I was treated to a lovely sunset last night as I left work and went to my car. Sometimes parking on the 9th floor of the parking garage isn’t so bad. You can’t see it in this picture, but I also have a killer view of John Rich’s house from here.
With this semester’s schedule, I’m at school or work until 6:30 or 7 for four out of the five weekdays. That means that dinner often doesn’t get on the table until 8 pm on a good day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are particularly long days, so having a slow-cooker meal more or less ready to go when I get home is definitely a life-saver.
I know it seems a little odd to have a whole chicken show up in my blog right after I’ve said I was giving up meat, but as I explained, I’m trying to eat through the meat we already have. However, one of the things I am NOT going to miss about giving up meat is rinsing, drying, and dealing with the mess of cooking meat. See also: fear of salmonella.
Surprisingly, I had never done a whole chicken in the slow-cooker before. Turns out, it was one of the best chickens I’ve ever made. I went to carve it and pulled the leg right off. Although you don’t get the crispy skin of an oven-roasted chicken, I don’t normally eat the skin anyway, so it wasn’t a big loss. But the meat itself was very tender. I pulled it right off the bone and shredded it.
Crockpot before:
Crockpot after:
I didn’t originally have a plan for the meat, but I was in a mood for Mexican and we had all the fixings, so Joe quickly opted for my suggestion of tacos. An avocado, some fresh corn cut off the cob, a little grated cheese, and some salsa all wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla made a delicious dinner.
Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken
adapted source: Lauren’s Kitchen
Since this is more a method than a recipe, I’ll just tell you what I did. Take a whole chicken and rinse with water, inside and outside. Pat with paper towels to dry.
Roll aluminum foil into three 2-inch diameter balls and place in a triangle formation in a 6-qt crockpot. This will keep the chicken from burning where it touches the crockpot.
Pour in a 1/2 cup of chicken broth or water. I added a 1/2 onion, though I don’t know if it really did anything.
Do whatever you do with your roast chicken. I quartered a lemon, squeezed the juice inside the cavity, and stuffed the lemon inside. Then, I rubbed the skin with a little olive oil and some Southwest seasoning. Rest the chicken, breast side up, on the aluminum foil balls, making sure that the chicken isn’t touching the crockpot liner.
Cook for 8 hours on low. Enjoy your delicious, tender roast chicken.
