Monday, April 16, 2012

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken

I have yet another confession to make. I'm completely terrified of my crock pot. I know my feelings are unfounded and slightly crazy, but it's true. It's fairly new (I bought it last year), and I haven't been able to leave it alone for hours on end yet. I'm afraid it might burn down my house! My mom uses hers all the time without worrying, but I'm not used to that at all. So I'm slowly forcing myself to leave the house for short periods of times and gradually lengthen my time away, working myself up to 12 hours for when I have to work. 

My latest obsession in the blogging world is foodgawker. I find it even more addicting and more frustrating than Facebook. I submit photos, some get accepted, some denied, and I want to scream and pull my hair out. I just want to share my love for food! I realize that I do need to work on my food composition/lighting and that will come with time and practice. Patience is a virtue. Breathe, Helena, Breathe! On the positive side of things, I do find plenty of good recipes and inspirations on this site, so I will continue to peruse daily. Yep, it's a love-hate relationship. 

This is a recipe I found on foodgawker. I love Chinese food, but worry about all the extra fat and frying that is used. It is so encouraging to find people who are trying to create a healthier spin on such unhealthy meals, with equally tasty results. This is an example of one of those recipes. The only thing I would suggest is to cook the chicken for 6-7 hours. I cooked for 8, and even though the chicken was full of flavor, some of the sauce had burnt around the edges. It's just my preference, but I think next time I make this I will cook for 6 hours, and add the pineapple 3/4 through to get more of its flavor. Other than that, it is a tasty and flavorful meal with minimal prep time and I survived leaving the house for 3 hours without fretting too much about if my house was burning down! A definite plus in my books!

Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Chicken
Serves 4

 INGREDIENTS
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
3 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoon soy sauce, low sodium
3 tablespoon tomato paste
2 garlic cloves, minced finely
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Sriracha hot sauce (optional)

1/3 cup chicken broth
1/3 cup cornstarch
3/4 cup diced fresh pineapple
1/4 of an onion, diced
1/2 of a great bell pepper, diced

DIRECTIONS
Arrange the diced chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the next 11 ingredients and whisk until well blended. Pour over the arranged chicken, pressing the chicken into the sauce to cover. Cover slow cooker with the lid and cook on low heat for 6-8 hours.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together 1/3 chicken broth together with 1/3 cup cornstarch. Whisk until well combined and fold the gently into the chicken mixture (the chicken will be very tender at this point). Fold in the pineapple, onion and bell pepper. Cover with the lid and cook for an addition 20-30 minutes until the sauce thickens and or/ the veggies are slightly tender. Serve warm with white or brown rice.

Slightly adapted from: Cooking Classy