Slow Cooker Smoked Sausage and Root Vegetable Hash with Quinoa

It was 29C yesterday. And it's only April. Slaving over a flaming stove in the heat last night was not an ideal experience, so I'm playing smarter today by busting out the slow cooker. 

I went with a chipotle beef smoked sausage for this recipe because I like spice in everything I eat, but you could easily substitute with any Polish, summer, smoked or Hungarian sausage. I used about 3/4s of of a 12oz package because I'm not feeling super carnivorous; feel free to reduce/increase this amount to your preference. 

You can change up the veggie combination if you like. I picked these ones for their beautiful red, orange and yellow hues. Nutrition-wise, the list is long... Highlights? 
   Beets: omegas, folate and manganese.
   Butternut squash: SO MUCH vitamin A.
   Sweet potato: MORE vitamin A, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and potassium.
   Garlic: anti-cancer, immune-strengthening and heart disease prevention.
   Onion: anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, pro-heart health, pro-immune system, and pro-digestion

Serves 4-6

• 2 large beets
• 1 small butternut squash, divided
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 carrot
• 1/2 bulb garlic
• 9oz chipotle beef smoked sausage
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp smoked paprika 
• 1 ground cumin
• pinch chili flakes
• fresh ground pepper and salt
• 1 onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/3 cup quinoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 2 1/3 cups vegetable broth or water

Start by peeling and chopping the beets, butternut squash (reserve half squash, unchopped, for later), sweet potato and carrot into bite-sized pieces (~1inch). 

Peel and mince garlic. 

Slice sausage lengthwise in half, then halve again into semi-circles. 

Add sausage and garlic to a non-stick pan over med-high heat. No need to add any oil as the sausage will produce enough once heated. Cook for 3-4min until nicely browned, stirring occasionally. 

Meanwhile, lightly spray your slow cooker with non-fat cooking spray. Add chopped beets to slow cooker. 

Once your sausage and garlic are browned, remove from heat. Add chopped butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, chili flakes, pepper and salt to the pan. Stir and toss to coat the vegetables in the spices and sausage oils. 

Add contents of the pan to the crock pot, cover, and set to cook on low for 4.5-5 hours. Go do other stuff, like not sweat over a hot stove in the heat :)

A little closer to meal time, finely dice the onion and reserved half butternut squash. Add to non-stick pot, with 1 tsp olive oil, over med-high heat. Stir for 2 minutes, then cover with lid, reduce heat to low, and let cook for another 8 minutes. Increase to high heat, add quinoa, salt and cumin, then stir for another minute before adding vegetable broth or water. Once it has reached boiling, reduce heat to low, cover and let cook for 15-20min or until all liquid absorbed. Let stand for 5 minutes before fluffing and dishing out. 

Serve the quinoa and slow-cooked hash side by side, or dish the hash out over top of the quinoa. Enjoy! 

Slow Cooker Chicken & Spicy Sausage Chili

The thick clouds and their misty mirrored reflection on the lagoon this morning seemed to signify the beginning of autumn, and the perfect time to dig the slow cooker out from the back of the kitchen cupboards. Even through the grey, you could tell the sun was struggling to break through, and it's not quite time yet for a hearty winter beef recipe, so I decided to attempt my first ever chicken chili. 

Meet Deuce. How Brian came to name our slow cooker really isn't the kind of story that's appropriate for a recipe post, so I'll refrain.. but I'm sure you can put two and two together! (pun intended;)

Serves 4-6

• 2 Saag's 'Atomic Hot' naturally smoked extra spicy sausage (170gr total) - feel free to substitute with any other smoked sausage!
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 red jalapeño
• 1 serrano pepper
• 1 onion
• 1/2 bell pepper 
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 (14.5oz) can diced tomato
• 1 (15oz) can dark red kidney beans
• 1 (15oz) can white beans
• enough medium roasted tomato salsa to fill 3/4 of a 15oz can
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 cup coke zero
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

Quarter sausage lengthwise, then slice roughly into 1cm pieces. Set aside in non-stick pan. 

Peel and mince garlic, then add to non-stick pan. 

Mince jalapeño and serrano peppers together (remove seeds if you're not a fan of heat - I kept the seeds for extra kick). Add to non-stick pan.

Roughly chop onion and add to non-stick pan. Stir to combine, and without adding any oil, cook for 5min over med-high heat. 

In the meantime, clean and seed bell pepper. Chop about half (or more if you like), then place in slow cooker. 

Add frozen corn and canned tomatoes (liquid included) to slow cooker.  

Drain and rinse both cans of beans, then add to slow cooker. 

Fill one of the emptied cans 3/4 full with medium roasted tomato salsa. Add to slow cooker. 

After cooking sausage mixture and softening the onion for 5min, remove from heat and add to slow cooker. 

Add all seasonings to slow-cooker, along with 1/2 cup of coke zero. Stir to combine chili ingredients. 

shredded chicken breast

Trim any fat off chicken breast, then place on top of chili mixture. 

Cover and set on low for for 8hrs. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the warm, spicy smells wafting in from the kitchen til the 7-1/2hr mark, then shred the chicken breast with 2 forks and stir into chili before covering with lid again for the remaining half hour. 

Serve all on its own or with some crusty bread.