From the Slow Cooker: Ratatouille and Orzo

I know I am overdue for a post on life with a newborn, but, in keeping with my blog's original theme, I thought I would first share one of the things I've learned about trying to cook dinner with a baby on hand so far.

I am on maternity leave until after the holidays, and aside from taking care of Aimee during the day, I try to make dinner most nights. Early on, I focused on frozen meals but we quickly got tired of our Trader Joe favorites and the baked pastas and casseroles that I had made prior to Aimee's birth. So I started trying to think about quick and easy dinners that I could get on the table with relative ease.

So far, I have found that the trick to cooking with an infant (for us anyway) is to either a) cook something all day (in a slow cooker/crock pot) or b) cook something really quickly right before you are going to eat (when Jason is home to keep an eye on the baby). Cooking all day has actually been the easier thing for me--I can get things ready to go during Aimee's morning snooze in her swing and then pretty much "set it and forget it" until Jason is home from work and we are ready to eat.

Aimee snoozing in her swing the day we brought her home from the hospital!

Unfortunately, I am short on good slow cooker recipes that aren't soups, stews or pot roasts. I have tried a few in the last 6 weeks but was only really happy with one of them -- ratatouille and orzo. This was insanely easy-- chop up some vegetables and throw them into the slow cooker with some olive oil and a can of diced tomatoes. Cook on low all day and add some orzo in at the end. Top with fresh basil, goat cheese, and a little balsamic vinegar and you've got a delicious and healthy meal. It's also easy to eat with one hand if you need to hold/calm a crying infant with the other!

Do you have any suggestions for good slow cooker recipes?

Ratatouille and Orzo
From Parents Need to Eat Too

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 red peppers, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
3 large zucchini, cut into 1 inch rounds
3 TBL chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup orzo
Goat cheese
Balsamic vinegar

1. Combine eggplant, onion, pepper, tomatoes and half of garlic in the slow cooker. Add olive oil and toss to coat. Cover and cook on low for 2-3 hours.

2. Stir in zucchini. Cover and continue to cook on low for another 2-2.5 hours.

3. During the last hour, add remaining garlic, 2 TBL of basil and salt and pepper to taste.

 4. In the last 15-20 minutes, add orzo. Before serving, top with crumbled goat cheese and remaining basil and drizzle with balsamic vinegar.