I have become delete happy. Yep. I am deleting left & right to remove clutter from my life & computer…problem is…I have deleted images that I intended to edit. OOooopsie! So you will have to use your imagination on this one. I had a beautiful image. A nice juicy sandwich with a side of glistening roasted green beans. But it’s gone. I have a few images from the process, so they will have to do. I decided to share with you even though my food “story” is incomplete.
This recipe was a gamble. This was the first time I made it. I prefer making my own sauces for meat, as they are always so much better & richer than store bought. So easy too. This was no exception–yummy & simple. We decided the chicken would taste better on slider buns than on big buns because the sandwich felt heavy. I think we are suddenly obsessed with sliders though…food is just more fun when it’s small!
SLOW-COOKER SPICY BUFFALO CHICKEN SANDWICHES
Found in Everyday Food Mag HERE
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup hot-pepper sauce, such as Frank’s
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon unsulfured molasses
- 8 hamburger buns
Preparation
- In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring once, until meat is golden brown, 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer to a slow cooker, leaving as much oil behind as possible. Repeat with chicken breasts.
- To skillet, add onion, garlic, and bell pepper and cook over medium, stirring constantly, until onion is translucent, 6 minutes. Add 1/4 cup water and cook, stirring and scraping up browned bits from skillet, 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to slow cooker.
- To slow cooker, add crushed tomatoes, hot-pepper sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, and molasses; stir to combine. Cover and cook on high until chicken is very tender, 4 hours. Shred chicken and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on buns.
Ingredients & fresh veggies, then bottom right is what the kitchen looked like once everything was in the crock pot cooking. Not too bad for a nice homemade meal!
A note on SIDES. I prefer to cook a one pot meal. I like mixing everything together, but sides are essential when you have sandwiches & burgers. We tend to add veggies. For this meal, our side was green beans & my motto is this: KEEP IT SIMPLE. When cooking veggies I add olive oil, salt & pepper then roast or grill. Sometimes I’ll add a bit of garlic salt instead of the salt & pepper. Also delicious. We enjoy our veggies as close to what nature intended them to be. They are so good that way. Sides we love: asparagus, yellow squash, zucchini, butternut squash, green beans, beets & peppers. All are lovely cooked with hardly anything. The cooking brings out all the flavors you need–so don’t be afraid to go bare!
& those of you feeding kiddos–caroline ate this with us. The meat was not too spicy for her & I recall her begging for “MO!” I think I added some noodles with it for her carb, as she ate just the meat + green beans. :)
