Balsamic Chicken

Photo credit: Jessica

It's funny that I can make these recipes and love them and then completely forget about them. (Do you ever do that?) This is one that falls in that category. When Jessica posted the above photo on her blog a couple of weeks ago, she said that she had gotten the recipe from my blog. Really? I actually had to go look and see when I had posted it. It was about three years ago.

So it is overdue to make another appearance here. What an easy meal to make for dinner on a busy night last week. I walked in the door from handbell practice and this was ready to put on the plate.

The joy of posting these recipes here on my blog is that I can find the notes I make about what I've cooked. Three years ago I wrote that I needed to shorten the cooking time. So, this time I cooked it on HIGH for about 4 hours. This might not fit into your schedule if you are away all day. If you set the slow cooker to LOW, cook it for about 6 hours. I found that 8 hours was too long.

The joy of this recipe—other than it all goes into the slow cooker—is that the seasonings are all things that you likely have on hand. And there is no slicing or dicing. Just measure dry spices out of the little bottles. Sure, there are times when only fresh herbs will do. But there are times when "easy" is more important.

Give this one a try soon. If you actually have the fresh parsley for garnish, this looks like a company dinner. But it also works for a Wednesday night supper.

SLOW COOKER BALSAMIC CHICKEN 

2 teaspoons dried minced onion

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced (I used jarred minced garlic)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

fresh chopped parsley

Combine the first five dry spices in a small bowl and spread over chicken on both sides. Set aside. Pour olive oil and garlic on the bottom of the crockpot. Place chicken pieces on top. Pour balsamic vinegar over the chicken. Cover and cook on HIGH for 4 hours or LOW for 6 hours. Sprinkle with fresh parsley before serving.

Borrowing a wonderful tip from reader Becky, I packed up the slow cooker to take to the beach where I'm on "grandmother duty" this week. She said they use a slow cooker for a few easy meals when they go. AND she measures out spices/seasonings before she leaves home. No need to buy an assortment of bottles when you only need a teaspoon or less of any of them. I think she goes even further and will freeze meat—such as a pork tenderloin—in the marinade and pack that into a cooler. Good idea for you to file away for your next trip.

PS  You can find the recipe for the orzo salad you see in the top photo on Jessica's blog post. That was her side dish with this recipe. She also has other yummy recipes there.