Amazing slow cooker chicken part 2

I used some leftover chicken to make chicken nachos. 

As I was writing about the amazing slow cooker chicken I made today, I realized that, though I had meant to post my other amazing slow cooker chicken recipe ages ago, I never had.  I love this recipe.  I make it all the time.  It makes tons of chicken, which is easily freezable, and then reheated again.  It is very versatile and can be used in all different ways.  We generally use it for chicken tacos the first day and then over rice when we reheat it.  I have made nachos, like the picture above, and also enchiladas.  The last time I made it I was thinking of making a chicken soup with it, but we ate it all before I could!

I got the original recipe from my friend Caroline who got it from allrecipe.com.  It was so delicious that I needed to make it almost immediately.  Over the past few years I have fine-tuned and altered the recipe a bit, as I tend to do.

Slow Cooker Garlicky Lime Chicken

1pound of chicken I have used thighs and/or breasts
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 lime, zested and juiced
2 teaspoon white sugar though you can substitute agave or honey for the sweetness
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1-2 onions, I half and then quarter the halves, but you can slice them thinly if you want.
3 green onions, sliced I have done without, too, if I was out of them.
2-4 cloves garlic, I just smash them a bit
1 Tablespoon dried oregano 

Put all those ingredients in the slow cooker, laying the onions so that the chicken can rest on top.  Put the chicken right on top.   Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 6 hours.  Shred with 2 forks when it's done and use it however you wish!  Freeze any extra in freezer bags and re-heat in a little broth or water.

The shredded chicken.  You can see the onions and how caramelized they are.

Amazing slow cooker chicken

The perfect bite - chicken and tomato together.

This morning I was trying to think about what to to with this chicken I bought on Thursday.  I got a really great deal on chicken breasts, but, as tends to happen with these deals, they were huge and it was a 3-pound package.  So, what to do?  What I usually do is make a garlicky lime chicken for use in chicken tacos or over rice.  I thought I had blogged that recipe but I haven't yet, so that might be Amazing slow cooker chicken part 2.  And so it is, since I have now added it.  

I had some canned tomatoes, onions, garlic, and spices.  I googled slow cooker chicken and canned tomatoes and found this recipe.  I altered the recipe a bit, based on what I had in my pantry.   This is the recipe I came up with, with my ideas for the next time in italics.  

Balsamic and Tomato Slow Cooker Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

-2-3 pounds of chicken.  I used boneless chicken breast, the very thick kind.

-Salt and pepper to taste

-1 onion, very thinly sliced If you really like onion use 1 large or 2 small.

-4 whole cloves garlic, peeled Again, add more or less depending on how much you love garlic.

-1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

-1 small can diced tomatoes 

-1 large can crushed tomatoes with oregano and basil

Next time I would do the opposite because we loved the chunkiness of the tomatoes - 1 large can diced and 1 small can crushed.  I also would use stewed if I had them.

-1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

-1 teaspoon dried basil

You can see the chicken just under
the surface but not all the way on the bottom.

-1 teaspoon dried oregano

-1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary

1.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.

2. Put onion, garlic, balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, rosemary, thyme, basil, and oregano into the slow cooker.

3. Place the chicken in the sauce.  I did not push it all the way in, just under the surface.  Whatever sauce was on top formed a delicious topping as it cooked down.

4. Put the slow cooker on for 6-8 hours on low.  There is enough liquid with the crushed tomatoes that the chicken was not even close to drying out.  

5.  I served it over brown rice.  But you could over pasta.  We also put some on the crusty Italian bread we were eating with dinner.  Oh my..delish!  

Notice how the tomatoes cooked
down to form a nice glaze on top.

I happen to love Hunt's tomato products and they have tons of flavor choices for their diced tomatoes.  You could really change the flavor profile depending on what kind you use.  

