Hope all you mamas out there had a lovely Mother’s Day weekend!

I’m not sure if he heard about it somewhere or came up with it on his own, but around the start of the school year the boy declared that Tuesdays were for tacos, and so our Taco Tuesday tradition was born. Now we’re fortunate to have a great taco place in the neighborhood (District Taco for you locals), but I try to do it at home most weeks. The kids are really into bean and cheese “tacos” (they’re really more of a quesadilla or burrito, but no need to get technical) which makes it even easier as I can make a pot of beans ahead of time, and then quickly cook some chicken breasts or fish when we want a little more protein. For meatless nights, we just use a generous scoop of beans, fresh avocado and tomato and some queso fresco. Having recently conquered my fear of the slow cooker, it was high time to try beans in the crock pot.

I’ve read conflicting things about soaking dried beans and Rancho Gordo recommends cooking the beans in the soaking water to retain nutrients, so I took their advice. You can drain and fill with fresh water if you prefer. Rancho Gordo makes gorgeous heritage bean varieties unlike any beans you’ll find in the supermarket, so they’re worth seeking out if you can. Or, just use your favorite brand of dried beans. The Rio Zape beans I used here are like pinto beans, but bigger and very flavorful. I just added a few things to season the cooking water and let them go all day. They were perfect by dinner time.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Pinto Beans (or Rio Zape)
Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried Rio Zape or pinto beans
• water
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 4-ounce can mild Hatch green chilies
• 1 bay leaf
• sea salt

Instructions:

1. The night before: Rinse and pick over beans. Place in slow cooker bowl and cover with water. Let soak overnight.

2. In the morning, add garlic, chilies and bay leaf. Add additional water to cover beans by one inch. Set slow cooker on low and cook for 8-10 hours, until desired tenderness.

3. Season with salt to taste and serve. Can freeze leftover beans; be sure to include some of the liquid to keep them from drying out when reheated.

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Do you have a themed dinner night at your house? If not, try it! It’s a fun way to get kids involved in planning the meal. Getting to have chips and salsa at dinner, just like at our favorite Mexican restaurant, makes our Taco Tuesday extra special.

When she heard I was finally conquering my slow cooker phobia, my friend Jill was quick to share her favorite black bean soup recipe. I made a few substitutions, starting with vegetable broth instead of chicken to make it Meatless Monday-friendly. Instead of the spicy serrano pepper I used a canned chipotle pepper with a bit of the adobo sauce, which gave it just a subtle flavor kick. (In fact, I may serve it with some sliced jalapeños for the adults, next time.) And as Jill noted in her instructions to me, don’t skimp on the lime juice, which really brightens the flavors of this soup.

Tofu-fearing- and bean-adverse-husband wasn’t wild about it (“needs bacon,” he suggested), but both kids devoured their bowls — which counts as a definite win in my book. We were out of tortilla chips so I toasted some corn tortillas to serve on the side.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Adapted from Cooking Light, March 2009

Ingredients:

• 1 pound dried black beans
• 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 chipotle pepper and 1 tablespoon adobo sauce (chipotle canned in adobo sauce)
• juice of one lime
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• sour cream
• fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Instructions:

Rinse beans, place in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Let soak overnight, then drain.

Combine beans, broth, onion, garlic, water, cumin, bay leaves, chipotle pepper and adobo sauce in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low 10 hours.

Discard bay leaves. Add lime juice and salt, then serve. Top with sour cream and chopped cilantro.

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This post is shared with SoupaPalooza — Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset.

Now, a confession: I’ve had a life-long fear of slow cookers. We never had one growing up, and the thought of something cooking while I was out of the house for the day made me nervous. Plus, so many recipes I’d seen relied heavily on processed foods — a bottle of this, can of that, packet of something else. But with two kids and an ever increasing number of after-school activities, it was well past time to conquer my fears and embrace the slow cooker. Then, I saw Aviva of The Scramble mention that she’d bought her first slow cooker, and had formed a “slow cooker support group” with another local blogger, Laura of Mother Would Know. They let me tag along (via Twitter) and we first made a slow cooker pot roast that was easy and delicious. The second recipe was for a whole chicken, simply rubbed with spices and cooked with onion — no liquids or anything else.

Like Laura, I made many tweaks to the original recipe. My five-year-old is sensitive to pepper, and the recipe called for black, white and cayenne. I omitted them all and upped the paprika instead. (And used a smoked Spanish paprika.) And then I added a lemon, quartered, with the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. It infused the chicken with even more flavor and the meat was remarkably juicy when the chicken was finished.

There was one other change I made that I probably wouldn’t do again. I had a half can of Great Northern beans leftover from something else, so I dumped them in thirty minutes before the end of the cooking time. There was a lot of liquid in the bottom that I figured they’d cook in …. but it didn’t occur to me that that liquid was largely grease. The lemon juice helped, but I probably wouldn’t include the beans again. Aside from that misstep, both kids ate the chicken without complaints, so that’s a definite win in my book. We had this for Valentine’s dinner, so I served it with sweet potato tots and strawberry-watermelon salad for an all-red meal. In the future I’ll add a little green to the menu.

Recipe: Slow Cooker Paprika Chicken
Makes 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 (3.5-4-pound) roasting chicken
• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 3 teaspoons smoked Spanish paprika
• 1 teaspoon thyme

Instructions:

Mix together salt, paprika and thyme in a small bowl. Remove giblets from chicken, if included, and pat chicken dry. Rub spice mixture into skin, and inside cavity. (Optional: place chicken in a large plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.)

When ready to start the slow cooker, arrange onion slices and lemon quarters across bottom. Place chicken on top, cover, and set slow cooker on low. Cook for 5 to 6 hours, until juices run clear when you cut into the leg. (Mine took 5 1/2 hours.) Remove chicken to paper-towel lined platter to absorb some of the grease from cooking and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

If you’re a slow cooker fan, please tell me your favorite things to cook. More ideas are definitely welcome!