Saturday, January 21, 2012

Spicy Chicken with Dates and Butternut Squash


Living Social Deals had a CSA deal recently, and it actually had a local pick up, so I jumped on the deal!  We picked up our first box of produce this week, and I was left pondering exactly what to do with this great stuff, some of which I have never used before.  There really wasn’t anything to exotic, it was all stuff I had heard of…but I still hit the web and my foodie facebook friends for suggestions of what to do with a few of the items. 
Tonight we used the Butternut Squash, part of the onion, an apple and an orange for our meal. 
I found this recipe on Rachel Ray’s website, and had most of the ingredients on hand already, and the things I did not have I had substitutions, I also adapted the recipe for the crock-pot.  (I try to use my crock pot and microwave as much as possible to cut down the energy use and the heat production in the house).
Here is my adjusted recipe as I made it in the crockpot…please see the original recipe as linked above.
into the CROCK POT: 
2.5 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs
1 c chicken stock
1/2 onion sliced
about 1 c of dried diced dates (mine already came diced)
1T ground cumin
1T ground coriander
3T Spicy brown mustard (or 1T turmeric if you have it)
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
salt and pepper

Cook on low @8hrs, or high @5hrs 

1/2 butternut squash - seeded, peeled, and cut into bits-sized cubes
*I only used half, b/c I wasn’t sure how it would go over with the kids, so I didn’t want to ‘waste’ any of it.  I put the other half aside for another recipe I want to try. 
Arrange squash on a baking sheet, drizzle with EVOO and season with salt and pepper.  Roast in 400degree oven for about 30mins.  Toss into the crockpot shortly before serving. 

Serve on top of quinoa

2c chicken stock
1c quinoa
orange zest
Cook as directed (typically about 15mins)
Top with diced almonds (about 1/2 c)

I also served apple and orange wedges on the side.

1 comment:

  1. Saw this linked up over at Home to 4 Kiddos. It looks delicious. Exactly how spicy is it though?
    If you have a chance, I am trying my Kids and a Mom in the Kitchen linky again, I'd love for you to stop by.
    Have a great day.

    ReplyDelete

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