Sweet, Tangy Sesame Crockpot Chicken

So I found this recipe via Pinterest and The Comfort of Cooking Blog.  I am allllllll for yummy Asian dishes. I'm also allllllll for crockpot meals because I can prep that sucker and not have to worry about trying to create dinner out of thin air at 5pm when the kids are starving, Dave isn't home yet, and I haven't had time to do the dishes!

(Side note: I want a freaking dishwasher ASAP! I'm tired of living without one.)

Of course, I couldn't do just as the recipe told me to ... because that would mean I wasn't sticking with a "healthier" version AND I hate extra steps like making rice later so I threw everything together to cook AND I wanted to be good since I have 3 days left in my 24-Day Challenge. So I did good! And don't judge, but yes, I used raw honey ... life will go on! I couldn't justify using a whole cup like the original recipe so what I did use was my compromise.

I have to say, after making the "sauce" I am totally reminded of Asian BBQ and OMG we aren't telling Dave it's BBQ (since he hates BBQ) BUT he is going to eat the crap out of this ... I hope. I'm totally excited to dive in to this later.

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Sweet, Tangy Sesame Crockpot Chicken

2-3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Shake of Sea Salt on each side and Black Pepper. I also threw Garlic Powder on the meat for good measure.

Sauce:
1/2 c. Diced Onions
1/4 c. Raw Honey
1/4 c. Liquid Aminos
1/4 c. Organic Tomato Paste (about 3 oz. so half of a little can)
3 cloves Garlic - pressed
1 tbsp. Red Pepper Flakes
2 tbsp. Sesame Oil (or EVOO)
1 tbsp. Sesame Seeds

Base:
1 c. Brown Rice
1 c. water
Any frozen veggies you have left in the freezer. I used about 2 cups of Stir Fry Veggies I had sitting around and waiting to be used.
1 tsp. Ground Ginger

Throw your Base ingredients into the crockpot and sprinkle the ginger powder over it. There was no ginger in the sauce recipe so I added some to the base just because I LURVE ginger.

The seasoned chicken goes on top of the base.

Mix up the "sauce" and spoon on top of the chicken. That's it! I'm cooking on High for 4 Hours because my chicken was still partially frozen but cook it alllllll day for even better results but add extra water so it doesn't dry out.

Garnish with diced green onions.

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The verdict? Good but I should have taken the extra step of doing everything separate. Since it all cooked together, the sauce ends up mixed in with rice and veggies which is fine but it doesn't look as pretty as my predecessors. LOL The flavor is fine but slightly unexpected due to the tomato paste addition. I can't imagine it would be better with ketchup though. I think I might either cut the tomato paste to 1/8 cup and maybe up the honey to 1/3 cup. Not too shabby! Next time I will definitely do the rice and veggies right before I serve so the chicken gets the whole sauce flavor!


Challenge Friendly: YES but only for Max. You don't need the extra sugars during Cleanse. In fact, you probably don't need the extra sugars anyway ... so let's list this as a MAYBE ... only if in dire need of a dish ... and you happen to have everything you need sitting around ... LOL

Cleanse Friendly Chicken Soup

It's fall! Time for comfort foods! And, specifically, time for those foods that make you warm inside when you aren't feeling up to par. My friend is sick right now so I promised her some chicken soup. She is on the Cleanse Phase of the Advocare 24-Day Challenge, currently, so I can't just go throwing in a bunch of noodles and sodium rich chicken stock because her body would NOT respond well to the salty, carb overdose when it's trying to detox. Challenge: Make a cleanse friendly chicken soup that isn't going to make her body cry more! Yep, I can handle that!

In an effort to keep the stock natural and super low sodium, I bought plenty of veggies to throw in to help "stew" for the broth. I also picked up some fresh herbs since they are more savory and fragrant. This is a labor of love with all the rinsing, cutting and prepping so make sure you have time to be chopping all these veggies. Everything smells great so far (as it is cooking in the crockpot, currently) so I can't wait to taste it later! Let's get this list started ....


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Cleanse Friendly Chicken Soup

The "Meat:"

2-3 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast trimmed of fat and diced - Add some Garlic Powder directly to the chicken before you put it in the pot

1 c. Wild Rice Mix (I used Lundburg Wild Rice Mix)
1 large Leek or 2 small
1/2 Sweet Onion
8 Stalks of Hearts of Celery
1 c. Baby Carrots

The Seasonings:

2 Rosemary Twigs - strip the leaves and cut up
2-4 Basil Leaves - cut up into pieces
1 Bay Leaf
4-6 Cloves of Garlic - diced/sliced
1 tsp. Majorum
2 tbsp. Natural Chicken Stock Starter
1-2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. coriander
Black pepper

7 c. water (for a large crockpot; add more for a thinner soup)

Rinse, chop, slice, dice everything and throw in the crockpot or in a stew pot on the stove. I cooked mine on 4 Hours High in the crockpot, stirring every hour. Usually I would cook on Low for 8 hours but I was under time constraints. On the stove, set on the lowest setting and let stew away all day.

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Leek Preparation

(because I had to YouTube it since I had never cooked with leeks before!)
 
Chop most of the green head off so you have mostly white showing. Chop the root off. The leek is from the onion/garlic family so it has layers inside. Slice it once longways so you have 2 long halves. take off the outermost layer (like an onion). Rinse under cold water between the layers to get out dirt that has gotten trapped (you don't have to take it apart to do this; rinse from one side first and then the other). Let sit to drain and then chop like you would celery or green onions.

YouTube Leek Prep Video

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VERY LOW SODIUM. The Natural Chicken Stock Starter I use hardly has any salt and no MSG. It was flavorful, for sure, but for those of you needing a bit more "sodium" kick, you might want to use a can of chicken stock and fill the rest with water. I, personally, was fine with the flavor and the sodium level but Dave added Frank's Red Hot ... because that's just Dave LOL

Note on majorum: Majorum makes soups thicken. If you are looking for a "clear" broth, leave out the majorum! I love thick soups so I actually added another teaspoon towards the end to help that along.


Challenge Friendly: YES! Success was mine! My friend and her family ate it like crazy.