I've been inspired lately by reading $5 Dinner Mom and Family Feasts for $75, and have started to trim down our grocery bills. Meat is definitely the biggest expense on the shopping list, and I'm realizing that our family of four doesn't need to be eating quite as much as we do. I usually plop 4 chicken breast halves into the slow cooker without thinking, but for this dish I used 3. Guess what? We still were full, and there was still some leftover for Adam to take to work the next day for lunch. Go figure. We ate our chicken tucked into corn tortillas and had a side of basmati rice to soak up the yummy juices.
The Ingredients.
serves 4.
3 chicken breast halves
2 large green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 (7-ounce) can whole or diced green chiles (mine were mild)
1/2 teaspoon basil
1 tablespoon dried minced onion, or 1 large yellow onion, diced finely
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup sour cream (to add before serving)
corn tortillas, optional
The Directions.
I used a 4 quart slow cooker. Put the chicken into the bottom of the cooker, and add the bell peppers and the whole can of chiles. Add basil, onion, salt, and pepper. Stir a bit to combine. Pour in the 1/4 cup of water. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours, or on high for 3-4.
Before serving, use tongs to remove the chicken, and set aside. Using an immersible blender, blend the peppers and sauce left at the bottom of the slow cooker. If you don't have an immersible blender, carefully(!) pour the slow cooker contents into a traditional stand blender and pulse until fully combined. Pour back into the cooker.
Stir in sour cream until melted. If you don't have sour cream in the house, plain yogurt or cream cheese would work just fine---this is only to thicken the sauce a bit and to mellow out the peppers and chile flavor.
Slice chicken, and return to the cooker. Set to high for 20-30 minutes, or until your dinner is fully hot. Serve the meat in corn tortillas, or over rice.
Or both!
The Verdict.
I've gone on the record saying I don't like green peppers. I really don't---they remind me of soggy cafeteria pizza. But they are MUCH less expensive than red, yellow, or orange peppers, and since the flavor is so pronounced a little goes a long way. Adam and the kids don't seem to mind the flavor, and the kids actually eat raw green pepper dipped in ranch, something I would never do. So I took one for the team.
I'm happy to report that I really liked the flavor when cooked like this, and when paired with the chiles. The chicken turned green, which the kids thought was neat. They happily ate their chicken over rice with a ladle full of sauce, but ate their corn tortilla as a quesadilla.
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