300 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes (17 page)

Chicken in Creamy Orange Sauce

4 pounds (1.8 kg) skinless chicken thighs

3 tablespoons (45 ml) oil

3 tablespoons (45 ml) brandy

1/2 cup (120 ml) white wine vinegar

1/2 cup (120 ml) lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon orange extract

1 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/3 cup (8 g) Splenda

8 scallions, sliced

6 ounces (170 g) light cream cheese, cut into chunks

Guar or xanthan (optional)

In a big, heavy skillet, brown the chicken in the oil over medium-high heat. Transfer the chicken to your slow cooker.

In a bowl, stir together the brandy, vinegar, lemon juice, orange extract, and Splenda. Pour the mixture over chicken. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 6 hours.

When the time's up, transfer the chicken to a platter. Add the scallions to the liquid in the slow cooker and then add the cream cheese and stir till it's melted. Thicken with guar or xanthan if you think it needs it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the sauce over the chicken.

Cauli-Rice
(see recipe
page 343
) in one form or another is the natural side dish with this. Add a big green salad, and there's supper!

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 359 calories, 20 g fat, 35 g protein, 5 g carbohydrate, trace dietary fiber, 5 g usable carbs.

“I've Got a Life” Chicken

This recipe from
15-Minute Low-Carb Recipes
is remarkably good. It's sweet, tangy, and fruity.

3 to 3 1/2 pounds (1.4 to 1.6 kg) bone-in chicken parts (I use legs and thighs, but a whole cut-up chicken would work great.)

8 ounces (225 g) sliced mushrooms

3 tablespoons (45 ml) orange juice

Grated zest of one orange

1 tablespoon (18 g) chicken bouillon concentrate

1/2 teaspoon pepper

8 ounces (225 g) canned tomato sauce

2 tablespoons (28 ml) soy sauce

2 tablespoons (3 g) Splenda

1/2 teaspoon blackstrap molasses

2 teaspoons minced garlic or

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Guar or xanthan

Remove the skin and any big lumps of fat from the chicken and place it in your slow cooker. (You can save time by buying chicken with the skin already removed, but it's more expensive.) Place the mushrooms on top.

In a bowl, mix together the orange juice, orange zest, bouillon, pepper, tomato sauce, soy sauce, Splenda, molasses, garlic, and thyme. Pour the mixture on top of the chicken and mushrooms. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

When the time's up, remove the chicken and put it on a platter. Use the guar or xanthan to thicken up the sauce in the slow cooker and serve the sauce with the chicken.

Yield:
6 servings, each with: 424 calories, 27 g fat, 35 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs. (This analysis assumes that you eat all of the gravy.)

Slow Cooker Chicken Guadeloupe

This isn't authentically anything, but it borrows its flavors from the Creole cooking of the Caribbean.

1 cut-up broiler-fryer chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds (1.5 kg), or whatever chicken parts you prefer

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 cup (60 ml) lemon juice

1 can (14 1/2 ounces, or 410 g) tomatoes with green chiles

1 shot (3 tablespoons, or 45 ml) dark rum

Guar or xanthan

Place the chicken, onion, allspice, thyme, lemon juice, tomatoes, and rum in your slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

Remove the chicken carefully—it'll be sliding from the bone! Thicken up the sauce with guar or xanthan. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve the sauce over the chicken.

Yield:
5 servings, each with: 541 calories, 36 g fat, 41 g protein, 7 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 6 g usable carbs.

Yassa

This chicken stew comes from Senegal. Traditionally it is quite hot, so feel free to increase the cayenne if you like!

3 large onions, thinly sliced

6 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 cup (120 ml) lemon juice

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or more to taste

6 pounds (2.7 kg) chicken, cut up

1/4 cup (60 ml) oil

8 cups (960 g)
Cauli-Rice
(see recipe
page 343
)

In your slow cooker, combine the onions, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and cayenne. Add the chicken and toss so that all the chicken comes in contact with the seasonings. Cover your slow cooker and refrigerate overnight. (It's a good idea to stir this a few times if you think of it, though I don't expect you to get up in the middle of the night to do it!)

Using tongs, remove the chicken from the marinade. Pat it dry with paper towels and set it aside. Transfer the marinade to your slow cooker.

In a big, heavy skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Place the chicken skin side down and cook it until the skin is browned. (You'll need to do this in batches unless your skillet is a lot bigger than mine!) Don't bother browning the other side of the chicken.

Transfer the chicken back to the slow cooker with the marinade. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker with tongs. Put the chicken on a platter, cover it with foil, and put it in a warm place.

Ladle the onions and liquid out of the slow cooker into the skillet and turn the heat to high. Boil this hard, stirring often, until most of the liquid has evaporated. (You want the volume reduced by more than half.) Serve the chicken, onions, and sauce over the
Cauli-Rice
.

Yield:
8 servings, each with: 638 calories, 46 g fat, 45 g protein, 11 g carbohydrate, 3 g dietary fiber, 8 g usable carbs.

Sort-of-Ethiopian Chicken Stew

The slow cooker method is hardly authentic, but the flavors come from an Ethiopian recipe—except that the Ethiopians would use a lot more cayenne! Increase it if you like really hot food.

1 cut-up broiler-fryer, about

3 pounds (1.4 kg)

1 medium onion, chopped

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon grated ginger root

2 tablespoons (28 ml) lemon juice

1/2 cup (120 ml) water

Guar or xanthan

Place the chicken, onion, cayenne, paprika, pepper, ginger, lemon juice, and water in your slow cooker. Cover the slow cooker, set it to low, and let it cook for 5 to 6 hours.

If you'd like to make this really stewlike, you can pick the meat off the bones when it's done (which will be very easy), thicken the gravy with guar or xanthan, and then stir the chicken back into the liquid. Or you can just serve the gravy over the chicken. Take your pick.

Yield:
5 servings, each with: 437 calories, 31 g fat, 34 g protein, 3 g carbohydrate, 1 g dietary fiber, 2 g usable carbs.

African Chicken, Peanut, and Spinach Stew

This may be my favorite recipe in this chapter. It's an incredibly satisfying one-dish meal.

2 pounds (900 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs

2 tablespoons (28 g) coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, crushed

3 tablespoons (24 g) grated ginger root

1 medium onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups (355 ml) chicken broth

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon concentrate

2 1/2 tablespoons (36 ml) soy sauce

1 tablespoon (15 ml) rice vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons dark sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon chili paste

3 tablespoons (48 g) natural peanut butter

10 ounces (280 g) frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Cut the chicken into 1/2-inch (13 mm) cubes and in your big, heavy skillet, start them browning in the coconut oil. While that's happening, crush your garlic, grate your ginger, and chop your onion.

When the chicken has a touch of color, transfer it to the slow cooker. Add the garlic, ginger, and onion.

Dissolve the chicken bouillon concentrate in the broth and add to the pot along with the soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, and chili garlic paste. Give it all a stir. Plunk the peanut butter on top, cover the pot, set to low, and let it cook for a good 5 to 6 hours.