Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken / Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower

Hello friends!  Today I'm not posting a freezer meal, but a meal that is very versatile and a great way to make one easy meal that will translate into many other meals.  I'll show you one such extra meal that I made that was awesome.  It's like getting two meals for one!

Today I'm going to show you my take on Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken.  I got the basis for this recipe from a cookbook called "The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook". http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Low-Carb-Slow-Cooker-Cookbook/dp/1569244286

A side note:  I love this cookbook.  Even if you don't eat low carb, it's a great resource to make some healthy, new slow cooker recipes.

Our local grocery store had whole chickens on sale last week.  I remember seeing in the cookbook a way to make whole chicken in the slow cooker.  There is another recipe in the book for chicken piccata that uses boneless chicken breasts.  I decided to combine the two recipes.

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

4-5 pound whole chicken, rinsed, with the giblets removed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons quick cooking tapioca(or use cornstarch)
2 lemons, pierced 6 times with a paring knife, and cut in quarters
Cooking spray

Directions

Spray slow cooker with cooking spray to make for easy cleanup.  Put as many of the lemon pieces and you can fit into the cavity of the chicken.  Coat chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Put chicken into the slow cooker breast side down.

In a small bowl, combine wine, Tabasco, and tapioca.  Mix thoroughly until completely smooth. Pour mixture into slow cooker.  Place remaining lemon pieces into slow cooker as well.

Cover and cook on Low for around 7 hours.  How long will depend on the size of your chicken. Check doneness with an instant-read thermometer(it should register 170 degrees).  If you have a 4 pound chicken, you might want to start checking at 6 hours.

When done, remove chicken from the slow cooker and let rest prior to serving.

The chicken is delicious served by itself with a little of the slow cooker juices.  It's also great the next day on salads or in sandwiches.  I decided to take it a step further and it took it over the edge!

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower

Ingredients

Juice left over from the slow cooker lemon chicken
Cooked lemons
Breast meat shredded from 1 chicken breast from slow cooker lemon chicken
1 12 oz bag of frozen cauliflower(I used one with a garlic sauce)
Parsley

Directions

After removing the chicken from slow cooker, use tongs to squeeze lemon pieces to release all juices into the chicken juice that is already in the slow cooker.  Discard lemon rinds.

Cook frozen cauliflower in the microwave according to the directions.  Once cooked, cut any large cauliflower pieces into bite sized pieces.  Add cauliflower and shredded chicken to slow cooker with juices. Stir to combine.

To serve, ladle into bowls and stir in chopped parsley.  TIP:  An easy way to add parsley is to use scissors.  Just clip right over the bowl.

Slow Cooker Lemon Chicken Soup with Cauliflower

Please note, if you are not a big cauliflower fan there are other great options.  I would also suggest cooked rice, noodles, broccoli, kale, or spinach.  If you are using the rice or noodles, only add what you are going to eat right then, as leaving them in the liquid will cause them to bloat.

I hope you enjoy this meal.  Let me know if you tried it and how it went.  Also let me know if you thought of a great variation!