Celebrity chefs, food bloggers and food channels are all the rage these days, from Rachel Ray to Gordon Ramsay, from doctors to professional chefs and everyday moms. And for great reason! We all know that feeding our families healthy, fresh food that we make at home can make a huge difference in our health.
Often we get in a rut when it comes to making breakfast, lunch and dinner day in and day out. We tend to plan meals in advance so we can get all of our shopping done and make meals with as little effort and forethought as possible. After all, who has time to make a brand new, creative and fun meal every single day?
Celebrity chefs become popular because they are creative: they often come up with new flavor twists to our favorite stand-bys like chicken, roasts and pasta. So we get the best of both worlds: something we can easily make but that isn’t boring for everyone eating it. From fusion cuisine to just adding a couple of unexpected spices to an old favorite, they help us to bring new life into our old dishes.
We love the new ideas we get from celebrity chefs, bloggers and food TV, and of course we have to adapt some of these recipes to VitaClay to make them even easier and more nutritious. So don’t get bored with the same meals or give up and go through the drive-thru: try some of these new twists on classic recipes in VitaClay today, and feed your family well!
Incredible Pot Roast Dianne with Homemade Gravy
Suited for VitaClay Models VF7700 and VM7900 series.
Pot roast is scrumptious, but after a while, beef roasts all taste the same: delicious, but the same.
The key to this VitaClay-adapted roast from Emeril Lagasse is the gravy. There are several unexpected elements that make the gravy unique, giving the roast a whole different flavor.
Try this amazing take on the traditional beef roast: we promise you won’t regret it!
Ingredients:
One 3 ½-to 4-pound bone-in beef chuck roast
1 ½ pounds small to medium Red Bliss potatoes, quartered
1 lb carrots cut into 3-inch lengths
1 lb shallots, peeled, halved if large, with root end left intact
3 t salt
1 ½ t freshly ground black pepper, plus more for garnish
8 cloves garlic, sliced
1 c homemade beef broth
6 T cognac
4 t Worcestershire sauce
2 t Dijon mustard
2 t freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 T (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ c all-purpose flour
½ c chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
Fleur de sel, for garnish, if desired
Hot crusty bread, for serving
Directions:
Using the tip of a paring knife, make deep narrow slits all over the roast, and insert 1 piece of garlic deep into each slit. Season the roast all over with 2 teaspoons salt and ¾ teaspoon pepper.
Transfer the roast to the VitaClay pot.
Add the potatoes, carrots, shallots and remaining salt and pepper
In a small bowl, whisk together the broth, cognac, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and lemon juice. Pour over the roast and vegetables.
Cook on stew for 3 hours, until the meat is tender.
Combine the butter and flour in a small bowl, and mash with the back of a spoon or a small spatula until uniform to make a beurre manié. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, transfer the roast from the cooker to a platter and set aside.
In three parts, whisk the beurre manié into the jus left in the cooker until incorporated.
Stir in the ½ cup chopped parsley. Carve the roast into the desired portions, or slice it thinly, and return the meat and the vegetables to the cooker.
Serve the pot roast, vegetables, and hot sauce topped with additional chopped parsley, fleur de sel if desired, and freshly ground black pepper. Don’t forget the crusty bread for mopping up the delicious sauce!
You’ll Love this Sweet and Spicy Chili Cooked in Clay!
Suited for all VitaClay Models.
We all know Rachel Ray is the master of quick, easy dinners. Everything she does is so practical and simple, yet really delicious.
This new twist on a classic chili is no exception: sweet and sour? Who would have thought?
The flavor combinations really pop in this chili, and you can use any meat you like.
Rachel suggests browning the meat in a pan before cooking it in the cooker, but I like to skip that step and just throw everything into the VitaClay pot raw. It’s ready in 2 hours and it’s always super yummy!
I also like to save the vinegar and honey for the end, because I use raw versions of those, so it’s best not to cook them. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef, chicken or turkey
2 T chili powder
½ T ground cumin
1 t ground coriander
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 medium-size onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bottle lager beer
2 c broth
½ c cider vinegar
1 Fresno chili – (spiciest when the seeds are included)
Close and cook on Soup or Slow setting for 2 hours
Before serving, stir in vinegar and drizzle honey
Top the chili with the lime juice and cilantro. Garnish each bowl with a dollop of sour cream and a little bit of minced raw onion.
Spicy Mango Chicken Legs: Your New Favorite Weekly Recipe in VitaClay!
Suited for VitaClay Models VF7700 and VM7900 series.
