Healthy slow cooker recipes

Have a healthy meal ready when you get home with these easy & delicious recipes.
Jan. 18, 2012 | By: The Health Local Staff

Have you ever wished you could come home from work and a handsome man would be there with your dinner already made and the house clean? Who hasn’t right? Well, if you’re willing to substitute handsome man for a slow cooker, you can at least have dinner waiting for you when you come home from work. You may have to pay someone to clean your house, sorry! It really is as easy to use as throwing your ingredients in it before you leave for work and have a hot meal waiting for you by the time you walk back in the door!

Housewives have relied on these little miracle cookers for decades, but they are no longer just for the happy homemaker. Busy career women, or anyone who just wants to take the complication out of cooking, can greatly benefit from one of these handy kitchen appliances. If you get one and find yourself unsure what to do with it, here are a few easy and healthful recipes to try.

Sweet Potatoes and Chicken

Potatoes are a slow cooker stand by, but sweet potatoes are much healthier. They have fewer calories and many more nutrients.

Mix together all the ingredients in the cooker:

• 6 chicken thighs; trim the fat and remove the skin first
• 2 large sweet potatoes, cut into spears. May be peeled or left with skins on
• 6 shallots, peeled and chopped into quarters
• 2 to 4 cloves of garlic, peeled; the number depends upon your taste
• ½ pound of cleaned and sliced mushrooms
• 1 cup of white wine
• ½ teaspoon of dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Cook for about five hours or until the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through. You can make it as a large batch and save the leftovers for lunch or dinner another night.

Vegetarian Chili

Everyone loves chili, but with all that ground beef, the calories can really add up. Try this vegetarian option. You’ll be surprised that it is just as delicious as traditional chili. The recipe serves four, but you can easily double it to make it for a larger group or to have leftovers.

• 1 tablespoons of canola oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 bell pepper, any color, diced
• 20 ounces of canned chopped tomatoes
• ½ tablespoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• Small package of frozen corn
• 15 ounce can of black beans
• ½ cup of tomato or taco sauce
• Red pepper flakes to taste

Sauté the onion, garlic, cumin, and chili powder in a skillet with canola oil until the onions are slightly softened. Add to the slow cooker along with the rest of the ingredients and cook on low for eight to ten hours.

Barbequed Beef

This is an excellent and satisfying meal for a cold winter evening. Serve it on sandwich buns or alone to save calories. Include a side of steamed broccoli.

• 2 pounds of beef round steak, cut into one-inch pieces
• 1 small onion, diced
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 large carrot diced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar6 ounces of beer
• 4 tablespoons of tomato paste

Mix all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook for ten hours on low. When beef is cooked and tender, shred with forks to prepare for a sandwich. Spoon onto sandwich rolls and add as much sauce from the pot as you desire.