I don’t know about you but sometimes my evenings can be busy with people coming and going at different times, making dinner preparation a bit tricky. I have been working from home now for over 13 years and find that the best idea for these busy times it to use my slow cooker. Mine is a big one (5.5L) – a legacy of the days when we had 5 adults in the house. So even though there are only three of us at the moment, I still make large meals -solving that other ongoing problem of what to provide for lunch the next day!! This particular recipe (served with rice) fed 3 of us for dinner and provided 4 lunches.

Over the past few months I have been experimenting with using Essential Oils in Cooking. A word of warning here- be careful how much you use because oils can either make or break a recipe! The general rule with oils in all situations is that ‘less is better’ and cooking is not exception.

Here is the recipe.

You will need:

1 kg diced beef

300-400 g tin of coconut milk (I used the Lite one)

1 diced onion

1 clove of garlic, chopped

Approximately 400 g pumpkin cut into large chunks

Approximately 300 g fresh beans

1 tin of baby corn

A few sprigs of basil

2 Kaffir Lime leaves, chopped (don’t use the spine of the leaf)

Lemongrass and Chilli  (I use Gourmet Garden Pastes – squeeze out about 3 cm)

2 tablespoons of Cornflour to thicken if desired

Ginger Essential Oil

Lemongrass Essential Oil

Note: You can use either dried or fresh herbs and other veggies if you like but the pumpkin is important as it contributes to the thickness of the final casserole.

Hack: Gourmet Garden Pastes only last a few weeks if kept in the fridge. I freeze them as soon as I buy them and thaw slightly when I need them. A quick dip into very hot water will usually give you enough for a 3 cm squeeze!)

Method

Add the vegetables and herbs to the slow cooker.

Add the meat on top of the vegetables.

Add the coconut milk.

Cook for 5 hours on High or 8-9 hours on Low.

Approximately an hour before you plan to eat, mix the cornflour with a small amount of water. Add a drop each of the oils to this mixture and add the mixture to the slow cooker. (If you are not planning to thicken the mixture, add the essential oils directly to the slow cooker. Sometimes I thicken with barley or quinoa. They should be added at the beginning.)

Serve with rice or your choice of carbs.

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Until next time,

 

Gillian (and Andrew)