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Slow Cooker Corned Beef And Cabbage

This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage is so good you’ll make it more than just on St. Patrick’s Day!

slow cooker corned beef and cabbage

I know St. Patrick’s Day comes every year, but this is the first time I’ve ever made corned beef and cabbage. For my virgin time I used an amazing recipe from Foodie Crush as a guide. So, a big thanks goes out to Heidi for creating this awesome recipe! This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage recipe is a keeper!

Not only is this recipe delicious, but it’s so easy because the slow cooker does the work! I can’t believe this is the first time I’ve ever made this, because it really is so good.

So, here it is a few days before St. Patrick’s Day and I’m sitting in my kitchen drooling over the aroma in my apartment. Should I wait to serve this in a few days for the actual holiday? Should I just give up and dig in now? What’s a girl to do…

Okay, now 5 minutes has passed and I have scarfed down 4 slices of this melt-in-your-mouth meat. And 3 big hunks of rich potato. And a few carrots. Oh, and I dipped everything in the non-dairy horseradish sauce I made. Now, I can save the rest for the actual day…

If you are looking for another great meat recipe that cooks in the slow cooker, try my recipe for Slow Cooker Pulled Pork!

slow cooker corned beef and cabbage

And by the way, you can eat corned beef and cabbage and still be healthy:

Beef is good for a lot of ailments. It’s good for edema/swelling in the body, it helps many people with their weak back and knees and, believe it or not, it’s good for that bloated, distended feeling we sometimes get in our stomachs. In the olden days, beef was stewed for hours so that the liquid could be sipped to combat chronic diarrhea. I was able to find a pre-brined, nitrate-free corned beef brisket, so I felt really lucky!

Potatoes are good at soothing ulcers and neutralizing acid in the stomach and they help relieve constipation. These tubers also can help relieve arthritic inflammation. So, even though sweet potatoes are thought of as the white potato’s more nutrition sister, regular old potatoes can be just what the doctor ordered.

Cabbage can help control a cough and lessen the symptoms of the common cold — in olden times, cabbage tea was given to people who had contracted the whooping cough. It’s also good to combat constipation and hot flashes.

Carrots help strengthen the organs in your body. They also are good for the eyes (this is their claim to fame) and they promote healthy digestion. Many moons ago, people used to make carrot tea to ward off measles and to prevent cancer. Carrots help detoxify the body and in today’s world of Chinese medicine, they are prescribed to ease constipation and
tonsillitis.

I added a great Chinese herb to my slow cooker, so that it could infuse it’s medicinal magic into the food. I used Bai Shao (White Peony Root). This herb nourishes the blood — it’s great for regulating your menstrual cycle, stopping abdominal pain, and can be good for some types of headaches.

slow cooker corned beef and cabbage

Slow Cooker Corned Beef And Cabbage
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Recipe type: Slow Cooker, Meat, Beef
Cuisine: recipe adapted from: Foodie Crush
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Prep time:
Cook time:
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Serves: 6
This slow cooker corned beef and cabbage is healthy, easy, and so festive!
Ingredients
  • 2-1/2 lb uncured, pickled beef brisket (if yours is not pickled already, sprinkle a bit of pickling spice on the top of the meat)
  • 12 baby carrots (or 4 regular carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces)
  • 4 medium yellow potatoes, cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 1 yellow onion, quartered
  • 1 12-oz bottle of dark beer
  • 6-oz of light beer
  • 7 fresh thyme sprigs
  • 5 pieces raw Bai Shao (an optional Chinese herb that will not change the flavor of the dish; see above explanation of this herb's benefits)
  • ½ head green cabbage, cut into wedges
  • ½ cup full-fat coconut yogurt
  • 2 Tbs prepared white horseradish
Instructions
  1. Place the corned beef, carrots, potatoes, onion, beer, hyme sprigs and Chinese herbs if you are using them, in the slow cooker.
  2. Cook on high heat for 5 hours.
  3. Place the cabbage wedges on top.
  4. Cook an additional 1 hour.
  5. Let cool a bit and slice the meat against the grain.
  6. Make the sauce by mixing together the yogurt and the horseradish.
  7. Place the sliced meat and the vegetables on a platter. Drizzle some of the cooking liquid over.
  8. Serve the sauce on the side.

slow cooker corned beef and cabbage

Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone Soup

This slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup is so simple and healing and it makes for great leftovers!

slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup

The slow cooker is an awesome kitchen appliance. Sometimes, however, I shy away from it because I am just not that accomplished with it. I like my food to taste really fresh and sometimes when I use my slow cooker, I feel like the vegetables and other fresh ingredients just don’t seem as crunchy or fresh tasting as when I cook them for less time on top of the stove.

