There was a cosmic convergence among five factors to bring this recipe post into your kitchens. Nom Nom Paleo did a cooking demo of her...
Read MoreLaziest Cooking EVER
http://www.MelJoulwan.com/2012/11/11/laziest-cooking/
So it’s Sunday afternoon at 5:00. I’ve just finished watching the Giants get slammed by the Bengals while simultaneously testing two recipes for Well Fed 2. Tomorrow is “errands day” with trips to the post office and grocery store on the agenda. But then I remember: I need to cook chicken breasts and sweet potatoes for my breakfast tomorrow. My inner 8-year-old pouts, stomps her feet, and says in a snotty voice, But I don’t want to spend any more time in the kitchen.
So smarter-than-an-8-year-old me did this:
That is a thoroughly un-sexy shot of my less-than-sexy slow cooker, housing a sweet potato on a pedestal, alongside two boneless, skinless chicken breasts tossed with salt, garlic powder, and Lebanese 7-spice powder, then drizzled with a tiny bit of ghee.
Here’s the thing: Every meal doesn’t need to be something special. Sometimes, you just gotta eat. And tomorrow morning, when I get home from throwing around barbells at the Craptastic Gym, I’ll be so freakin’ grateful for the roasted sweet potatoes and cooked chicken.
Will it be the finest roast chicken ever? Decidedly not. Will it taste good? Sure. Will it nourish my body and keep me humming while I run my errands? 100% yes.
Good enough for me!
Feeling lazy, too?
To bake sweet potatoes in a slow cooker, wash them, poke a few holes with a fork, then put them in the slow cooker on high for 4 to 6 hours. They’re done when a knife slips in and out very easily.
Should you be lazy enough to throw chicken in, too, it takes about the same amount of time — though you might want to check it at the 4-hour mark so it doesn’t get too dry. Just rub the chicken with salt, pepper, spices/herbs and plop it into the slow cooker — no liquid necessary, but if you drizzle it with a little ghee or coconut oil, it will have a bit more flavor. I used 1/2 teaspoon ghee on each breast, and I placed my potato on an oven-safe dish to keep it out of the drippings that will be produced by the chicken.
Two other super-lazy, but crazy-delicious, slow cooker roasting recipes:
Slow-Cooker Italian Pork Roast — this also works on beef chuck
5-Spice Slow Cooker Pork Ribs — this also works on pork shoulder or beef chuck
Still hungry? Try these
February
23
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5-Spice Slow-Cooker Pork Ribs
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I’m a huge fan of adding chicken broth to the bottom of the slow cooker when I do this. 1) It adds amazing amounts of nutrients. And 2) It keeps it nice and moist. Also if you do bone in cuts of chicken, it tends to stay more moist. I find that 4 hours on low is a safer (in terms of not drying out) amount of time then 6.
i like ‘scoop out cucumber and chuck in a can of tuna with homemade mayo’ – boom…. also ‘nut butter on a spoon’ – i’m a gourmand
When is the Well Fed 2 release date???? I LOVEEEE Well Fed!
Thanks for keeping it real!
ps: the Post Office counter will be closed Mon 😉
So easy, So never thought of it. Love the idea of roasting sweet potatoes on a pedestal while something else is slow cooking!
Ha. Love this.
laughing as my sweet potatoes are in the oven and a pork roast is in the slow cooker. the lazy man’s way to cook ahead while watching football…
My grain-free girlfriend and I have lamented that while eating this way, even if the meals are dull or “unfancy” or even if they don’t turn out all that great – they are still nourishing and satisfying and when you’re done eating the meal, you’re done eating. As opposed to in the past when eating a “conventional” diet, if the food turned out not the greatest then we often felt unsatisfied and ripped off and kept looking for more food, seeking that “satisfaction”.
They don’t all have to be special is right when you eat this way.
I need to find out how much power my slow cooker draws to see if I can use it on battery power in my RV. I find I’m buying more precooked food than I’d like because I don’t yet have enough energy to do everything while learning my way around this new environment.
BTW, Whole Foods shopping in Austin is on Tuesday’s agenda. Need coconut aminos and a few other things I can’t get just anywhere.
so happy 🙂 about being able to add sweet potatoes and salt back into my meals as in the first book that i started the paleo diet with was Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet and I can tell u that there is NO comparison to the taste of that books recepies to WELL FED. There are some things that really j
just need a pinch of salt like hard boiled eggs.
Will u b including some slow cooker recepies in WELL FED II? LOVE TO B COOKING WHILE CLEANING or sleeping and not having to pay attention to it !
thanks for giving me back my Fav sweet potatoes!
Kat
I noticed you used chicken breasts… any thoughts on using dark meat in that same fashion? I like eating fattier cuts of meat for my own satiety.
Thighs will totally work. Go for it!
I am so in love with my slow-cooker. It used to be tied with my coffee pot for Best Appliance in a Major Motion Picture, but now that I gave up coffee, it totally wins. I try to cook up something big — a roast or three pounds of chicken — every weekend and then I have it all week. It’s my single-lazy-girl version of a weekly cook-up. 🙂
I do that too! Except single-lazy-guy can’t get his five pound roast to last a week…
The Slow-Cooker is quite possibly my favorite kitchen invention ever. Anytime I know that I am going to be busy, or I have already been in the kitchen all-day, the slow-cooker it is. Never thought to cook whole sweet potatoes in there though – definitely need to try that!
Love this! Thanks for keeping it real with simple recipes!
Oh, I need to try this. I’ve always got something cooking in my crock pot but I never though to do this.
Easiest way to cook yams, sweet potatoes or potatoes is to drive a bamboo chopstick through them and balance them over a bowl. Put them in the microwave for about 10 minutes or until soft. The yam will shrink inside its skin making it easy to peel.
I just concocted my own “lazy” chicken in my crockpot. I had 2 boneless chicken breasts in the fridge that needed to be cooked, so inspired by this recipe, I put them in my crockpot, seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika, Italian herb blend, and drizzled with avocado oil and balsamic vinegar. I threw in a bunch of peeled garlic cloves. I have no idea how this will come out. Either way, it’s what I am eating for lunch today, lol.
Mel,
I have had your book for awhile and I LOVE your recipes and blog! This was so yummy and I also wanted you to know I made your Deconstructed Gyro with ground lamb and it made for a truly fantastic Greek dish that helped to satisfy my craving for Gyros! Using the same seasonings and cooking the ground lamb made for a very quick meal with leftovers! (Party of one here). I live here in the Austin area and hope to meet you at PaleoFX or maybe one of your cooking workshops. Have a great weekend!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know you like my recipes — I really appreciate it! The marriage of lamb+those spices is just good stuff, I think: shoulder, leg, ground, whatever. Can’t go wrong!
Would love to meet you! Looking forward to it!
I will have to say that it helps me a lot when leaving some holes on the sweet potato with a fork or chopstick because at first I got steamed or roasted ones with a hard core, which was frustrating. But now it’s not a problem any more.
Congratulations on winning the Hommies Best DIY blog 2012 by the way.
I started Paleo a month ago and have been “surfing around” to get ideas and inspiration. Your site is my new favorite!! Just wanted you to know and to THANK YOU!!!
Congratulations on making the switch to paleo — and thanks for the compliment! I’m glad you found me! Enjoy!