Slow, Slow Cooking For A Quick, Quick Meal

Getting a meal on the table doesn’t have to be a trial – it can be a KISS one – which in my terminology means Keep It Simple Sweetheart!

The dishes that fit this bill are often short on ingredients (but not flavour), speedily cooked on the hob (like a stir-fry), thrown on the grill or bbq (and not always by me – I just do the prep), or mixed earlier in the day and popped in my slow-cooker. I call these slow, slow meals for quick, quick eating – all they often require is a bit of forethought, a quick stir when I come home, and maybe a salad accompaniment or no-cooked side dish (optional) and we can be eating within minutes.

I often cook from scratch for this type of meal but sometimes the store cupboard reveals a few gems to make the process super simple – so here’s another Super Simple Recipe to add to that repertoire.

It’s chicken thighs with canned black beans, frozen or canned corn, a jar of Enchilada sauce, some taco seasoning and cheese. All you need to do is mix and then set the dial to Low or High – whichever suits you best. I make no excuses for using a jar of sauce – it adds just 30 calories per regular serving (that’s 15 for a WLS one) and cuts down on the prep time considerably.

Some WLS patients find corn a bit tricky after surgery – if that’s you then feel free to substitute with something else like green beans. My crowd like to eat this with a side of tortilla chips but I just enjoy just a bowl on its own, sprinkled with a little extra cheese and some chopped spring onions/scallions.

SLOW, SLOW, QUICK, QUICK SLOW-COOKER CHICKEN ENCHILDA CHILLI POT

Ingredients

METRIC/US

1 kg/2¼ lb skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces

425 g/15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

425 g/15 oz can corn kernels drained or 275 g/1¼ cups frozen corn kernels

340 g/12 oz jar Old El Paso Cheesy Baked Enchilada cooking sauce

2 tbsp Taco seasoning mix

100 g/1 cup grated low-fat mature hard cheese (I used Weight Watchers)

extra cheese and chopped spring onions/scallions to serve (optional)

Method

Place the chicken, beans, corn, cooking sauce and seasoning mix in a large slow-cooker. Mix well then cover and cook on LOW SETTING for 8 hours or on HIGH SETTING for 4 hours.
Stir in the cheese and stir to allow it to melt into the chicken and bean mixture.
Serve hot topped with a little extra cheese and sprinkled with chopped spring onions/scallions if liked.

SERVES 6

WLS PORTION: ½