So, believe me when I tell you that this slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup recipe is perfect in the slow cooker. The vegetables keep just the right amount of crunch. And the soup tastes really fresh and healthy. And it requires almost no effort at all! If I can do it, you can do it!

Maybe my slow cooker won’t get the best of me after all…

One of the reasons I like this soup so much is that I held off adding some of the veggies until close to the end. This worked great because all of the great soup flavors melded together, I was able to let my raw Chinese herbs cook for the whole time, but even the delicate asparagus retained the perfect fresh and crunchy texture that makes them taste so good.

Another reason this soup is awesome is that instead of adding pasta, I used buckwheat. Buckwheat mimics a grain in this soup, but it’s really a seed, so if you are trying to eat grain-free, you will love this too!

I made a huge pot of this soup. Okay, I made way too much of this soup… so much that I ended up eating it for breakfast a few times and I even added some to a pasta sauce I made one night. I should have put a few portions in the freezer, but I still haven’t found any good glass freezer containers (and my mason jars have been cracking in the freezer lately)… but If I had some in the freezer, I’d be pulling out a jar for tonight’s dinner because I’m still not sick of it!

If you like vegetable soups, try my recipe for Lentil Vegetable Soup next!

slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup

Here are some of the great ingredients in this oh-so-easy soup:

Scallions, if you know me, are one of my favorites. In Chinese medicine, the root of the scallion is a healing herb (Cong Bai). I always keep scallions on hand in my refrigerator so that I can whip up a batch of cold and flu fighting tea (scallion roots and ginger) the second anyone feels that scratchy throat coming on. It helps the body sweat out toxins. Scallions are antiviral and antibacterial; they are good for the common cold and general nasal congestion — just don’t eat too many if you have a fever.

Carrots help strengthen the organs in your body. They also are good for the eyes (this is their claim to fame) and they promote healthy digestion. Many moons ago, people used to make carrot tea to ward off measles and to prevent cancer. Carrots help detoxify the body and in today’s world of Chinese medicine, they are prescribed to ease constipation and tonsillitis.

Celery actually helps stop bleeding — so if you or anyone you know has just had surgery, start adding celery to your dishes! Celery is also great to help lower blood pressure and it’s been known to help with insomnia.

In my acupuncture practice, some of my favorite conditions to treat are stress, anxiety, and depression. I’m also always looking for foods that will add to the effectiveness of these treatments. Chickpeas actually help calm the spirit. They relieve anxiety and soothe irritability… it kind of makes you realize why hummus is so popular…

Buckwheat lowers blood pressure and cholesterol, and it’s high in fiber. And, because buckwheat is also high in magnesium, it is the perfect food to combat heart disease. I’ve been substituting buckwheat groats in recipes that call for pasta or rice… it makes a great risotto, so try it!

Spring is asparagus season. In Chinese medicine, we use asparagus to heal the body from within; it gets rid of excess heat in your body, is good for circulation, can remove plaque from the arteries, soothes constipation and is good for hypertension. Many years ago, doctors used to prescribe asparagus juice to reduce cholesterol. Women can especially benefit from this vegetable’s healing abilities: it helps with menopause and fertility. One of my favorite Chinese herbs is called Tian Men Dong and it’s a form of asparagus. It’s great if you have yin deficiency (like so many woman do…), it can help if you have a dry cough, hot flashes, constipation, or night sweats.

