Crockpot Corn Salsa Chicken with Quinoa

New picture! :)

 Picture from original post.

I know I have been lagging on the posts as of late. I just honestly haven't been making anything spectacular to post about. I tend to post most of my normal weekday dinners on my Instagram account, but don't usually do blog posts with the recipes unless I take hi-res pictures of the food. The problem with that method is that when I make something and it turns out amazing after I eat it, I have no hi-res pictures so then I don't blog the recipe. Well now that I think about it, that seems silly. Not all of my photos have to be perfect or hi-res. It's the food and taste that all of you really care about anyway! So thanks to one of my Facebook/Instagram friends Grace's request for the recipe, I decided to break tradition and post the recipe and just a simple low-res picture that I took and posted on Instagram last night.

UPDATE : I couldn't stand the low-res singular picture of this yummy dish so I went home during my lunch and shot the leftovers with the hi-res camera. I know, I know. I'm stubborn. Haha. See pictures below at the end of the post! :)

While this may be a crockpot recipe, I'd like to warn you all that I made the quinoa separately and then added it to the yummy shredded chicken.

Crockpot Corn Salsa Shredded Chicken with Quinoa
Yields: about 4-6 servings
Wine pairings: Loma Prieta Winery 2009 Viognier, Amorosa - Lodi GOLD MEDAL WINNER or a good Riesling would pair well

Ingredients

- 4 frozen boneless chicken breasts (I know there is a lot of debate out there regarding putting frozen chicken into a crockpot, but I have done this countless times and have never gotten sick. I got my information from here when deciding whether or not to risk it.)
- 1 jar of Trader Joe's Corn and Chile Salsa
- 1 jar of Trader Joe's Organic Tomatillo and Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa

- 2 cups of quinoa (rinsed and drained)
- 4 cups of water

Preparation

Chicken
1. Spray the crockpot to ensure nothing sticks, or use one of those crockpot liners.
2. Dump the entire jar of Trader Joe's Corn and Chile Salsa into the pot.
3. Place the 4 frozen chicken breasts on top of the salsa. (Yes, I literally pulled these chicken breasts out of the freezer during my lunch break and stuck them in the crockpot. I'm alive today to talk about it.)
4. Pour about 1/2 of the jar of Trader Joe's Organic Tomatillo and Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa over the 4 chicken breasts. (It's okay if there are parts of the chicken breasts that are not fully covered in sauce. The breasts shouldn't be submerged.)
5. Set crockpot on high and walk away for a good 5 hours or so.
6. After cooking 5-6 hours on high the chicken should be incredibly easy to shred. I just used 2 forks right in the crockpot to shred the chicken up easily. (The mixture may seem a little watery, but not to fret, it works out!)
7. Pour the rest of the Trader Joe's Organic Tomatillo and Roasted Yellow Chili Salsa over the shredded chicken and put on "warm" and let sit for another 20 minutes or so while you prep the quinoa.

Quinoa
1. Pour 2 cups of dry quinoa into a fine mesh strainer and rinse completely. (Water dripping out should be clear.)
2. Prepare quinoa per package instructions OR use my method which is using a rice cooker (see below).
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Rice Cooker Method
3. Dump the rinsed quinoa into the rice cooker and pour 4 cups of purified water on top.
4. Set rice cooker to "cook" and walk away for about 15-20 minutes until your rice cooker indicates it's done cooking. (I swear by this method, my quinoa comes out fluffy and moist every single time!)
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Final steps would be to serve about 1/2 cup of quinoa in a bowl and then place desired amount of shredded chicken on top. I mixed the two together slightly, however you could eat separately and it would taste just as yummy!

This is a really filling meal, so I only needed my one bowl of the mixture and I was stuffed! Almost couldn't eat my last bites. The recipe is boyfriend approved, so I know it's not just me who thought it was pretty darn amazing. ;)

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pineapple Salsa Chicken & Quinoa

Notice I'm on a quinoa kick? Haha. I just discovered the grain at the beginning of January and have quickly fell in love with it. It's very versatile, just like rice, but has more protein and is better for your body. I can't officially call this recipe "clean" since I used some ingredients which are kind of questionable--slightly processed low sodium soy sauce for example. But you should be able to substitute for completely organic products if you have them at home. The boyfriend LOVED this recipe. He ended up eating more than he should but he couldn't get enough. :) This recipe was inspired by my boyfriend's random purchase of pineapple salsa from Trader Joe's while on his lunch break at work AND the coincidence that I had to stop by his work on the way back home from my lunch break. (Did I mention that working from home on occasion tends to make life pretty convenient?) Anywho I already had chicken ready to go and was just in need of some inspiration, a.k.a. PINEAPPLE--which I can't get enough of--my favorite fruit. The quinoa was honestly an afterthought once I saw that the salsa was getting kind of runny after being heated for so long. PS - Sorry for the crappy pictures, I honestly didn't think I would end up blogging about this particular dinner until after I ate it! Haha.

Ingredients
- 2 tbsp grapeseed oil (or olive oil)
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1/2 a can of pineapple chunks (Canned in natural juices, not syrup--very important. If you have fresh pineapple on hand, even better.)
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice (from can above)
- 3/4 jar of Trader Joe's Pineapple Salsa
- 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
- 1 cup quinoa

Tools
- slow cooker (Mine's a Crock-Pot Brand 3-Quart Slow Cooker --very inexpensive investment!)

Preparation
1. Coat the bottom of your crock pot with the grapeseed oil to prevent stickage. (Or use those nifty crock pot liners--I was all out.)
2. Place the chicken breasts into the crock pot along with the soy sauce, about three quarters of the jar of salsa and half a can of the pineapple chunks (more depending on your preference). Don't forget to save the juice.
3. Cover and put on high for about 3 hours.
4. Check on your chicken, it should be white all the way through at this point. Your salsa should be a little watery now that it has been heated.
5. Carefully shred your chicken using 2 forks or a fork and a knife--try not to scratch your crock pot. (You could always take out the chicken and do this process in another bowl, I'm just too lazy. Haha)
5. Add the quinoa and pineapple juice to the chicken and salsa and mix around a bit so the quinoa is covered in liquid. (If your crock pot is looking a little too dry with the addition of the quinoa, either add more pineapple juice or water. But these measurements worked out fine for me.)
6. Recover and keep on high for another hour.
7. Your quinoa should now be fluffy and soft. (Tasting is always encouraged.)
8. Stir the quinoa around so that the pineapple and shredded chicken are present in every bite.
9. Viola! Slow cooker healthy meal DONE!