Our rice cooker is the BOMB!!! Remember when I first bought it and we made oatmeal in it? Well, last night I made our entire dinner in it! It took about 10 minutes in prepping, ONE pot to clean, and our dinner was ready for us as soon as we got home from a little league baseball game. None of this 5 hour stuff like a crockpot (but I do love crockpots). And the best part… everyone ATE IT UP! No, seriously loved it! There were NO leftovers! They were scraping the bowl for more. (Tortilla chips do help with the wow-ness factor for them).
What we ate: Chicken Tortilla Soup
We were heading out to a ball game around 4pm. I chopped an onion and garlic, and put it at the bottom of a HOT rice cooker with some oil to get it to start browning.
- 1/2 onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 clove garlic
- ·1 TBL olive oil
While the rice cooker was heating up the onions and garlic, I chopped some chicken. Then, add chopped chicken to rice cooker and cook till browned.
Then add all at once:
- 5 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup chopped carrots (I left these somewhat large so the kids could pull them out if they wanted to, although no one did)
- 1 can diced tomatoes (with juice)
- ½ cup brown rice (uncooked)
- 1 can corn (drained)
- 1/2 cup black beans
Turn rice cooker on to ‘brown rice’ setting, if yours has that one. Or turn it on for at least 45 min-1 hour.
Once we returned from the ball game, the dinner was cooked and ready to eat! It was the perfect bridge between a slow cooked meal, and being present in your kitchen for an hour while you cook soup.
So, if you have only 45 minutes to an hour, you’re too late to start a crockpot meal, try using your rice cooker!
What I love about this meal:
- The beans, of course… super healthy
- The carrots, tomatoes, onion, garlic… gotta have our veggies
- The brown rice.. Superior in health to white rice
- The fact that I had all the ingredients
- That it was fast, easy, and low clean-up
!
Taco Soup in the Rice Cooker
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium onion
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound chicken breast
- 5 cup chicken broth, low-sodium
- 14 1/2 ounce diced tomatoes, canned
- 1/2 cup brown rice, raw
- 1 cup corn, canned
- 2 medium carrot
- 1/2 cup black beans, canned
Instructions
- Chop an onion and garlic, and put it at the bottom of a HOT rice cooker with some oil to get it to start browning.
- While the rice cooker is heating up the onions and garlic, dice your chicken.
- Add chicken to rice cooker and cook until browned.
- Add chicken broth, diced tomatoes, brown rice, and drained corn. Drain and rinse black beans, peel and dice carrots; add to cooker.
- Turn rice cooker on to “brown rice” setting, if yours has one. Otherwise, turn it on for at least 45 minutes-1 hour.
Nutrition
www.superhealthykids.com