I added a raw Chinese herb to this soup (as I usually do…). This time I used Shan Yao. Shan Yao is Chinese Yam, and it’s great for energy.

slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup

Slow Cooker Vegetable Minestrone Soup
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Recipe type: soup
Cuisine: Italian
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Serves: 10
This soup requires no cooking ability at all! It's made in the slow cooker, but the veggies retain their crunch... and it's grain-free because we add buckwheat groats instead of pasta.
Ingredients
  • 5 scallions, thickly sliced
  • 3 carrots, sliced
  • 3 ribs celery, sliced
  • 2 lge garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
  • 4-1/2 cups vegetable broth
  • 3 thyme sprigs
  • 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 3 pieces raw Shan Yao (an optional Chinese herb)
  • 1 cup raw buckwheat groats, rinsed and drained
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste
  • ¼ tsp dried oregano
  • 10 oz fresh or frozen green peas
  • 1 bunch asparagus, sliced on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients except asparagus to slow cooker except the green peas and the asparagus.
  2. Cook on low heat for 4-1/2 hours.
  3. Add asparagus and peas.
  4. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.
  5. Ladle into bowls. Enjoy!

 

slow cooker vegetable minestrone soup

Lentil Vegetable Soup

This lentil vegetable soup is so healing and so comforting!

lentil vegetable soup

I make soup all of the time. I mean All. Of. The. Time. Unfortunately, I’m not quite as organized as I’d like to be, so oftentimes I make a great pot of soup for dinner, we eat it, we love it, and then there is not enough left for me to photograph. This means that some of my best creations never make it to the blog.

I have made a version of this soup at least 3 times already. Each one has been delicious. And, I’m proud to say, that finally, I cooked it during the day, while it was still light enough for me to take some decent pictures.  Yay… here it is!

I love a good lentil soup.

I love a great vegetable soup.

This is a great lentil vegetable soup!

And this version is filled with sliced up collard greens. OMG… it’s so good! And don’t even get me started on the health benefits of collards (really, just look below and I’ll list them for you…).

I also love to freeze some of my soup leftovers so that on a night that I don’t feel like cooking (yes, it does happen…) I can just defrost some and have a great dinner.

This time that didn’t work so well. I’ve been trying not to use plastic anymore; I much prefer glass. I see people freezing things all of the time in glass mason jars. I’ve had it work a few times, but like this time, sometimes the jars crack. Such a waste! It all looked good… I took the filled lentil vegetable soup jar out of the freezer, set it on the counter, and within 10 minutes, an entire side of the jar fell off! I mean, it really just slid away from the rest of the jar!

For those of you who have had success freezing foods in mason jars, will you pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaasssse share your secret with me????????

Anyway, none of this should take away from the deliciousness of this soup. It’s hearty and healthy and warming and yummy…

Just look at the pictures below. The first one shows the beauty of the tomatoes I had and the sliced up collards. The second pic is of my all-time-favorite Chinese herb, Huang Qi (Astragalus). You don’t have to add Chinese herbs to your soup, but I just had to show you these raw Huang Qi sticks. They are like magic; they build qi/give you energy… you can really feel it working while you are eating. Yes, I know, my family makes fun of my excitement for herbs too, but they also are happy to reap the rewards when they eat the soup, so think about trying out some herbs the next time you make a pot of soup…

If you want a soup that’s really really good, but not a lentil-veg soup, try my Hot And Sour Soup recipe.

lentil vegetable soup
lentil vegetable soup
lentil vegetable soup

There are lots of great things in this soup:

Lentils help lower cholesterol, manage blood sugar levels, are high in vitamin B and protein, and have hardly any fat. They are a good source of long-term energy and are very high in fiber. These tiny legumes also help with digestion and they are the perfect protein to eat in the summer because they actually clear the body of excess heat; long ago, cold lentil soup was prescribed for patients with heatstroke or fever.

Collard greens are great for you. They help build strong bones, lessen constipation, help reduce stress and act as a detoxifying food. They have almost no calories but do have a lot of fiber. They contain vitamins A, C, and K and are filled with minerals like calcium and manganese. One of the best things about collards is that they are great at preventing the buildup of bad cholesterol.

Celery actually helps stop bleeding — so if you or anyone you know has just had surgery, start adding celery to your dishes! Celery is also great to help lower blood pressure and it’s been known to help with insomnia.

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc….

