In the Kitchen: Spanish Chicken and Rice

I tried a new crock pot recipe over the weekend! Back at school I had borrowed my professor's crock pot recipe cookbook. I made copies of the ones I wanted to try, and ended up with quite a few!

Spanish Chicken and Rice was one of the recipes I got from that cookbook. With some simple prep work, this meal comes together easily and is very tasty! Try it yourself if you're interested:

1 to 1 and 1/4 pounds boneless chicken breasts, skin removed (I used 3 breasts)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 pound bulk Italian sausage (I guessed on this and used one link from a pack - could have used more)
2 to 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 medium tomatoes, peeled, cut up, and juice reserved (I used a can of diced tomatoes)
1 can (6 oz - about 3/4 cup) tomato juice (I used a mix of pizza sauce and water)
3/4 cup uncooked converted long grain rice (I don't know what that means, but I used what we had in the pantry)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning, crushed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup diced green pepper (I used a red pepper)
1 large clove of garlic, minced (I used 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic)

1. Coat inside of slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium skillet, crumble sausage. Over medium heat, brown sausage. Remove sausage and drain on paper towels. Place in slow cooker. Discard drippings.

2. While sausage is browning, cut chicken into 3/4-inch pieces. In a plastic bag, mix flour, salt, and pepper. Add chicken and shake until chicken is well coated. When sausage is done, use skillet on medium-high to brown chicken in oil. Transfer chicken to slow cooker.

3. Place tomatoes with liquid, tomato juice, water, bouillon granules, and Italian seasoning in skillet. Stirring over medium heat, bring to a boil, loosening browning bits from the bottom of skillet. Pour over chicken. Top with onion, green peppers, garlic, and stir.

4. Cover and cook on high for 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours or on low for 5 to 6 hours or until rice, vegetables, and chicken are very tender.

What I Learned: Some recipes have room for substitutes. Use what you have on hand if you can! I also learned to read the recipe carefully. I had the meal cooking in the crock pot and walked away. I came back a few minutes later and looked at the recipe again and noticed I should have stirred everything up in the crock pot before setting it to cook! It might not have made a huge difference, but I'm sure it was good to spread all the ingredients around.

This recipe is also good as leftovers - perfect for lunches at the office!