The Perfect Pantry®

Slow cooker turkey breast recipe for sandwiches, salads and pasta

In a recent pantry clean-out, I unearthed a frozen "emergency" turkey breast I'd bought last November, in case I couldn't find a fresh turkey breast for Thanksgiving dinner. Six months later, I decided to defrost it and give it a go in the slow cooker. The goal: moist, flavorful turkey to slice and use for sandwiches and salads. The result? Spectacular success, and it couldn't be easier. In fact, the hardest thing about this recipe will be finding a boneless turkey breast. The solution: buy a bone-in turkey breast and ask the butcher to break it down for you. Save the bones and wings and make a soup stock (also in the slow cooker), and use the two breast halves in this recipe. I like this Greek seasoning from The Spice House; you can substitute with your favorite brand, or a mix of kosher salt, fresh black pepper, dried lemon peel and dried oregano. Use the cooked turkey in dozens of ways -- stuffed into sandwiches, chopped in salads, or shredded and tossed with pasta and vegetables.

Recipe for slow cooker coffee-chipotle pulled chicken roll-ups

Until I moved to Rhode Island, I'd never heard of coffee syrup. (It's like Hershey's chocolate syrup, except made from coffee. If that helps.) The state drink, coffee milk, combines coffee syrup with, well, milk, and the favorite iced treat, a coffee cabinet, is a milkshake made with coffee ice cream and coffee syrup. Sweet, sweet, sweet. When I met up with my friend Jen of Savor the Thyme at Dave's Coffee, in the opposite end of the state, I bought a bottle of their all-natural coffee syrup, and couldn't resist experimenting with some savory recipes. I packed this slow cooker coffee-chipotle pulled chicken into a piece of oat-bran lavash bread with some lettuce and this smoky spicy cole slaw. That's a lot of Rhode Island goodness rolled up into one great sandwich. Not to worry: you can make this in your own kitchen even if you don't have our coffee syrup. Or you can come to my kitchen and I'll make it for you.

Recipe for slow cooker aloo gobi (spiced cauliflower and potatoes)

WARNING: This is not a mirage. It's cauliflower. More specifically, it's aloo gobi, the classic Indian cauliflower and potato dish, redolent with warm spices and gold-tinged by turmeric. Yes, I am trying to get over my lifelong distaste for cauliflower in 2013, by combining it with flavors and in recipes I already know I love. Almost anything cooked in a spicy hot base tingles my taste buds; add to that the convenience of using the slow cooker, and I had to give this dish a go. I can't say I fell head-over-heels for the cauliflower, but I ate a few pieces, which is more than I might have done a year ago. My husband Ted happily devoured the rest with some steamed basmati rice.

Recipe for slow cooker turkey, black bean and squash chili

Even though I work at home, or maybe because I do, I love the kind of hybrid slow cooker cooking that involves long periods of don't-bother-it gentle heating interspersed with an occasional lifting of the lid, a stir, an addition here and a taste there. Slow cooker manufacturers emphasize in their instruction manuals that lifting the lid even for a moment can extend the cooking time or jeopardize the safety of the cooking process, but it's simply not true. (I'm saying this for Judy, a long-time reader of The Perfect Pantry, who recently purchased her very first slow cooker.) As with all cooking, a stir once every couple of hours helps to even the cooking and distribute seasonings throughout the dish. To make this slow cooker turkey, black bean and squash chili, start the turkey and squash and let them cook undisturbed for several hours. Then, lift that lid, add the beans, stir, and go away. A couple of hours later, add the rice, stir again, and the dish is done. If you're out all day, you can add the beans at the outset and let them cook with the turkey, but if you're home, don't hesitate to lift, add and stir. In fact, I insist on it!