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| Mixed green salad with ranch dressing, shredded chicken, apricot. |
The food is all pretty self explanatory, but this is probably a great time to talk about how I make just enough shredded chicken for myself. First, I keep a bag of frozen chicken thighs in my freezer almost constantly. "Chicken thighs?!" you say. "Aren't they sooo fatty?" No, not really. Yes, they have more fat than chicken breasts (which is why they get a bad rap), but they are way leaner than beef and even many kinds of pork. They also do much better in the crock pot than chicken breasts. Chicken breasts tend to get dry and stringy in the crock pot no matter what you do to them. Chicken thighs, however, turn juicy and fragrant and delicious. Trust me, it's just better. And cheaper! If you can't stand the idea of eating that much dark meat, try mixing equal parts thighs and breasts - I find that's a fairly effective compromise.
Sometimes, a single girl just needs one serving of chicken. Sometimes I want a sandwich or a taco, or something else. So what I do is cook one - yes, only one - chicken thigh in the crock pot. Yes, that crock pot again. I'm obsessed, didn't I tell you?
You can season it any number of ways, but here's what I did for tacos yesterday and the side today...feel free to cut in half for just one serving:
Slow Cooker Chicken for One (or Two!)
2 chicken thighs, frozen
1/2 can diced tomatoes (Remaining can frozen for later use. Not the actual can, obviously. Just the contents)
1 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper to taste
In a 2 quart crock pot, plop your frozen chicken into the pot and cover with remaining ingredients. It's ok to thaw the chicken, too, I haven't found it makes much difference. Cover with the lid and cook on low for 5 hours. Remove chicken from the pot and shred with a fork. There will be lots of leftover liquid in the pot - discard or save for a yummy fiesta style soup!
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