Pinch and a punch for the first of the month! Happy autumn everyone! I'm not sure if you remember, but at the end of autumn last year I said that I was going to challenge myself to take a photo for a year. Fast forward a month or two and somebody (me!) got engaged and the whole photo-a-day thing went out the window replaced with wedding planning and celebrating. In February, I noticed a few other blogger friends doing a photo-a-day challenge that was just for a month. I missed the boat in February but Fat Mum Slim is hosting another challenge this month and I'm in!
Each day has a word that is your inspiration for your photography and today's word is up. I have a few ideas. I'll be sharing my daily photo on Twitter and using them for some Silent Sundays. In totally unrelated news (I couldn't think of a good segue there), earlier in the week I had the urge to whip out my slow cooker. The first dish I made was a semi-Mexican chilli and it was delicious. I wish I'd written down the random ingredients as I threw them in because it was one I would have liked to share.
The other slow-cooker meal that I made was Thai chicken noodle soup. This dish is quite similar to my other Thai chicken noodles recipe but so much easier to throw together making it perfect for a mid-week meal and what's more, it actually tasted even better the next day for lunch.
I made a little rainbow of colours with the vegetables. You can use anything you like but carrot and capsicum are good ones because they stay nice and crunchy. Snow peas also go well in this sort of thing.
There's really not too much to this recipe. It's quick and easy and just what you want mid-week. All you have to do is put the coconut milk into the slow cooker and add the chicken stock, garlic, ginger, chicken breast, soy sauce, lime juice, sweet chili sauce and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. I even threw my chicken breasts in frozen because I didn't have time to defrost them. Turn the slow cooker on to high and cook for 3 hours. If you used frozen chicken add another 30 minutes to 1 hour to the time.
Take the lid off the slow cooker and very carefully remove the chicken to a plate. Use two forks to shred it up. It comes apart like it's melting it's so tender.
Throw the chicken back in the slow cooker and add the vegetables. Put the lid back on and cook it for another 30 minutes.
There are a few different options for the noodles in this dish. You can do one of three things.
- Use rice noodles in which case you put them in with the vegetables
- Use fresh hokkein noodles in which case you stir them through 30 minutes after the vegetables have gone in (just before serving).
- Use spaghetti in which case you add the cooked spaghetti to the dish just before serving.
I used spaghetti in mine. Serve it up in bowls and sprinkle it with basil and mint to serve. I've just planted yet another lot of mint in my garden. Here's hoping it lasts longer than all the others. Enjoy!
What about you? If you had to take a photo of 'up' what would you photograph?
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breast fillets about 600g/1.2lb
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoon freshly minced ginger
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 4 cups chicken stock
- 4 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- 300 g 11oz un-cooked spaghetti - or use fresh hokkein noodles
- 1 large or 2 medium red capsicums sliced finely
- 2 medium carrots cut into thin batons
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
- chopped basil and mint for garnish
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Pour the coconut milk into the slow cooker and add the chicken stock, garlic, ginger, chicken breast, soy sauce, lime juice, sweet chili sauce and a sprinkling of salt and pepper.
- Put the lid on and turn it to high. Cook it for 3 hours.
- Take the lid off and remove the chicken fillets to a plate. Use two forks to shred them and then return them to the slow cooker. Add the vegetables and stir it all together then put the lid back on and cook it for another 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile cook the spaghetti. If you're using fresh hokkein noodles they can be added in the step above.
- Turn off the slow cooker and stir through the cooked spaghetti.
- Serve the noodle soup garnished with chopped basil and mint.
Hotly Spiced says
What a great soup. Just right for the weather here in Sydney that is rain, rain and more rain. And it's cold, cold cold. I love the colour of all the vegetables - makes the soup look very inviting. xx
Claire says
I've been watching all the floods on the news. I hope the rain stops soon!
Glamorous Glutton says
This looks great and so easy. I love the idea of coming back to a meal in the evening but it is such a change to slow cook something light and fresh. GG
Claire says
It is different to your usual slow cooked stews and casseroles.
Daisy@Nevertoosweet says
I was going to get that Slow Cooker too :) Is it good? I'm still trying to convince Mr Bao that we need a slow cooker ~ This is a great recipe! I always had frozen chicken breasts in the fridge ~ And i like all the flavours used here like the coconut milk and sweet and chilli sauce ~
Claire says
It's fantastic Daisy. You can sear the meat in the same pot and then straight into the slow cooker base. No cleaning up the extra pot!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella says
Wow that is great-and the fact that you could do it using frozen chicken I'd imagine would make it a very popular dish to cook! :D
Claire says
It's so much easier to just throw the chicken in frozen! I think you can do it with any meat but for some it's best to brown them first so they need to be defrosted.