Crock Pot Black Beans & Rice

**originally posted on WGLR.com on 12-15-14**

When I make Mexican meals at home, I have a hard time coming up with a side dish! In a restaurant, they include yummy beans and rice, but that seems like too much work, doesn't it? Well, thanks to the crock pot, it isn't! We had some guests for supper a few weeks ago and I made a delicious baked sour cream enchilada dish (which is in the photo below, too!), but I really wanted something to go along with that. So I hit Pinterest, and found this recipe for Crock Pot Black Beans & Rice. It was easy to throw together, and pretty delicious! Not only can you use this as-is for a side dish (or a meal in itself!), but I'm sure it would be great as a burrito filling or even just eaten with tortilla chips. It is nice because it doesn't take long to cook, too. I actually had two crock pots going for this meal, one with the rice & beans, and one with the chicken breasts for the shredded chicken mixture I used to fill the enchiladas with! Embrace your slow cookers, people! They help make meal prep easy!! :)

CROCK POT BLACK BEANS AND RICE

• 2 (14OZ) cans black beans, drained & rinsed
• 3/4 cup UNCOOKED rice
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup salsa
• 3 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Spray your crock pot with cooking spray. Add all ingredients into the crock pot and stir well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Stir well before serving! You can top it with additional salsa or sour cream, if desired.

Salsa Chicken 2-for-1!

This week, I am giving you a bit of a 2-for-1 treat. I made this original recipe, Crock Pot Salsa Chicken, for the first time a few years ago and LOVED it. It comes from the great cookbook "A Year of Slow Cooking" by Stephanie O'Dea.  I recently came upon a variation of the original which made it into a soup, on her blog, which is the same name as her book (Google it, it's worth it!).  So I decided to try the soup version over the weekend and it was SO TASTY! My husband and I both agreed it is one of our favorite things I have ever made in the slow cooker. So not only am I giving you the soup recipe, but I'm also giving you the original salsa chicken recipe. Not only can you enjoy it as is, but it also works great as a filling in tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, etc,  when you shred up the chicken.  It's also very low fat! YAY! Would be a nice dish for a taco bar at your Super Bowl party this weekend!

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

• 1 lb boneless chicken thighs or breasts
• 1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
• 1 cup chunky salsa (1.5 cups if you use breasts)
• 1 cup frozen corn

Pretty simple here...put the chicken in the crock (frozen is fine), and pour the other ingredients over the chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup

• 1 lb boneless chicken ( I used frozen breast tenderloins)
• 1 cup dried black beans (or 2 cans, drained & rinsed)
• 4 cups chicken broth (I used low sodium)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1-16oz jar salsa
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 cup sour cream (to stir in at the end, I used light)

If you know you are going to make this the day before, I recommend using the dried beans, just soak them overnight for at least 8 hours. I really think they tasted great in this soup, and are less expensive than the canned. But the canned beans would work well too, I am sure.

Pour beans into the crock. Lay the chicken on top, and then pur the remaining ingredients over the chicken and beans. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. If you are using the dried beans, it will be closer to 8 hours, check the beans for tenderness. With an hour or two to go, shred up the chicken in the crock (or remove, shred, and put back in crock, which is a bit easier!).  When the soup is done, stir in the sour cream before serving.

When serving, you can top with cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc. 1 cup serving on it's own is only 200 calories!

DIPS!

With our new & improved WGLR website, I can keep a fe recipes at a time on the Midday Buffet page at WGLR.com, so I am a bit behind moving som eover into the archives! These two dips were the Crock of the Week over Christmas & New Year. Both are good year 'round, and especially with the Superbowl just around the corner. Great for parties! Both can be kept warm in the crock pot for hours to serve and enjoy.

Crock Pot Reuben Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese
• 2 cups shredded swiss cheese
• 1 lb. corned beef, finely chopped
• 1 can sauerkraut (about 15oz can), not drained
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup Thousand island dressing (depends on how soft you want the dip)
• 1 to 2 loaves rye or pumpernickel cocktail party bread

Cube up the cream cheese and add to the crock with the shredded swiss cheese and the corned beef. Give that all about a half hour on high to melt together. The add the can of kraut, stir. Add the thousand island dressing until it is the consistency you want (it will get a bit thicker as it cooks together). Continue to cook on high for about another half hour until it is all heated through. Then you are OK to keep it in warm to serve and enjoy for a few hours. Spread on the cocktail bread to eat. YUM! Store leftovers in the fridge, and just warm leftovers in the microwave.

Crock Pot Salsa Spinach Queso Dip

• 1 8oz brick cream cheese, cubed up
• 1 lb Velveeta, cubed up
• 1-10 oz. package frozen chopped spinach, drained
• salsa of your choice, about 12-16 oz (or 1 can Rotel if you want more kick)
• a handful of chopped up fresh cilantro (optional, but tasty!)

Throw the cheeses in the pot and add the other ingredients on top. It will take about an hour on HIGH for everything to melt together nicely, stir every 10-15 minutes to keep it all blended and melting evenly. Then just set on warm for people to enjoy for hours! We used tortilla chips, but I think chunks of bread or cocktail rye would work nicely with this dip too.
You can use light versions of the cream cheese and Velveeta (2%) if you would like.
Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is a great year for you all!

First Crock of the Week! Taco Soup!

Here was the very first recipe for Julie Jacobs' "Crock of the Week" on 97.7 WGLR. I post a new recipe every week at www.wglr.com, and then archive the previous week's recipe here on this blog.

TACO SOUP

1 lb ground turkey or beef, browned and drained
1 medium onion, chopped
2 (15oz) cans kidney beans (I use one light red and one dark red)
2 (15oz) cans pinto beans
2 (15oz) cans corn with their juices
1 (28oz) can diced tomatoes with their juices
1 (14oz) can tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel) with their juices
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix
sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese for garnishing

Place the meat and onion in your crock pot. Rinse and drain the beans and add to the pot. Add corn and tomatoes with their juices, and then add the seasoning packets.
Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

When serving, add a handful of cheese and a dollop of sour cream to each bowl. I also like to throw on some crushed up tortilla chips. Cornbread is also a nice friend with this soup. It is very filling, and freezes well if you want to save some for later!