Slow Cooker Chicken Chili

Sometimes, it's nice to come home to a warm dinner ready and waiting. No fuss, just great food with little effort. I love slow cooker recipes for just that reason. This recipe is delicious, fast to prepare, and great as leftovers (the next day or frozen for later).

The list of ingredients is plenty long, but don't be discouraged. Most of them are common household spices and pantry items, not fancy expensive ingredients. The only ingredients we bought for this recipe were two cans of beans and the sweet potato. So, pretty inexpensive.

 

2 lb ground chicken, coarsely ground preferred
3 tbsp chili powder, plus 2 tsp
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15-ounce) can white beans, drained and rinsed
2 (28-ounce) cans diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and shredded
2 cups chicken stock (ours was homemade and contained no salt - vary your salt accordingly)
1/4 cup instant tapioca
1 to 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce with seeds, chopped
2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
a pinch ground cloves
1/2 to 3/4 cup lager-style beer (I used Beck's Octoberfest - I'm a sucker for all Octoberfest beers, especially Sam Adams)
1 avocado (per two servings), optional
1 bunch cilantro (stems removed), optional
Cheese, grated (we used Rustico Red Pepper), optional

Start with the ground chicken. Nick recently got a meat grinder, so we ground some chicken we had stored in the freezer. It used up most of the legs and thighs we had stored and we were happy to gain the freezer space.

When you are ready (about 6-8 hours before you want to eat), add all the ingredients to the crock pot except 2 tsp of chili powder and the beer. If you have a slow cooker with a removable pot, you can do this the night before and store overnight, covered, in the fridge (our preferred method).

Turn the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours. Just before serving, stir in the beer and remaining chili powder. Spoon into serving bowls.

I like to serve with grated cheese, cubed avocado, cilantro leaves and crusty bread.

This recipe is adapted from this recipe, by Food Network.

Quick Fixin: Slow Cooker Burritos

You should know by now how much burritos are a staple in my house. Often, they are our way to eat leftover bits of veggies, beans and meat that we have from our other meals throughout the week. But sometimes, we make burritos to make burritos. Because they are a tasty way to get protein and veggies in one conveniently wrapped package.

This is a quick and inexpensive way to cook burrito meat. And it turns out so juicy and flavorful, you don't need to add lots of extras, although, you could if you like.

Ingredients:
1 London Broil, approx 2 lbs.
Taco Seasoning mix, ours is from Penzeys Spices and is a combination of paprika, salt, onions, corn flour, tomato powder, cumin, garlic, oregano, tellicherry black pepper, cocoa powder and allspice
1 white onion, chopped
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 4.5oz can chopped green chiles

Burrito shells
Burrito toppings, such as avocado, cilantro, cheese, plum tomatoes, peppers, beans, etc.

Coat the meat with the taco seasoning. Place the london broil, onion, vinegar and chiles into a slow cooker. Turn on low for approximately 10 hours (9 would work, but I wouldn't go any shorter). Once cooked, remove from slow cooker and shred. Return to the slow cooker to soak up the juices before assembling burritos.

Heat burrito shells in a dry skillet until they are warm and pliable. Fill with the meat and other toppings. Fold and serve.

This recipe also freezes very well, so if you, like us, are an itty bitty family, freeze the leftovers in serving size portions so that you aren't stuck eating burritos for a week (although I don't think I would complain if that happened...).