Cafe Rio Chicken

3 chicken breasts

1 can green chile sauce

1 cup chicken broth

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 onion, cut in rings

3 cloves of garlic, minced

juice of 1/2 lime

chopped fresh cilantro to tast

Place chicken breasts in crock pot, pour green chile sauce and chicken broth over the top and add cumin, garlic, lime juice and cilantro. Place onion rings on top of chicken, they will be removed and discarded when chicken is cooked. Cook for 4 hours, shred meat and cook for another hour.

Cafe Rio beef

3 lbs chuck roast

1 can green chile sauce

1 cup beef broth

1 small can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 onion, cut in rings

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Place chuck roast in crock pot, pour green chile sauce, beef broth and tomato sauce over the top and add cumin and garlic. Place onion rings on top, they will be removed and discarded once the roast is cooked. Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or until meat falls apart easily.

Shred beef into a different container, strain juices and pour over shredded roast.

French Beef Stew

• 1 1/2 pounds cubed beef stew meat
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (14 ounce) can beef broth
• 4 carrots, chopped
• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons Dijon-style prepared mustard
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine meat and flour in a large plastic food storage bag and toss to coat evenly.
2. In a 6 quart saucepan brown meat in hot vegetable oil. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Add diced tomatoes, beef broth, carrots, potatoes and thyme. Bring to boil; reduce heat to medium-low, cover; and simmer for 1 hour or until beef is tender.
4. Blend in mustard and serve.

Falafel

1 15oz can garbanzo beans (chick peas)

- 1/2 onion, chopped

-1 T dried parsley

- 2 cloves minced garlic

- 1 egg

- 1 t kosher salt

- 1/4 t black pepper

- 2 t ground cumin

- 1 t ground coriander

- 1/4 t cayenne pepper

- juice from 1 lemon (that's a lemon. a weird looking lemon, but a lemon nonetheless)

- 1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (I have bread crumbs made from a loaf of Trader Joe's brown rice bread that I keep in the freezer)

- 2 T olive oil (for the bottom of your crock)

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

Get out your blender or food processor (I used our vitamix. I love that thing!). 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. (I know. I don't get it either.)

Serve with yogurt sauce or mayonnaise. I made a quick yogurt sauce with Greek yogurt, celery seed, dill, salt and pepper and lemon juice

Chipotle Chicken with Green Peppers

2 medium green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks (or any combination thereof..I just fit as much chicken as I can in one layer in my crockpot)
1 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
1 jar (16 oz) chipotle salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Rice or noodles to go along

Place the peppers in onion in your crockpot. Then add the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the chili powder and oregano. Then cover it with chipotle salsa. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 7-8 hours until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crockpot, leaving the sauce. Add the ketchup, cumin, and salt to the sauce and cook on high for 15 minutes, uncovered. Pour sauce over chicken. Serve over rice (my fav) or noodles.
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Tangy Crockpot Corn Chowder

• 2 (12 ounce) cans whole kernel corn
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 3 potatoes, diced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 red chile peppers, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• black pepper to taste
• 1 3/4 cups soy milk
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1 lime, juiced
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• Place the corn, vegetable broth, potatoes, onion, garlic, red chile peppers, chili powder, salt, parsley, and black pepper in a slow cooker; cover. Cook on Low for 7 hours.
• Pour the vegetable mixture into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel and carefully start the blender using a few quick pulses before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the mixture in the cooking pot. Once everything has been pureed, return it to the slow cooker. Stir the soy milk and margarine to the mixture; cook on Low for 1 hour more. Add the lime juice to serve.

Bean Chalupa (Lesli Goodman)

1 lb dry pinto beans (approx. 2 1/2 cups)

3 lbs pork roast

7 cups water

1/2 cup onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp salt

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

4 oz green chilies

Place all ingredients in a large heavy kettle or Dutch oven. Cover and simmer about 5 hours or until roast is fork tender. Remove roast and break up with fork. Return meat to pot, discarding bones and fat. Simmer, uncovered, until thick, about 1/2 hour. Serve over chips. Top with grated cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes and avocado, sliced green onions, olives, salsa and sour cream as desired.