Carrots help strengthen the organs in your body. They also are good for the eyes (this is their claim to fame) and they promote healthy digestion. Many moons ago, people used to make carrot tea to ward off measles and to prevent cancer. Carrots help detoxify the body and in today’s world of Chinese medicine, they are prescribed to ease constipation and tonsillitis.

lentil vegetable soup

Lentil Vegetable Soup
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Recipe type: soup
Cuisine: American, Mediterranean
Author:
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Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
This soup is the perfect combination of lentil soup and vegetable soup. And it is so healing and delicious!
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ large red onion, chopped
  • 3 celery ribs, chopped
  • 4 carrots, sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves, chopped
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 2 Tbs tomato paste
  • 1 bunch collard green leaves, sliced into ribbons
  • 1 lb heirloom tomatoes, diced
  • 1 qt vegetable broth (here's one I use)
  • 3 (or more) spicy piquillo peppers, sliced (I used the marinated ones at my local olive bar) (you can buy these)
  • 1 cup brown lentils
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • 2 raw pieces of Huang Qi (Astragalus) (optional)
  • microgreens, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat.
  2. Add the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the veggies start to soften, about 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the tomato paste and and cook, stirring, for 3-minutes.
  4. Add sliced collard leaves and stir for about 2-minutes.
  5. Add the tomatoes and stir until combined.
  6. Pour in the broth.
  7. Add the peppers and lentils.
  8. Add raw Chinese herbs if using.
  9. Stir in parsley.
  10. Bring to a boil.
  11. Reduce heat to a simmer.
  12. Cover and let cook about 45 minutes, or until the lentils are tender, but not mushy.
  13. Ladle into bowls and garnish with micro greens if desired.
  14. Enjoy

 

lentil vegetable soup

Roasted Carrots With Lime Zest

Easy-peasy… okay, easy-carroty. These roasted carrots with lime zest are the perfect side dish for everything!

Roasted Carrots With Lime Zest

Who doesn’t need a quick, delicious, healthy, festive-looking side dish right about now? Even though cooking is truly my favorite thing about all holidays… I love having a few tried-and-true, beautiful-to-look-at, healthy side dishes up my sleeve. This is a great one.

I’m a lightweight when it comes to wine. I love it but I find that when I drink wine while I’m cooking, inevitably I leave out ingredients, or I leave a whole dish in the fridge instead of serving it… stupid stuff like that… but this dish is easy enough that even us lightweights can drink and cook at the same time…

These roasted carrots with lime zest are beautiful. And they are sweet. And they have the tang of lime zest.

And just look how bright and pretty they are.

They are just perfect with everything!

So, here it is, Christmas Eve… this will take you 5 minutes to prep and then you won’t have to touch it while the pan roasts in the oven.

If you have leftover carrots, try this carrot soup tomorrow, just because soup is awesome on family days!

Happy holiday! Enjoy everything and everyone!

Roasted Carrots With Lime Zest

Sometimes we forget that simple recipes can be terrifically healthy:

Carrots help strengthen the organs in your body. They also are good for the eyes (this is their claim to fame) and they promote healthy digestion. Many moons ago, people used to make carrot tea to ward off measles and to prevent cancer. Carrots help detoxify the body and in today’s world of Chinese medicine, they are prescribed to ease constipation and tonsillitis.

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc…. I always keep several heads of garlic on hand in my kitchen. When I catch a cold, I blend up the cloves from a head of garlic along with some lemon, lime, and honey and I drink it… it knocks those germs to the curb!

Roasted Carrots With Lime Zest

Roasted Carrots With Lime Zest
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Recipe type: vegetable, side dish
Cuisine: American
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6
These carrots are sweet and tangy and so pretty! This is the perfect easy side dish for everything!
Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 lb baby carrots or full-size carrots cut into 2-inch pieces
  • 3 Tbs grass-fed butter or ghee, melted
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 8 garlic cloves, smashed
  • ½ tsp chipotle chili powder
  • zest of 2 limes
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a large bowl, toss the carrots with the butter, garlic, chipotle chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Spread the carrots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  4. Roast in the oven until they start to caramelize and get some brown spots (turn them over halfway through the cooking time).
  5. Remove from the oven and put on a pretty platter.
  6. Sprinkle lime all over them.
  7. Enjoy!

Roasted Carrot With Lime Zest Collage

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Recipe

What could be easier than a slow cooker whole chicken recipe? Nothing! And it’s moist and delicious!

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (beginning)-0168

It seems almost everyone is a huge slow cooker fan.

Even though I completely understand the draw — I mean, they are easy — I never completely jumped on the slow cooker bandwagon (mostly because I don’t feel I’m that good at it…)

But, everywhere I turn, I see recipes for EVERYTHING in a slow cooker.

