- Hi guys, with fall and full swing now,
I thought it was time that we drag out the slow cooker.
I love slow cooker dinners because you set it and forget it,
which is great when you have kids that are involved
in different activities and they need to eat dinner
at different times.
The slow cooker has got your back
because dinner is always ready.
And it couldn't be easier to put together.
Let me show you how to do it.
So the first thing you wanna do is place
in your chicken breast into your slow cooker.
So I'm using two boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
It's about a pound.
And then to that you're gonna add one can
of diced tomatoes just on top of the chicken.
And you're also gonna add one and a quarter cup
of diced yellow onion,
and then you're gonna add a cup and a half of corn.
Now I really love this charred corn
that you can get in the frozen food aisle.
I just think it gives it a little bit more flavor
and smokiness, but regular corn will work too.
And then you wanna add one can
of black beans that you've rinsed,
going in.
And then you wanna add three clothes of garlic.
So the garlic really does give it a lot of depth of flavor
and as it simmers, it mellows.
So don't skimp on the garlic.
Then I also like to add about a quarter of a cup
of tomato paste.
I find that this adds a lot of richness to the soup.
So in it goes.
You can just kind of eyeball four tablespoons.
It doesn't have to be an exact science,
somewhere around there.
Then for a little heat,
I do like to add one jalapeno pepper.
It will mellow as its simmers
and I think the combination of the gooey cheese
and the little kick of the jalapeno is just so good.
Okay, now for the spices.
I really like to add my own spice blend
rather than buy the pre-made spice blend,
because you really can control the types of flavors.
And for me, I think the best combination is
a teaspoon and a half of ground cumin,
two teaspoons of smoked paprika,
I like the smoked 'cause it gives you that
really nice smokey, earthy flavor,
and two teaspoons of dried oregano,
and a teaspoon of salt,
and some freshly cracked pepper.
(pepper mill grinding)
And then the last thing we're gonna do is add four cups
of chicken broth.
So I'm just using regular chicken broth.
I wouldn't use like the low sodium broth,
because you end up losing a lot of flavor.
So just go for the plain old chicken broth.
Just all over the top.
The only thing left to do is just give it a stir,
because you wanna make sure that all of those vegetables
and spices and the tomato paste, that it's all combined.
And then also just make sure that the chicken
is submerged in the broth and the sauce,
and then it's just time to set it.
Depending on how much time you have,
you can either do three hours on high or six hours on low.
So if I'm really ahead of the game
I'll usually do six hours on low,
because I think there's something really nice about it
just simmering at a very low temperature.
But if in a rush, three hours on high works just as well.
Now here's a thing that you can also get done
ahead of time and that's the tortillas.
So I'm working with corn tortillas,
taco size, and the tortillas,
you can never have enough of the tortillas.
So I usually factor two per person,
because we're gonna cut them into little strips.
So usually I will do eight for a family of four,
and then cut four at a time,
just 'cause they're kind of thick.
So you'll cut them in half
and then stack them and cut them into little strips.
And you can either bake these in the oven at 375
until they're nice and crispy.
Or what I love to do is put them in the air fryer.
I think that they really do well in the air fryer.
So if you have one of those,
that's another fun way to do it.
And I usually go 375 for maybe seven to ten minutes.
And then once they're done you can put them
in a little airtight container
and leave them out on your countertop
and they'll be all ready to go.
Then after your soup is ready,
all you have to do before serving
is take the chicken breasts out and shred them
with two forks just into bite-size pieces,
put them back in the soup, give it a stir,
and then you can just put it on low
until it comes time to eat.
And then to serve, you can ladle it out into some bowls,
top with your favorite shredded cheddar cheese,
I like to use a Mexican blend,
and then add your toasty tortillas,
and a little bit of cilantro
and you will have one hardy, delicious,
filling meal that everybody will love.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think
and I'll see you back here next time
for another quick and easy recipe.
Until then, bye.