Slow Cooker Indian Chikn Stew (slightly adapted from Better Homes & Gardens, Servings: 8, Total Time: 8-10 hours)
Ingredients
· Nonstick cooking spray
· 2 packages Trader Joe’s Chickenless Chikn Strips, cut into 1-inch pieces
· ½ cup onion, chopped (1 medium)
· 3 cloves garlic, minced
· 5 tsp. curry powder
· 2 tsp. ground ginger
· ½ tsp. salt
· ¼ tsp. ground black pepper and/or cayenne pepper
· 2 15 oz, cans garbanzo beans (chickpeas), rinsed and drained
· 2 14 ½ oz. cans diced tomatoes, undrained
· 1 cup water or vegetable broth
· 1 bay leaf
· 2 Tbsp. lime juice
· 1 9 oz. package fresh spinach
· Hot rice (for serving)
Directions
1. Lightly coat a 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add Chikn, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker. Add curry powder, ginger, salt, and pepper; toss to coat. Stir in beans, tomatoes, water, and bay leaf. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours.
2. Stir lime juice into mixture. Stir in spinach and let stand for 2 to 3 minutes or until spinach starts to wilt. If desired, serve in bowls with hot cooked rice.
This was a simple dish that was low on preparation but high on flavor. Not sure if it’s exactly one of the flavor profiles that I fall in love with, but it was still good and I would probably make it again. The only changes that I made to the above recipe was using water in lieu of vegetable broth (we didn’t have any), cayenne pepper, and three small bay leaves instead of one bay leaf. I also removed the leaves before serving (because that’s what I’ve read in other recipes).
The soup has just the faintest hint of heat (from the cayenne pepper. I actually added some Sriracha to mine the first night because I wanted to amp up the heat. It has a little sweetness to it as well, you can definitely make out the bay leaves and ginger in each bite. The garbanzo beans cooked nicely, but I recommend using petite diced tomatoes – it might make the soup look a little neater (as opposed to having big chunks of tomato everywhere!). I also recommend tearing the spinach leaves into small pieces because each bite I took, there was a string of wilted spinach hanging off the fork – not very appetizing, in my opinion. If I make it again, I’ll probably add a bit more curry powder to increase the Indian flavor, and the cayenne pepper to make it something I like a little more.
All in all, not bad for a quick dish that I can let sit and stew all day!
