I love the crock pot. We don't use it as much as we could - maybe once a week. But when we do, it is just wonderful to throw some ingredients together the night before/in the morning and come home to a fully cooked meal.

We're not great about following recipes, which maybe makes me a poor candidate for a recipe link-up. I'd rather follow a general template (main ingredients + variable spices + variable accompaniments), working with what we have in the kitchen on a given day. What follows is more of a rough outline than a line-by-line recipe...but maybe it will work for someone!

Chicken Paprikash(ish) Soup*

Serves 2 adults + 1 toddler over several days

Ingredients:

6-8 bone-in chicken thighs (boneless would probably work as well)

1 quart chicken stock

Vegetables of choice (I like onion, garlic, golden beets, carrots and mushrooms)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup coconut milk (I use So Delicious Dairy Free Original Culinary Coconut Milk)

Salt, pepper, paprika + other spices of choice (I like tandoori and sazon)

Directions:

1. (Optional) Night before - Marinate chicken thighs in spices

I like to heavily spice the chicken, since the coconut milk will lend a milder flavor to the soup overall. You can skip this step, but I have been more pleased with the results when I do take the time to marinate.

2. Chop vegetables and saute in olive oil with salt, pepper, paprika and other spices until just starting to soften

Again, I like to go heavy on the spices with this step. Don't saute for too long, since the vegetables will be cooking for a while in the crock pot.

3. Mix sauteed vegetables, chicken thighs, and chicken stock together in the crock pot. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.

Those times are definitely estimates. Go with what usually works for cooking chicken in your particular crock pot.

4. After chicken thighs have cooked, shred meat and remove bones.

I just use two forks to shred the meat and fish out the bones...there's probably a fancier way to do it that I don't know about.

5. Add coconut milk and stir. Keep on low for 30-60 minutes, then serve or keep warm!

I think this is the most important step! The coconut milk is what makes this dish delicious - it thickens up the broth and adds a mildly sweet flavor that when paired with the spices is quite tasty (in my opinion, at least).

*I haven't had much chicken paprikash in my life, and this dish is probably not really like most chicken paprikash...or maybe it is, I wouldn't really know! It's loosely modeled after a chicken paprikash soup my husband likes from a local restaurant.