Chicken drumsticks and thighs are my go-to dinners. I make them at least once a week. I can buy them cheaply (even for organic!) and I personally love dark meat chicken anyway.
As an added bonus, save the bones to make bone broth. It’s a win-win!
The original Guy Fieri recipe was for grilled chicken, which is also great, but sometimes it’s just not practical to go outside to cook dinner. So on those days, VitaClay comes to the rescue with amazing adaptations like this one.
Make it tonight! Your whole family will thank you.
Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken thighs and drumsticks, bone in, skin on
1 c broth
1 ½ c mango, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped
¾ c fresh cilantro, chopped
2 T fresh lemon juice
2 T unseasoned rice wine vinegar
1 T coconut oil (melted)
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 chipotle peppers in adobo, plus 1 T adobo sauce
2 t salt
1 t freshly cracked black pepper
Directions:
Puree the mango, cilantro, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, garlic, chipotle, salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth.
Marinate: Add the chicken with half of the chipotle-mango sauce to a resealable plastic bag, and massage to coat the chicken with the sauce. Refrigerate at least 6 hours to marinate.
Put the other half of the chipotle-mango sauce into VitaClay and heat up on “warm” until thick, stirring often, about 15 minutes (can also be done in a saucepan over the stove).
Set some of the simmered sauce aside to serve on the side, and baste the chicken every few minutes with the rest of the sauce.
Add marinated chicken with broth to VitaClay pot.
Close, seal and cook on “stew” for about 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve with the reserved chipotle-mango sauce.
Buffalo Chicken Dip: Whip it up for that Last-Minute Party!
Suited for VitaClay Models VF7700 and VM7900 series.
I love hot dip—it’s so delicious and satisfying—and with VitaClay it’s also super easy and quick to make!
I’ve made a few different types, from spinach-artichoke cheese dip to this hearty and filly Buffalo Chicken dip. With the chicken meat in there, the taste is amazing, and it’s so substantial it could almost be a meal on its own!
The best part is how easy and fast it is to make—just throw everything into the clay pot, stir, and this bad boy makes itself. You can whip it up quick and grab the whole cooker to take to a party or pot luck—serve it right out of the adorable clay pot!
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup hot sauce, (Frank’s Red Hot Sauce is great)
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
2 cups cooked chicken (store-bought rotisserie chicken works best), shredded
1 cup blue cheese crumbles
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Carrot and celery sticks, tortilla chips and/or pretzel chips, for dipping
Directions:
In a small pot over medium-high heat, melt butter. Whisk in hot sauce and set aside.
Add hot sauce-butter mixture, cream cheese, shredded chicken, blue cheese crumbles and mozzarella cheese to VitaClay pot.
Close, seal and cook on “soup” for 30 minutes
Serve with dippers alongside.
Chipotle Pulled Pork Tacos: A Smash in Clay!
Adapted for VitaClay from Stephanie O’Dea’s Slow Cooker Chipotle Pork Soft Tacos Suited for VitaClay Models VF7700 and VM7900 series.
Who doesn’t like tacos? And when meal planning, it’s helpful to have an idea of what to cook for each day of the week, hence “Taco Tuesdays” were born!
Tacos are extremely versatile: soft or crunchy, flour or corn, with whatever choice of meat and toppings you’d like!
The possibilities are endless, so Taco Tuesdays are not likely to get old!
Here is a great recipe for Chipotle Pulled Pork Taco filling, which is adapted for VitaClay from Stephanie O’Dea’s delicious slow cooker recipe.
With VitaClay, everything tastes better, and this delicious taco recipe is no exception!
Ingredients:
1 4- to 5-pound pork shoulder roast/butt (bone-in or out, your choice)
½ t salt
½ t ground black pepper
3 T tallow, butter or coconut oil
1 onion, peeled and sliced into rings
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 T ground coriander
1 T cumin
1 T chipotle chile powder
3 T honey
1 cup orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
Juice of 2 limes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro leaves
Suggested toppings:
Corn tortillas, for serving
4 cups finely shredded red cabbage
1 cup sour cream
2 cups grated cheese
2 avocados, diced
Directions:
Rub salt and pepper all over the roast
Brown in oil in a large skillet over high heat (optional).
Place the roast into VitaClay.
In the same skillet, caramelize the onion and garlic until transparent and remove from heat.
Whisk in the coriander, cumin, chipotle chile powder, honey and orange juice. Pour mixture evenly over the meat. Toss in the cinnamon stick.
Cover, seal, and cook on “stew” for 3 hours.
Shred meat completely using two large forks and stir in fresh lime juice and cilantro leaves.
Serve in warmed corn tortillas with your desired toppings.
