Maximizing your chicken....Spiced Slow Cooked Pulled Chicken

One of my personal goals for 2012 is to start to use my slow cooker on a regular basis. This was my first attempt of the year, and I have to say, it turned out great! Every week Brandon and I pre-prep our protein, but even I have to admit I was getting a bit tired of baked chicken breasts to use up during the week. I decided to try out a new way to cook up chicken (you can use any part of the chicken really).

Spiced Slow Cooked Pulled Chicken

Ingredients:

2lb skinless boneless whole chicken breasts

1 -  14.5oz can salt-free diced tomatoes

2 medium onions, cut into quarters

1 carton of low sodium chicken broth

Garlic powder, crushed dried red chilli peppers, salt and pepper to taste

1) Empty contents of can of tomatoes into the slow cooker.

2) Layer onions on top of tomatoes.

3) Rub chicken breasts with garlic powder, chilli peppers, salt and pepper.

4) Place chicken breasts on top of onions.

5) Pour chicken broth into slow cooker so the tops of the chicken breasts are just covered. Put lid on slow cooker.

6) Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4.5 hours.

7) Once cooked, remove chicken from slow cooker. Holding the chicken breast with one fork, use another fork to scrape along the chicken in the direction of the fibres. It should pull apart in strips.

8) Store in the fridge in a container with some of the liquid to keep the chicken moist.

We've used our chicken for the past 3-4 days on all sorts of things - warmed on salads with goat's cheese, on sandwiches/wraps, in vegetable broth for added protein and even with spinach and skim mozzarella on the homemade cauliflower-crust pizza I made yesterday (I'll be posting more about that later!). Making pulled chicken really maximizes your chicken - it gives it great volume and a new texture to enjoy in all of your favourite meals. Plus - it's super easy to make which is always a bonus!