Slow Cooking for Two: The Ultimate Guide to Slow Cooking With 45 Easy to Prepare Recipes for Two - Lori Jimenes (2016)
Chapter 1. SLOW COOKED BREAKFAST RECIPES
Breakfast may not be the first meal that springs to mind when talking about slow cooking as most of us spend the beginning of our day getting ready to work in a hurry; however, we should keep in mind that breakfast is the most important meal of the day because we have not eaten for a long time and because it needs to provide us with energy and nutrients to keep us going till lunchtime (and sometimes even till the evening, as some of us have such busy lives at work that we often skip lunch or have a quick sandwich that fills our stomachs but gives us very little energy).
Moreover, if you think outside the box, you will actually realise that slow cooking your breakfast will in fact save you time in the morning. This is because you will not have to prepare it in the morning and it will be ready waiting for you when you wake up. The best way to slow cook breakfast is with a crock pot, as you can leave it on overnight in full safety. If you do not have a crock pot, you may want to prepare your breakfast so that it is ready before you go to bed and re-heat it in the morning.
So, here are some delicious and nutritious recipes for your breakfast.
1. Ham, egg and spinach casserole
Ham, egg and spinach casserole[1]
This is the healthy counterpart of a fried breakfast; so, if you want to have a fully nutritious, protein rich breakfast which will keep you going well past your lunch break, this is the ideal breakfast for you. It can also be an excellent Sunday breakfast, if you are used to having a big breakfast on this day of the week.
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
Half a cup of baby spinach
Half a cup of ham, diced
30 grammes (1 oz) of chestnut mushrooms
40 ml (1/4 cup) of Greek yogurt
20 ml (a tablespoon) of milk
A small onion
A clove of garlic
2.5 grammes (half a teaspoon) of thyme
90 grammes of hard cheese
Salt and pepper
Serves 2
Preparation::
Cooking time: 90 minutes
Peel and chop the onion very finely.
Peel and crush the garlic.
Grate the cheese.
Slice the mushrooms.
Break the eggs in a bowl.
Add the chopped onion, the thyme, the garlic and the cheese.
Whisk all the ingredients together.
Add the diced ham, the sliced mushrooms and the baby spinach leaves.
Season.
Stir the ham, sliced mushrooms and spinach leaves into the beaten egg gently.
Pour into your crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan; put the lid on and cook for 90 minutes on high with a crock pot or on low fire otherwise, until the egg has set.
Slice and serve.
2. Banana and Nutella toast
Banana and Nutella toast[2]
If you like your breakfast ‘continental style’, you will certainly like this breakfast dish, which you can slow cook and enjoy with a lovely cup of coffee or cappuccino.
Ingredients:
Half a loaf of bread, not sliced
2 bananas
3 large eggs
200 ml (a cup) of vanilla almond milk
10 grammes (2 teaspoons) of ground cinnamon
10 ml (2 teaspoons) of vanilla extract
A heaped tablespoon of Nutella
10 grammes (2 teaspoons) of salted butter
10 grammes (2 teaspoons) of brown sugar
Serves 2
Preparation::
Cooking time: 2 hours
Peel and slice the bananas.
Cut the bread into cubes (about 1 inch or 2.5 cm in size).
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the vanilla extract, the cinnamon and the Nuttella.
Whisk well.
Add the salted butter and the vanilla almond milk and whisk for a minute.
Add the cubed bread into a bowl and soak it for a minute.
Slice the bananas and add them.
Mix and pour into your slow cooker, crock pot or saucepan.
Cook for two hours on medium heat with a crock pot, or on low fire with a slow cooker or saucepan, until it is fully set.
Serve.
3. Slow cooked bacon casserole
Slow cooked bacon casserole[3]
Some people equate bacon with breakfast; if you like your bacon for breakfast, but you want to look after your health, frying it, as it is traditionally cooked, is not the ideal way to go about it. Instead, this recipe will give you all the flavour of bacon but in a much healthier dish.
