rice

Rhonda’s Crock Pot Chicken Cacciatore

I don’t know a cook who doesn’t appreciate the awesomeness of a home cooked meal ready for you when you’re ready for it. Crock pot meals are the bees knees. I love that with a little bit of assembly, you can get a whole lot of pay off at the end of the day- a great return on your investment. Chicken Cacciatore is hearty and healthy, and really great served on a warm bed of rice. This variation has a rich tomato base with a hint of white wine and fire roasted red peppers. Yum!

Also, please note that if you feel the need to add more liquid, water will do. Of course, chicken stock seems like the most flavorful option- but trust me the flavor is there. So save your stock!

As organic as possible:

2 lbs Boneless skinless Chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 large yellow Onion, rustically diced

3-4 cloves Garlic, minced

1 – 12 oz. jar Fire Roasted Red Peppers, drained and chopped into bite size pieces

12 oz. Tomato paste

2 tsp Sugar

1/2 cup White Wine

2 tsp Oregano

1 tsp dried Basil

1 tsp Salt

3 Tbsp Olive oil (Plus 1 Tbsp optional)

1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper flakes

If you have one of those cool crock pots that can go from stove top to crock pot warmer, it is optional to heat a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the onions until they have a little color (to develop flavor). It is also a possibility to sauté them in a pan and transfer them to the crock pot. And lastly it is also an option to omit this step all together and save time.

Place the onions on the bottom of the crock pot. Top with the chicken pieces.

In a bowl add the garlic, red peppers, tomato paste, sugar, wine, oregano, basil, salt, oil and red pepper flakes. Stir until incorporated and pour on top of chicken.

Cook on low for about 8 hours or on high for about 4. If sauce seems to thick add a 1/4 cup of water. Serve with rice or pasta. Enjoy!

Jambalaya -Mine

Ok, so I don’t know about your family, but mine isn’t big on seafood (it’s a work in progress). So this is Jambalaya sans (without) the seafood, but to the purists out there, you’re going to love it! …And if you must, think of it as awesome beans and rice… And to gluten forgoers this recipe works for you too, (just check your sausages)!

Serves 6

As organic as possible…

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion diced

3-4 garlic cloves minced

1 15 oz can diced tomato (or jar of salsa)

8 oz andouille sausage (I like chicken andouille) cut into bite sized pieces

16 oz smoked sausage cut into bite sized pieces

1 15 oz can red beans (drained and rinsed)

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

t tsp cumin

3/4 cup dry rice

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

1 Bay Leaf

salt & pepper to taste

Heat Oil. Saute onions and garlic. Add tomato, and scrape the yummy bottom bits! Add sausages, broth and spices. Stir and bring to simmer. Add rice and stir; this is a great recipe to use brown rice because it is so flavorful and colorful your picky eaters won’t know the difference.) Add beans, salt & pepper to taste (I do about 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of freshly cracked pepper.) Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and cover. Let it simmer, stirring occasionally, about 25-45 minutes depending on type of rice (brown takes longer). Take off the heat and discard bay leaf. Let cool slightly before serving.

Side note: Sometimes I add green/yellow pepper depending on what I have… It looks pretty 😉