Crockpot Falafel.

Oh yes, another crockpot meal. And once again, the recipe comes from A Year of Crockpotting.

I must admit that I had my doubt about this recipe. Wouldn’t the falafel become mushy sitting in an oily crockpot all day? Nope, not at all. They became crisp on the outside, even on top, just like falafel you’d get at a restaurant.

The kid and I loved these. Husband, not so much. He had never had falafel before these and he just thought they were plain weird. That’s fine though. More for me. I always do meatless lunches when the husband is working so these are going into my regular rotation.

A little advice though: DON’T try to flip them. Like I said, I doubted they would brown so I attempted to flip one of them and it fell apart completely. Just trust me when I say that it will become brown.

Crockpot Falafel
from: A Year of Crockpotting

1 15oz can garbanzo beans

1/2 onion, finely diced

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 cloves minced garlic

1 egg

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

juice from 1 lemon

1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs 

2 T olive oil

Drain garbanzo beans. Dump them into a mixing bowl and smash them with a fork. Set aside.

Get out your blender or food processor. Blend together all of the spices, the onion, the garlic, the egg, and the lemon juice.

Pour on top of your smashed garbanzo beans. Use your fork to mix together, and add the breadcrumbs slowly until the mixture is wet and sticky but can be formed into balls nicely. I needed 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs.

Pour 2 T of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert.

Form squished golf-ball sized patties of falafel. Dip each side into the olive oil and then nestle into your crockpot. It’s okay if they overlap or are on top of each other.

Cook on high for 2-5 hours. Ours cooked on high for 3.5 hours–you will know that the falafels are done when they turn brownish-golden. You can flip them halfway through the cooking time if you feel like it, but they will brown on top even without flipping.

Beer Braised Beef.

Continuing in my quest to find good crockpot meals… we had beer braised beef recently. I threw this together with things I had in the fridge and it turned out really well. Although, I’m not sure you can call it braised since it was made in the crockpot. I’m doing it anyway. So there.

Can I talk about my love of stew meat? I know it’s not the best cut of meat but it’s just so easy. Plus, if you cook it in the crockpot it becomes amazingly tender and pretty much falls apart. Mmm. That’s what I used in this recipe and I can almost guarantee I have some in the freezer at all times. It doesn’t get any simpler than the stew meat.

But like I said, this turned out much better than I expected. I served it over rice and the juice made the rice delicious. I’m so glad that I wrote this down as I was going because I definitely want to make it again sometime.

Crockpot Beer Braised Beef

2 strips of bacon
1 pound stew meat
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bottle (12 ounces) beer
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Place bacon on a cooling rack and then on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until crisp. Let cool slightly and crumble.

Place stew meat and crumbled bacon in crockpot. Put onion, garlic, beer, soy sauce, Worchestershire, and thyme on top of meat crockpot. Stir to combine. Cook on low for about 6 hours. Serve over rice or pasta.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not really a big fan of using my crockpot. The only time I really use it is when the husband asks for his beloved stroganoff. But with school starting in a week I’ve been trying to get into the habit of using it more often.

I went through one of my favorite blogs, A Year of Crockpotting and printed out a bunch of recipes to try within the next few weeks in hopes of finding a few amazing ones to add to my regular rotation. This chicken cordon bleu recipe is one of those recipes and one that will definitely be going on my meal plan again.

I’ve never had real chicken cordon bleu because I’m just not a fan of big pieces of chicken but now I see that I’ve been missing some good stuff! I believe the real thing has a crust on it but I like that this recipe one doesn’t have anything. I also like that Stephanie (who watched her on Rachael Ray a few weeks ago? I did!) also included a homemade cream of chicken soup recipe. It was so much easier than the recipe I had been using and is much tastier than the canned stuff. Oh, and cheaper. I’m all about the cheap.

I used shredded swiss instead of a slice because that’s what I had, and most of the cheese ended up oozing out of the sides. Next time I will definitely buy slices in hopes that the cheese will stay inside. It’s a really good recipe overall. We actually ate the leftovers and that hardly ever happens.

Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu
from: A Year of Crockpotting

4 chicken breast halves, pounded thin
4-8 slices of ham
4-8 slices of swiss cheese

can of your favorite cream-of-something soup
2 tablespoon low fat milk
or homemade cream of chicken soup:
1 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup low-fat milk (soy in our case)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Spray crockpot with cooking spray.

Pound chicken breasts flat.

Put a slice of the ham and a slice of the swiss cheese on the chicken breast and roll it up. Put it into the crockpot, seam side down. If desired, top with another piece of ham and cheese. Continue with the other pieces. It’s okay to stagger-stack the chicken. It will still cook nicely for you.

If you are making your own “special soup,” make a roux on the stovetop with the butter and flour, and whisk in the broth, milk, and spices. Pour on top of the chicken.

If you are not using the “special soup” open can of cream-of soup. Pour into crockpot. Put the 2 tablespoons of low fat milk into your empty can and swirl it around to get the remaining stuck on good stuff. Pour that in, too.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4-5. This is done when the chicken is cooked through and has begun to brown on top.