The Last Supper

How I go about training aides to assist me in the kitchen varies depending on the person I hire. Sometimes people know how to cook and other times they know nothing at all. If they’re willing to learn, this really isn’t an issue as long as we find a way to make it a pleasant and fun experience.

Recently I hired a young lady who decided to move to Hawaii a few weeks after taking the job. During the time we had, she learned how to cook in a crockpot. We made a number of recipes, starting out with dishes as simple as that of cabbage and low-fat kielbasa .

On her last day, however, I decided that it was appropriate for her to make the entire crockpot dish, i.e. The Last Supper,  on her own. I had frozen a Santa Fe black bean dish with corn and diced tomatoes into a container a few weeks before so I pulled that out for her to use as a base ingredient. To that she added two boneless chicken breasts,  one half cut up green pepper, one whole cut up red pepper, a quarter of the package of taco mix, and a half of a medium-sized onion cut up.

She placed the chicken at the bottom of the crockpot and layered the other ingredients around it. The base provided adequate liquid and she chose a few spices to add-ground pepper and garlic powder. She then cooked it on high for 3 ½ hours.

The dish came out very tasty and looking spectacular.  The chicken was tender and required no cutting. It just pulled apart in pieces. Speaking of which, if the peppers and other ingredients are cut into reasonably sized pieces, this is the kind of dish which gives those of us with dexterity concerns some independence in eating since it doesn’t require cutting up when served. I like to build that factor into recipes as often as possible, since I don’t have aides around most of the time.

It was really a satisfying experience to be able to teach someone how to make simple, affordable meals in a crockpot. Before she left, I declared that my aide was now ready to get her own crockpot and figure out some delicious recipes of her own. I hope she stops by this blog to visit .  Aloha!