Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

I love a good slow cooker recipe. There is nothing better than coming into the house at the end of the day and having the whole apartment smell amazing. Plus, slow cooker meals usually require fewer dishes to wash and the results are melt in your mouth delicious. In a quest to continuously expand our recipe repetoire, we tried two new recipes this week. This one needed no adaptations. It is great just as is. It’s like take out, but without the guilt.

Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken

• 2½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken (I used chicken thighs), cut into cubes
• 3/4 cup honey
• ½ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• ½ tsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced dried onion
• ¼ cup barbecue sauce
• ¼ tsp crushed red peppers
• 6 tbsp cold water
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Sesame seeds
• Green onions, sliced
• A pinch of love

Mix honey, soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, minced garlic, died onion, barbeque sauce and red pepper in a small bowl. In your crock pot, mix chicken and sauce until all the meat is coated. Cook on low for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the crock pot and set aside. Pour the leftover sauce into a small sauce pan. On low heat, mix the sauce, water and cornstarch until the liquid thickens.

Mix the chicken and sauce. Serve over brown rice and sprinkle with sesame seeds, green onions and love. Enjoy!

 

 

Asian pork chops…crock pot style

I love my crock pot.  It doesn’t get much of a workout during the summer months, but it’s perfect for turning out delicious, juicy pork chops…and that’s just what was on the menu.  This is a recipe I happened to find online a few years ago. I’ve taken the advice of many of the reviewers and reduced the salt and included honey.

One lesson I’ve learned…the hard way…is that pork chops are not a “set it, and forget it” kind of meal.  The chops I used this time around were VERY thin and only took about 2 hours to cook. I’ve used slightly thicker cuts before and those take about 4 hours.  Bottom line, don’t set this meal up before work and expect to find perfection in your crock pot when you get home 8+ hours later…trust me, you’ll be disappointed and scrubbing your crock pot for a week.

Asian Crock Pot Pork Chops

• 6 boneless pork chops
• 1/4 low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• A pinch of love

 

Combine soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, ketchup, ginger and chopped garlic in small mixing bowl.

 

 

Place pork chops in the bottom of crock pot. Pour marinade on top, flipping chops to ensure both sides are coated. Sprinkle in a pinch of love and cover the crock pot.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours (for average to thick cuts) or until pork reaches internal temperature of 145 degrees.

Towards the end, you can throw in some thin sliced peppers and snap peas to cook up. Don’t do it too early or the veggies will get soggy. Serve as is or with brown rice, spooning some of the marinade from the bottom of your crock pot on top.  Enjoy!

 

 

Asian Pork Chops Cooked in the Kitchen’s Magic Cauldron

Your day gets infinitely better when you walk in the door and are hit with delicious smells wafting from that magical cauldron known as the crock-pot. Dinner is done….well almost. I can’t take total credit for tonight’s feast.  Eric popped the ingredients in the slow cooker before he left for work this afternoon.  I added the finishing touches when I got home.  Go team!

Pork chops have never been one my favorite foods but I stumbled upon this recipe a few years ago and the results are too delicious not to share. I’ve made a few adjustments based on reviews and added a little twist.

Slow Cooker Asian Pork Chops  

• 4 to 6 boneless pork chops
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 cup soy sauce (based on reviews, I use 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup honey)
• 1/4 ketchup
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt and pepper
• My variation: half a yellow onion, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper
• A pinch of love

Put the pork chops in the crock-pot. Mix up the liquid ingredients and seasoning.  Pour the marinade on the pork chops and set the cooker on low. Cook for 4-5 hours depending on the strength of your machine.  This is NOT the type of slow cooker meal that gets better the longer you cook it.  Cook the chops too long and they will be a dry mess.  No matter how much love you put in, there is no saving dry pork chops.

Slice the onions and peppers very thinly. Add them, along with a pinch of love, into the crock-pot for the last 20 minutes or let them steam while you keep the cooker on warm until it’s time to eat..

I cooked up some brown rice (made with half water, half low-sodium veggie broth) to serve on the side.

Enjoy!