Chicken Recipe, Thighs and Red Bell Peppers

There are so many reasons why this is such a smart dish. It provides a healthy low cholesterol protein. It is low in calories. It tastes marvelous. It is inexpensive. It has many uses. In the summertime a slow cooker does NOT heat up your kitchen too!

Chicken is the recommended meat protein for those wishing to lower their cholesterol. The USDA says that chicken has less total fat which includes saturated fat and cholesterol than beef. The skin on chicken is where the fat is and this recipe uses skinless and boneless chicken thighs. This recipe also skims any fat that is cooked out of the meat off.

Cholesterol is a sterol fat found in all animal tissue. We make it in our bodies and conventional wisdom says that too much of the wrong fats are very bad for your health. So, we all should try and consume less of the saturated ‘bad fats.’

Chicken is low in calories but deceptively so is beef. The calories in chicken are from a healthier fat. Also, there tends to be a bit more protein per serving in chicken.

Chicken thighs are dark meat and dark meat is more tasty than white meat. Also, chicken breasts (white meat) are often cooked to a dry stringy state. Thighs are harder to cook dry but it can be done. Please note, that a slow cooker will keep the chicken moist while providing a great rich liquid to use for other dishes.

Chicken is generally lower in cost per pound than beef. However, be sure to compare similar chicken cuts to beef cuts. Is the bone in? Is it a premium cut or not? Generally, chicken thighs are not considered a premium cut. Yet, chicken thighs bring huge taste to the table and are easier to cook while retaining a moist meat.

I use this recipe as the backbone for several dishes. It will provide a tasty and moist meat to nestle next to my pasta with marinara sauce the first night that I cook it.

The chicken thighs will be shredded to provide sandwich meats for several days. The red peppers will be great on the sandwiches as well. It will also provide a salad topping if you wish too. It is great on nachos, added to soups, salads, burritos, etc.

The rich flavorful broth drained from the meat will be placed on the sliced chicken thighs to keep them moist. At this point I further skim any fat from the broth as the fats rise to the top when this broth is refrigerated. I discard these fats, again making the dish healthier.

And last but certainly not least, the broth from the cooked chicken thighs will be used as a flavor base for a healthy multi grain and vegetable soup. Soups and stews are best when the base liquid flavor brings taste and richness to the dish. Try some store bought egg noodles boiled in this broth. The noodle side dish will have your family begging for more!

Do you see how these humble and inexpensive chicken thighs have paid for themselves over and over? It is even better when you find them on sale or purchase a huge bag of frozen chicken thighs from your local warehouse store. One note on frozen chicken thighs, do pay attention to whether the manufacturer inflates the weight of the frozen chicken thighs by adding water! You do not want to pay for frozen water! I personally, recommend Kirtland boneless skinless chicken thighs for a good value.

Here is the very simple recipe for all of the above!

Enjoy!

After over 30 years working outside the home, I feel I have some ‘chops/props’ in the area of slow cookers. I used the slow cooker method daily for literally years to provide meals. The house smelled wonderful when you got home from work too! It was almost like my Mom was there cooking.

So let this recipe help you during your time crunched years!