Crockpot Cooking

I visited my parents this weekend and told my mom about a great recipe I have for peanut chicken. It's for the crockpot, one of my trusty standby kitchen tools in the winter. I decided maybe it's time to break out the crockpot in the summer too. Here's the chicken recipe.

Note: I often skip browning the chicken if I'm just cooking for my husband and I. It's primarily for presentation purposes, so I cut that step out if I need to save time when getting this ready. I usually typically use three cans of tomatoes with green chilies instead of mixing in some crushed since (we don't really care for the extra chunky tomatoes).

Spicy Braised Peanut Chicken

1 T. olive or vegetable oil
3 lbs chicken thighs, skin removed
1 onion, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
1 can crushed tomatoes, undrained
2 T. honey
1 ½ t. cumin
1 t. cinnamon
1/3 C. creamy peanut butter
2 C. rice, couscous, or some other starch for serving

Heat oil in skillet. Cook chicken in oil about 4 minutes, until brown.

Mix onion, tomatoes, honey, cumin, and cinnamon in slow cooker. Place chicken in slow cooker. Spoon tomato mixture over chicken. Cover and cook on low heat 7 to 8 hours until juice of chicken is no longer pink when cut. Stir in peanut butter until melted and well blended. Serve chicken and sauce over couscous, rice or other. Makes about 4 servings.

From Betty Crocker Slow Cooker Meals, October 2002