl around, then the real experiment could begin! I opted to cook on low for 7 hours (7 torturous hours, once the smell started circulating) and voila! I had made enough for a serving for myself, for the boy, and some leftover to freeze for a rainy day, and also some liquid leftover to use as stock for the next meal! How purse friendly of me.



Taste wise, it was pretty good. It was a bit too watery this first time round, a lesson learnt for the next round!

Anyone else out there have a slow cook recipe to share? Link me, I'd love to know more! Also, sad old me doesn't have any followers yet even though I get several comments! What am I missing here, what would you like to see that's different? Let me know, and if you do a foodie blog link me to that too, I mainly follow fashion blogs right now, so need some recommendations!

Delicious and Diet Friendly: Dijon Chicken Salad

Dijon Chicken Salad



You Will Need:
Cooked Chicken-about 3 tablespoon size portion
Low-fat Greek yoghurt-2 tablespoons
Dijon Mustard-1 teaspoon
Pepper x1 of any colour
Red Onion x1
Celery stalk x2
Lettuce or spinach salad
Oil/Spray

Serves 1
Total prep and cook time-Less than 20 minutes.
Threw this together to use some of the chicken from the Sunday roast and the celery from the mushroom stack, it is surprisingly filling and by my calculations comes in at under 300 calories per serving.

• Simply chop up a red onion, a pepper and a couple of celery sticks and cook in a frying pan in a little oil or low cal spray. I already had leftover chicken, if you're using it fresh, sizzle in a diced chicken breast with your veggies.

• After about 10 minutes, I poured in a couple of tablespoons of water so the onion was nice and soft, and a little gooey. I also just like the sizzle it makes. Cook for a few minutes longer, then set aside to cool.

• In a bowl mix together the dijon mustard and low fat greek yoghurt-I used Total 0% fat.

• Fill a plate with your salad leaves, then scrape about half your mixture of cooked veg on top.

• Mix the rest with your dijon flavoured mix, and add that on top too.

Smells amazing, tastes amazing, and is totally guilt free when you think about your 5-a-day. Perfect!