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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans



I bought a bag of dried beans a few months ago, but hadn't really found the time or patience to cook them by letting them boil for an hour or even better, soak for several hours.  I knew there had to be an easier way, and sure enough there is with a crock pot.





Although I found several different recipes that sounded delicious, in particular a Chicken and Black Bean Tacos Recipe stuck out.  The recipe called for a can of black beans, so I tracked down a a different recipe for cooking dried black beans in the crock pot and just decided to add water and make my own Chicken and Black Beans.

First I mixed the dried beans, water, tomatos, minced onion, chili powder, and cumin together in the bottom of the crock pot.  Then I sprinkled garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and a little bit of chili powder and cumin on the chicken and set it on top.


I cooked it for 3 and a half hours on high, stirring the beans a few times throughout to prevent the beans from sticking or burning to the sides.  Although the original recipe for cooking black beans from dry form calls for cooking 5-6 hours, the beans were obviously ready and I did not want to turn them into an overcooked pile of mush.


The chicken was cooked perfectly and not at all dried out, so I just shredded it on top of the beans.


We served them on soft tortillas as tacos but I know this would be amazing with rice as well.  It's easy, healthy, and tastes delicious.  I will need to add some more chicken next time because the bean to chicken ratio was a little off, and will probably add more chili powder next time to kick up the spice level a few notches.  My husband loved this meal so much he called it a revelation!  That's what I call success in the kitchen.

Crock Pot Chicken and Black Beans Recipe

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts
1 16 ounce bag of dried black beans
2 cups water
1 15 ounce can of tomatoes with green chiles
1/2 teaspoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:


Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray.  Mix dried beans, water, tomatos, minced onion, chili powder, and cumin together in the bottom of the crock pot.  Season both sides of chicken with garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and about 1/8 teaspoon of additional chili powder and cumin, then lay chicken on top of the beans.  Cook for 3 and a half hours on high or 6-8 hours on low, until beans are cooked and chicken shreds easily.

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