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Family Kitchen
Thai Chicken Thighs (in the Slow Cooker)
Confession: I love my slow cooker. I’m not a kitchen gadgety sort of person, but my CrockPot I couldn’t do without.
OK, I could probably do without. But I wouldn’t want to.
I do all kinds of things in the slow cooker – baked beans, stews, braises, bean dishes, chili – but these chicken thighs in a slightly spicy peanut sauce is the encapsulates the greatness inherent in a slow cooker: you throw the ingredients in, turn it on, and by the time you wake up/get home from work/school/anywhere it has morphed into something much greater than the sum of its parts.
This morning while retrieving milk from the fridge for oatmeal I noticed a package of chicken thighs I had taken out of the freezer – the plan at the time was to make white bean and chicken stew with pesto – something that had completely escaped my brainpan when my sister (who lives across the street) offered to order Chinese food. We had to leave for playschool in five minutes, but I threw the chicken into my trusty CrockPot with a few glugs of salsa, a big knife-glob of peanut butter (which was, conveniently, already out) and a shake of soy sauce and rice vinegar. (Usually I use lime juice, but I was streamlining here – the rice vinegar was above my head, right beside the soy sauce.) You could add ginger and garlic – today I didn’t.
And voila – dinner.
I mentioned this quick formula on the air a few weeks ago, when I was taking over traffic duties on CBC radio, and had more calls about it on the traffic line than I had calls from commuters. It seems fast, delicious, real meals is an interest we all have in common.
Seriously, this is about as easy as it gets. It looks a little watery at first, but give it a chance – the sauce will cook up nicely. Just be gentle with them when they’re done; if you take of the lid and give it a stir, all the thighs will come apart and you’ll wind up with juicy chunks with naked bones swimming around the pot. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Thai Chicken Thighs
8 skinless chicken thighs
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup peanut butter (any kind)
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. lime juice
2 tsp. grated gingerPut everything in the slow cooker and set on low for 6 hours. Serve warm over rice.
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2 Comments
lauren commented on May 20 10 at 10:49 amthis sounds so good. more slow cooker recipes please! :)
Kendra commented on Aug 18 10 at 9:39 pmThis was pretty good – my slow-cooker’s controls really aren’t much more advanced than a Betty Crocker EZ Bake Oven, so I really have to watch it or things turn out dry. Just before serving, I added fresh basil chiffonade from the garden and the lime juice, and my husband and I used Sriracha at the table. next time if I’m feeling fancy, I might throw a bit of fish sauce in addition to the soy, and some kaffir lime leaves or panang. Not exactly Thai, but good enough – thank you for a new and different crock pot recipe!
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