I had also steamed some carrots to have as our veggie and Vinnie and I threw them in the same bowl as the rice and chicken.  They were very tasty mixed in.  It made me start to think about what other variations I could do.  I might add peeled, diced potatoes and carrots to make it more like a chicken stew.  If you added peppers it would be more like a cacciatore.   You could also shred it with forks when it is done, like I do with the garlicky lime chicken.  If you added more mexican seasoning and some poblano or jalapeno peppers depending on your heat preference, to it, it would be the perfect chicken and sauce for enchiladas.  

There are so many slow cooker recipes that involve browning something first, and I just can't handle that at 6:30am on a workday.  This will definitely go into the rotation of recipes because it was the easiest thing in this world  and according to Vinnie, tasted out of this world.  

Leftover grilled chicken = my favorite salad ever

One of my favorite salads ever is a barbecue grilled chicken over greens with veggies and ranch dressing.  Cheesecake Factory and California Pizza Kitchen both make amazing, if not high in fat and money, versions.  Since I had leftover chicken from last night, I decided to take a break from the pb&j monotony.  I happened to have a little bit (read: only enough for one person) of green leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, leftover corn and ranch dressing.

I started making it in a bowl and realized that when I get a salad at a restaurant, it often comes on a plate.  I think, mentally, if I fill a dinner plate with salad I will feel more like I am eating a real meal, not just salad.  So the bowl went away and the dinner plate came out.  I added the greens, tomatoes, corn and chicken and threw on a few croutons.  I drizzled a little bit of bbq sauce and then ranch dressing on top of the salad.  It looked beautiful and not much different than ones I have had in a restaurant except maybe half the size.  They always throw more ingredients in, but I am not sure that makes it tastier.  Well, maybe some black beans would have improved it a little.  By the end of my salad, I was satisfied and there was barely any dressing on my plate.  I am so used to having pools of dressing sitting in the bowl or plate when I am finished that I was a little surprised.  But you know what?  It tasted better and crisper without all that extra dressing weighing the lettuce down.  I think next time I will nix the croutons with this salad.

Grilled vegetables and chicken

It was while I was grilling this dinner last night that I was inspired to blog my grilling journey.

For the record, I am currently using commercial seasonings and barbecue sauces but making my own is what I really want to do.  My plan is to cook using the bottled, pre-made sauces so that I can get an idea of what qualities I want or like in a sauce.  Then I can start experimenting.  Besides, they are delicious!!

I started by slicing thick chicken breasts into thinner filets and trimming all the yucky parts.  That part about preparing food has always grossed me out but I am trying to just get over it.  I put all the pieces into a zippable plastic bag with maybe a half bottle of barbecue sauce.  I put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

I grabbed the yellow and green squash (in season in NJ right now, so farm-fresh) and after washing them I sliced them down the entire length into thinnish slices.  I sprinkled a little kosher salt on them before bringing them out to the grill.

I brushed the length with olive oil and put them on a hot grill.  I flipped a few times (using tongs) and kept thicker slices on a bit longer.  Some of the thinner slices lost some seeds to the cause when sticking to the grill.  The reason I flipped a few times was because after grilling both sides I realized that the 2nd side was dome more to my liking, so back on they went.

I ended up letting get way more grilled than this, but you can see how I sliced them.

When the veggies were done, the chicken went on.  I put them on the grill and turned the heat on all 3 burners to 3/4.  I have to be honest, I don't time my meat.  I am not sure why, since I always use a timer when I am cooking in the oven.  I just look at it after a few minutes and see if I can turn it over easily.  If not, then I let it sit a few minutes longer so I don't lose half my chicken to the grill grates.

huh...it won't rotate and it made the picture all fuzzy.

After the chicken was finished we all trouped inside to eat our meal.  The complete meal was: grilled chicken with barbecue sauce, grilled summer squash and crunchy coleslaw salad.  This recipe is courtesy of my Aunt Cathy and I think it is insanely delicious and summery.  It was so good.  I know it was my own food an all, but wow...the chicken was moist and flavorful, the squash's natural sweetness was brought out by the grill and the crunchy coleslaw was a perfect accompaniment.

When I have time later I will post the crunchy coleslaw recipe...it will be the hit of your next summer get together!