Making a recipe a WHOLE meal

[rollo]

Hey all -

 

So, I'm still pretty new to cooking and although I've been cooking for W30 over 3 weeks now, I still feel lost a lot of the time. Especially with trying something new.

 

There's a recipe on nom nom's site that I can't wait to try out.  (because i FINALLLLLLY will use my new slow cooker AND because it's something different than my protein + red/yellow bell pepper, bok choy, celery, carrots + avo or olives)

 

Anyway, here's the link.  http://nomnompaleo.com/post/8425643634/slow-cooker-cheater-pork-stew

 

This is supposed to be 4-6 and for vegetables has: 2 small onions, 1/2 pound baby carrots, 1 small cabbage.

 

I feel like for 4-6 servings, that's not enough vegetables.

 

Also, I'm not sure I see any thing fat that I'd be adding to this.

 

 

A lot of recipes look GREAT and i can't wait to try 'em, but I feel like I would still have to supplement the recipes.

 

Am I wrong?  What do you guys do?

 

Thanks

 

Rollo

[Roz Griffiths]

If you made & froze it as is, then each time you ate some you could add extra fat & veg then - maybe serve it on a bed of kale or spinach, or mash up a swede or celeriac, or roast some carrots...

[Tom Denham]

The pork includes enough fat that you do not need to add more. The veggies in the recipe are really for taste and not to provide what you need for a meal. Personally, I usually slow cook meat all by itself and prepare my veggies separately. You can steam or roast carrots and cabbage or stir-fry greens and then put the slow cooker meat over it. Or you could add a large head of cabbage cut into wedges and 2 pounds of baby-cut carrots. 

[rollo]

Thanks.  I'm trying to quicken the cooking process, so I can just reheat some stuff later in the week.  Since the vegetables aren't enough, I'll have to plan ahead for that.

 

I also need to learn when I need to add fat and when I don't need to add it, apparently.

 

Thanks

 

Rollo

[Lizitea]

don't quicken the slow cooker -- the slower the yummier

[pjena]

Or, you could just double the veggies in the crockpot meal if you're looking to save time and have everything ready to go. 

[habitualpurpose]

One of the tricks I often do is prepare protein ahead of time (I use a slow cooker to prepare a bunch of balsamic chicken thighs). Then I either shred or cut up the cooked protein and keep it in the fridge to toss cold on top of a huge bed of mixed greens with avocado.  Super easy lunch or dinner!!

[Vian]

I think you underestimate how much volume a cabbage is. I regularly make a one-pot dish that uses 3/4-1 head of cabbage, sliced into very thin strips, 1 onion, a jar of marinara sauce, 1/2 lb. ground beef and 1/2 lb. pork italian sausage. It's plenty for 4 servings (my best friend and I each have a serving for dinner, and I pack some away for lunch the next day, and there's at least one serving left over that my friend takes home.

 

I think for 6 servings, it's stretching it, but 1 head of cabbage, 2 onions, and some carrots seems plenty of veg for 4 servings. I'd probably add more carrots just because I like them though.

 

I have a pot roast in the oven right now with 1 onion, 4 ribs celery, 2 lbs. carrots. I'm going to steam some sliced cabbage to go with it because I couldn't fit it into the roasting pan, but probably only 1/4 of a cabbage.

 

Also, as for when to add fat...if you are dealing with a very lean cut of meat like boneless skinless chicken breast, definately add fat, either grassfed butter or ghee to cook it in, olive oil, or with olives or avocado on the side. If it's a fatty cut of meat like pork shoulder, chuck roast, skin-on chicken thighs, or the recipe has fat added directly to it, you probably don't need to add any on the side.

 

I just always cook my meats and veggies in fat of some kind (Kerrygold butter, coconut oil, or olive oil), or dress salads in home-made dressing with olive oil, so I don't worry about whether I have enough fat. I eat avocado when it would be tasty with the dish, like ontop of chili or on taco salad. I don't try to make sure I have some with every meal to "get my healthy fats in"