a peek inside the fishbowl

I don’t think I’ve ever made chicken in the slow cooker. It’s been relegated to hearty beef stews, meatballs, pulled pork and even clam chowder. So when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I thought – aha, this is something I might want to try.

I looked at the recipe (which was from here and here before that) and decided it needed a couple tweaks.

I wasn’t crazy about the idea of putting cold raw chicken in the slow cooker. So I browned it on both sides first. I also skipped the baby carrots and subbed in some rather haphazardly chopped fresh carrots. We don’t buy baby carrots anymore because I prefer ’em a little less processed, with the tops on and a little dirty. (I do wash them of course.)

Sidebar: Here’s an interesting carrot-related related entry on Snopes.com that answers a few rumours that are floating around about baby carrots.

Anyway, here’s the recipe:

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 medium carrots, chopped into chunks
1 small onion, quartered
2 or 3 tablespoons gingerroot, finely chopped
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup PC Organics condensed veggie broth
almost 1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Here’s the saucy part:

¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
3 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons cornstarch

For decoration:

1 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
2 green onions, sliced

I followed the directions on the original website, but I browned the chicken first (along with an onion and a bit of salt and pepper) before putting it to the slow cooker. I also fried the ginger and fresh garlic (just until fragrant) before adding it to the chicken and carrots.

I’m going to serve this tonight with sticky rice.

So here’s the big question? Will they eat it (the kids, I mean)? I hope they do, because it’s pretty easy to throw together. It’s in the slow-cooker now, so I’ll post an update (and a photo or two) after dinner. Stay tuned!

Edited to add:

Looks pretty good eh?

Emma loved it, Mark liked it, Sarah didn’t really like it and I was so-so about it. I had incorrectly assumed it would taste like a ginger-chicken stirfry I make but this was more like a chicken stew. Anyway, it was worth a try, and I might make it again but omit the onion and maybe add a few teaspoons of Chinese cooking wine to the sauce for a bit of extra tang. If you try this recipe please let me know how it turns out for you!