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Um, yeah, it’s been a while. Should I regurgitate lame excuses to the effect of, “I’ve been soooo busy,” or, “I just graduated and needed time off?” Nah. I could give many many excuses, because Life, with a capital L because it’s an entity all its own, has been spinning me around Wizard of Oz tornado style and I assume I’ll be landing in some unknown realm in the coming months. That’s what Life does sometimes. You think everything’s all mellow and you have everything in nice, straight lines. And then WHAM! Everything gets crazy. And you reassess who you are and what you want out of that trickster called Life. But, in my opinion, change is necessary and exciting. There are so many possibilities. So. Many.

I’m always looking for new slow cooker recipes. I mean, that damn thing is taking up a lot of real estate in the cupboard, so it should get some use. So many recipes I see online are for stew-type dishes, and I’m not really a stew-type girl. It’s just not all that appealing to me. But I have made a good amount of Latin dishes with it, with great success. This dish in particular. I’ve made it three times now, and every time it blows us away with its deep, rich, melt-in-your-mouth flavor, and general ease in making. The only arduous part is warming the corn tortillas. I like to spray a little olive oil on each side and heat them on a skillet over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until they’re golden brown. When making 8-12 tacos, this step can take a while, but the tortillas taste infinitely better than using the microwave. But, by all means, make them whichever way you’d like.

I hope everyone had joyous holidays, and are just as excited for 2013 as I am! Also, if you have any great slow cooker recipes, leave them in the comments!!!

What I’m reading: Saga (comic)
What I’m listening to: Kendrick Lamar

Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos (adapted from Martha Stewart)

  • 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 cup tomato salsa (whichever kind you like)
  • 1-2 Tbsp diced chipotles in adobo
  • 2 Tbsp hot sauce (whichever kind you like), separated
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 lime
  • s&p
  • 8-12 corn tortillas, warm
  • 2 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
  • cilantro for garnish

Add first 4 ingredients to the slow cooker, plus 1 tablespoon of hot sauce and season with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. Once cooked, shred the chicken with 2 forks. Keep warm.

To make the sour cream sauce:
In a bowl, mix together the sour cream, 1 tablespoon of hot sauce, 1/2 lime squeezed, and season with salt and pepper. Double recipe if necessary.

Assemble:
Top a warm corn tortilla with shredded chicken, then cabbage, then sauce, and finally some cilantro leaves. Serve with extra lime wedges.

Serves 4