Ingredients:
200 grammes (1/2 pound) of bacon
450 grammes (16 oz) of hash browns
An onion
250 grammes (8 oz) of hard cheese
6 medium eggs
A small red pepper
A small green pepper
100 ml (1/2 cup) of milk
Salt and pepper
Serves 2
Preparation::
Cooking time: 4 hours
Cut the bacon into squares and cook it in a frying pan.
Drain the bacon (so you will not use and eat the fat).
Peel and slice the onion thinly.
Grate the cheese.
Wash and cut the green and red pepper into small squares.
Put the hash browns at the bottom of your crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan.
Put half the sliced bacon on top of the hash browns.
Put half the sliced onion on top of the bacon.
Wash and cut the green and red pepper into small squares.
Add half the green and half the red pepper.
Add half of the cheese.
Start again with a layer of bacon, one of onions, one of peppers and one of cheese.
In a bowl, beat the eggs.
Season the eggs and pour them over the casserole.
Seal the crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan with the lid and cook on low heat for 4 hours.
Serve cut into slices.
4. Slow cooked cinnamon and apple oatmeal
Cinnamon and apple oatmeal[4]
Oatmeal is a very healthy breakfast even when cooked in a hurry, however, if you add fruit to it and heat at high temperatures, you will lose all the vitamins, so, try this easy slow cooked version and you will have both the flavour and the nutrients.
Ingredients:
½ cup of oats
150 ml (5 oz) of coconut milk
1 apple
60 grammes (2 oz) of chopped nuts
20 grammes (1 tablespoon) of brown sugar
10 ml (2 teaspoons) of coconut oil
5 mg (a teaspoon) of ground cinnamon
A pinch of salt
Serves 2
Preparation::
Cooking time: 5 hours
Wash, core and cut the apples into small cubes (1 cm or half an inch in size). You can peel the apples if you want, but remember that most of the vitamins are near the peel.
Put all the ingredients in your crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan and season with a pinch of salt.
Mix the ingredients well.
Put the lid on and cook on low heat for 5 hours.
Serve in bowls.
5. Swiss chocolate oatmeal
Chocolate oatmeal[5]
Swiss chocolate is renowned all around the world for its amazing quality; the reason why it is better than all other chocolates is that is made with the milk of cows who graze on high altitude pastures in the Alps, where the air and water are clean. Thus, if you are partial to chocolate and you want to start your day with an injection of sweetness and good humour, you can use this easy to prepare dish that does not spoil the flavour of chocolate and preserves its nutritional value.
Ingredients:
A cup of oats
600 ml (3 cups) of water
180 grammes (6 oz) of unsweetened cocoa powder
20 grammes (a tablespoon) of unrefined brown sugar
30 grammes (1 oz) of shredded coconut
60 grammes (2 oz) of pecans in pieces
Serves 2
Preparation:
Cooking time: 6 hours
Simply put all the ingredients into your crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan.
Mix well.
Seal the crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan with a lid.
Cook on low heat for 6 hours before serving.
6. Slow cooked breakfast casserole
Slow cooked breakfast casserole[6]
This recipe is ideal if you like your breakfast savoury but you also want to look after your health; it is very rich in both flavour and healthy nutrients and it has a lot of vegetables in it.
Ingredients:
1 large egg
2 egg whites
20 ml (a tablespoon) of milk
5 grammes (a tablespoon) of ground French mustard
5 grammes (a tablespoon) of garlic salt
Half a small onion
30 grammes (1 oz) of hash browns
1 red pepper
A bacon rasher
A head of broccoli
Salt and pepper
Serves 2
Preparation:
Cooking time: 4 hours
Break the egg in a bowl.
Add the egg whites, the mustard, the garlic salt and the milk.
Season and whisk well.
Cut the bacon into small squares.
Chop half a small onion very finely.
Wash and cut the red peppers into small squares.
Roughly chop the head of broccoli.
Place half the hash browns at the bottom of your crock pot, slow cooker or sauce pan.
Add half the bacon.
Top the bacon with half the chopped onion.
Add the half the broccoli and half the pepper to form another layer.
Make another layer of bacon, onion, broccoli and pepper.
Pour the beaten egg on top of the casserole.
Put the lid on your crock pot, slow cooker or saucepan and cook on low heat for 4 hours.
Cut into slices and serve.