I had to post ONE soup recipe more before we moved out of Alaska right? And I wanted to share our inaugural slow cooker meal! A slow cooker is every new couple’s dream machine. I love that you just toss all your ingredients in the pot in the morning and when you come home from work you suddenly have dinner!
I think the best part of the slow cooker is that you can’t really go wrong when cooking with it. If you don’t have specific ingredients, you can usually substitute or omit without problem and come up with an even better recipe! I am also a big fan of just tossing in whatever veggies we have on hand, in this case I added some carrots and celery I had. And then I realized I had some pasta that was just sitting around, so I added that in too!
This recipe is pretty thick since it is filled with so many fun ingredients, but it can be made thicker or thinner depending on your preference! For a more stew like recipe, use less chicken broth. For a more soup like recipe, use more broth (pretty basic stuff right?). When you are adding more ingredients, you generally want to add a little more broth to offset it, but again up to you. You can also usually eyeball your liquids when you are adding everything to the pot. There is really no right and wrong with the slow cooker!
Slow Cooker Sausage and Kale Soup
Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
5 links uncooked sausage of your choosing (we used Spicy Chicken), sliced into 1″ pieces
2 (14.5 oz.) cans diced tomatoes with juice
2 (15 oz.) cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup diced peeled carrots
1 cup diced celery
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups chicken stock
1 bunch kale leaves, sliced with stalk removed
1/2 cup uncooked pasta, any shape (we had some macaroni on hand)
freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, for serving (optional)
Directions:
To cook the sausage (disregard if you have pre-cooked), heat a nonstick pan on medium heat. Once hot, add sausage pieces and cook until cooked through and browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In your slow cooker, add the sausage, tomatoes with juice, cannellini beans, carrots, celery, garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, and chicken stock. Stir gently. Turn on the slow cooker and let cook for 2.5 hours on high or 5 hours on low.
After 2.5 hours on high (or 5 hours on low), add the kale and uncooked pasta and stir gently into the soup. Continue cooking soup for 45 minutes on high (or 1.5 hours on low).
You guys all know about my love affair with avocados by now, right? You may also know about my love for Gaby, a fabulous chef, blogger and now cookbook writer! Gaby and I worked together for a year, became best buds and basically spent every day talking about food. And now she has written a new book about my favorite ingredient ever, Absolutely Avocados.
I am not only obsessed with this book because it’s Gaby’s or because every recipe involves ‘cados, but because every recipe is easy to make, delicious and filled with Gaby’s fun tips. Meat-lover Q flipped through the book and was immediately set on trying these Cheese-Bellied Guac Burgers and so we tried it!
Five minutes to prep, eight minutes to make, seriously the easiest and most delicious turkey burgers ever. Gaby is such a skilled chef and recipe builder and I knew she wouldn’t lead us astray. These burgers were phenomenal, as is everything else in this book!
Cheese-Bellied Guacamole Turkey Burgers
Makes 4
Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon garlic salt (I used 1 teaspoon garlic powder and 1 teaspoon salt)
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (we used mixed Mexican cheese)
4 hamburger buns, sliced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
1 cup Bacon Cojita Guacamole (or guacamole of choice)
Directions:
Prepare a gas or charcoal grill. For those of you without an outdoor grill, we used a Cuisinart Griddler and it worked perfectly.
In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey, paprika, chili powder, red pepper flakes, and garlic salt. Mix together with your hands until the spices are evenly incorporated. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions.
Take 1 portion of the ground turkey and form it into a large disk. Add 1 ounce of the of the shredded cheese in the center of the turkey disk. Form the patty into a ball to enclose the cheese and then form the turkey into a patty that is roughly 4 inches wide and 1 inch thick. Repeat this process for the remaining turkey and transfer the 4 patties to a plate.
Brush the hot grill with olive oil.
Transfer each turkey burger to the grill and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Flip the burgers and grill for another 4 to 5 minutes, until fully cooked. Remove the patties from the grill and transfer to a clean plate.
Brush the hamburger buns with the olive oil and transfer to the grill for 1 minute, until they are just toasted (a toaster oven works well also).
Put 1 burger patty on the bottom layer of each bun. Top with 1/4 cup of more of the guacamole and top with the remaining bun. Serve immediately.
Bacon-Cotija Guacamole
Serves 4
Ingredients:
3 Hass avocados
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese, plus more if desired
1 tablespoon finely chopped serrano chile pepper
Juice of 1 lime
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 strips cooked bacon, chopped into bite-size pieces
Directions:
Cut each avocado in half lengthwise. Remove the pit from the avocado and discard. Remove the avocado from the skin, and place the avocado flesh in a bowl.