You know what they say… you like what you’re good at? Well, my slow cooker food is often not my best food. When you see me post a slow cooker recipe, I’ve usually had to test it over and over again to finally get a great result. I think this might be due to the fact that once you put the ingredients in, you can’t fiddle with them and keep tasting it to adjust the seasonings, etc.

But, I am a HUGE fan of cooking a whole chicken. Whole roasted chicken is kind of my signature dinner when I’m having friends over.

During Thanksgiving, I saw recipes for turkey breasts in slow cookers… and they looked good! And I saw whole huge roasts being cooked in them.  And big big pieces of everything imaginable.

So, I figured, a whole chicken has to work, right?

RIGHT! 1000 times right! This recipe for slow cooker whole chicken is amazing! The chicken came out so moist! It won’t replace my roasted chicken when I’m in the mood for crispy skin, but for all of my recipes for chicken salad, soup, quesadillas, nachos, pulled chicken, and everything I like to make with shredded chicken or just the meat of the chicken, this is perfect!  Pesto Chicken Salad or Shredded Chicken And Cabbage Slaw would be perfect!

All you do is season the bird, put it on top of your veggies of choice in the slow cooker and leave it alone. I wish I could find the words to tell you how easy and how delicious this is and how moist and juicy the meat is…

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (shredded)-0246

Feel free to substitute whatever vegetables you like in this recipe, but I used what my body needed at the time. Here’s what was in my slow cooker:

Chicken is something I always buy organic. Organic chicken is a great, healthy protein to give you energy, lessen the pain of some types of arthritis, and boost your system when you are particularly weak — like after surgery or childbirth. People who have some conditions that we consider “excess heat” conditions should limit the amount of chicken they eat. So, if you have an illness that gives you a bright red tongue or severe dryness in your body, check with your doctor first.

Onions are great for your immune system; they are a natural antihistamine. It sounds odd but if you have bronchitis, you can actually put sliced raw onions in your socks when you go to sleep and you will wake up feeling so much better. The onion draws the unhealthy germs right out of your body. Onion is a superhero in the food world! I used red onions in this recipe, but I have to say, I think white or yellow would be better because the beautiful color of the onions gets a bit murky in the slow cooker!

Sweet potatoes are good for your digestive system. They can be good for both constipation and diarrhea. These orange gems also help rid your body of excess water, are good for breast health, help people with diabetes and actually can help ease night blindness. In olden times, it was common in China to rub mashed sweet potatoes on poison insect bites to remove the toxins… I can’t say I’ve tried this, but if need be, I’m game!

In Chinese medicine, we use tomatoes to quench thirst and help with digestion. If a patient of mine comes in with hypertension or dehydration, I will often recommend eating tomatoes. In our country, one of the things that tomatoes are touted for is their choline content. Choline helps with sleep, memory and muscle function. So, between the Eastern and the Western ways, tomatoes are awesome!

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc….

I also added some raw Chinese Herbs to the pot. My favorite thing about using a slow cooker is that because things cook so slowly, any herbs I add get lots of time to infuse their healing capabilities into my food. I added Huang Qi (Astragalus) and Shan Yao (Chinese Yam) for energy.

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (cooked)-0226

 

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
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Recipe type: chicken, dinner, entree, slow cooker
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
What could be better than putting a whole chicken in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a delicious moist chicken ready for you? This recipe was inspired by so many of my favorite cooks and bloggers, but I must give a shout out to Heidi at FoodieCrush because her recipe really inspired me!
Ingredients
  • 1 4 lb. whole organic chicken, rinsed inside and out and then dried
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 large onion, cut into large chunks
  • 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 large or 2 sm/medium sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 8 cloves of garlic
Instructions
  1. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
  2. Sprinkle on the paprika and thyme.
  3. Put all of the veggies and garlic in the slow cooker.
  4. Nestle any Chinese herbs you are using in the vegetable pile.
  5. Lay the seasoned chicken on top of the veggies.
  6. Cook on low heat for 9 hours.
  7. Remove the chicken, and do what you want with it: shred it, eat it as is, cut it up and serve with anything you like...
  8. Remove the veggies and eat them too!
  9. Enjoy!