I have recently rediscovered the joys of using the slow-cooker for making soups, stews, and stew-like one pot meals. I can't say enough about how much easier this makes our lives, particularly since the busiest time in my work schedule is often late in the day. I've used the slow cooker twice this week and it's given Jim a nice break from having to come home and start dinner.
COD AND VEGETABLES IN THE SLOW COOKER
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 -2 pounds of cod fillet (thawed if previously frozen)
- 1 small bottle of clam juice
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 pound organic potatoes, cubed
- 1 lb organic frozen corn
- 1 lb organic frozen green beans (I like the thin, French beans from Trader Joe's)
- a few pinches of salt
- a bit of olive oil if you like
- fresh herbs if you have them, dried if you don't- thyme and parsley are nice.
Put the ingredients in the slow cooker.
Today I put the onions on the bottom, then the fish, then the potatoes, followed by the other ingredients. In the summer I would have made this with fresh organic corn and green beans. It's lovely. This recipe is an adaption of a recipe I found a few years ago in the Boston Globe Magazine. The original recipe involved a skillet, more oil and butter, more time, and more rushing around. It took me 15 minutes at the most to prepare this. I actually prefer the results of the slow cooker approach with these particular foods.
I turned the cooker on high at about 3pm in the afternoon and Jim and I came home to a nice hot dinner three hours later at 6pm. The fish was moist and perfectly done.
Tip:
I have lots of fresh frozen herbs from the farm last year- the result
of a successful experiment in which I put the cut herbs in zip-lock bags
right in the field and popped them into the freezer as soon as I got home. As a result we've had lovely fresh herbs all winter-
cilantro, parsley, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and basil. I got the idea
from seeing the tiny trays of frozen cilantro and basil (imported from
Israel) in Trader Joe's. First I tried herb ice cubes which worked
pretty well, then I decided to try just freezing them which worked even
better and was obviously a lot less work.