Add the cilantro, cojita cheese, serrano pepper, lime juice, salt and pepper to the bowl. Mash with a fork until half smooth and half chunky. Fold in half of the bacon. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired. Garnish the guacamole with the remaining bacon, and add more cotija cheese it desired.
As Q and I prepare to move out of Alaska, I’ve been getting more invested in soups. It is kind of ironic that the looming move has enticed me to get into soup making right? But I figure when we are in 90 degree heat with 100% humidity in Georgia, the last thing I will be thinking about is soup, so might as well take advantage now!
This is a nice, big, bowl of hearty soup. It is even Q approved (likely because of the 5 links of sausage that went into it). Usually when I write down “Soup” on our weekly meal planning, he always says “And what sort of protein are we having alongside that?” Well lucky for him (and me) this pup has grains, greens and plenty of meat all in one bowl.
It’s not challenging AT ALL and can be easily manipulated to encompass what you have on hand. For me, I like a strong green in my soups. What does that mean? Something thick like kale, collard greens, swiss chard, red chard, anything in that family works really well to give the soup some depth. Also, don’t worry about measuring out those carrots/celery/onions, just chop until it looks right and if you love carrots, add more! Don’t like that much sausage? Just add what you want! It’s really hard to get soup wrong unless you under or over season, so watch your salt, add more if you need to and let the soup do all the work!
Hearty Farro and Sausage Soup
Ingredients:
5 links uncooked sausage of your choosing (we used Spicy Chicken), sliced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 1/2 cups diced peeled carrots
1 1/2 cups diced celery
8 stalks collard greens, sliced with stalk removed
2 cups dry, uncooked farro
8 cups chicken stock
kosher salt, to taste
freshly ground black paper, to taste
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Directions:
To cook the sausage (disregard if you have pre-cooked), heat a nonstick pan on medium heat. Once hot, add sausage pieces and cook until cooked through and browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-low heat, heat the olive oil.
Add the onions, carrots and celery, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 3-5 minutes. Add collard greens and farro and a drizzle more olive oil.
Once the chard begins to wilt (around 3-5 minutes), add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and cook for 20 minutes (farro will be puffy and expanded). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in the sausage and the red wine vinegar and adjust seasoning once more if necessary. Serve with fresh bread
We love our pizza nights over here. And this new Mushroom and Leek Pizza blew my mind! I am a big mushroom person. This adoration of the ‘shrooms happened later in life, around 5 years ago, and now I just can’t get enough. Whenever we order pizza out, I’m always pushing for the mushroom pizza, much to Q’s dismay. So when we had a “TBD Pizza Night” on our meal planning this week, I took advantage of a solo grocery shopping excursion and stocked up on mushrooms.
What is it with mushrooms and leeks that make them work so well together? This pizza comes together easily, you just need to sweat our your mushrooms and leeks for about 5 minutes before putting together your pizza. Or you can do like I did and saute out a bunch of mushrooms and leeks, pop them in the fridge and use half for omelettes in the morning and the other half for a pizza for dinner!
Mushroom and Leek Pizza
Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
For the Mushrooms and Leeks:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup mixed mushrooms (we used brown creminis and baby portabellas)
1/2 of a medium leek (white and pale green parts only) trimmed, the leek should be cut in half lengthwise then into thin half moons and thoroughly rinsed)
salt and pepper
For the Pizza:
1 ball of pizza dough, ready for use (we used this one, but used half whole wheat flour)
2 cups shredded mozzarella or mixed Italian cheese
Cooked mushrooms and leeks (see above)
salt and pepper
Directions:
For the Mushrooms and Leeks:
In a medium skillet, head oil over medium-high heat until oil glistens. Add the mushrooms and leeks and pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushroom juices are released and evaporate and the mushrooms start to brown, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
For the Pizza:
Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Preheat the baking sheet for 10 minutes, or until ready to bake pizza. Remove from oven once you are ready to cook your pizza. Spread 1 tablespoon olive oil on top of heated baking sheet. This is so that dough doesn’t stick to it and it creates a crispy crust. You could also use a Silpat, make sure to add olive oil to that as well.
Working with the dough ball, dust dough generously with flour and place on a floured work space. Gently shape dough into a 10″ – 12″ rectangle (or until it will cover the entire baking sheet).
Place dough on pre-heated and oiled baking sheet and layer marinara and mozzarella across. Next layer the mushrooms and leeks and season with salt and pepper.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until bottom of crust is crisp and top is blistered. Transfer to a work surface to slice.
Hi, I'm Koko Stanley! Welcome to my little blog about cooking, baking, my life as a fiancee to an Army officer (Quincy aka Q) and living in Alaska. I love food, being in the kitchen, shopping, neon colors, pot luck dinners with my girlfriends and dogs. I'd love to hear from you! Email me: Koko@kokolikes.com / Twitter: @Kokolikes
and it worked perfectly. 
