Slow Cooker Orange Chicken and Ginger-Peanut Slaw [Recipe]

I got a Crock-Pot slow cooker for Christmas and have been using it like crazy to make dinner. It's nice to come home from work and know that dinner is pretty much ready to go.

Yesterday's meal had Duzzy going for seconds and asking if it was easy to make -- man code for 'please make this again!'

The Orange Chicken recipe came from a blog I stumbled upon called 'Who Needs a Cape?' I added the baby corn because...I like baby corn. Best of all, you can assemble this ahead of time, and throw it in the freezer -- just defrost before putting it in the slow cooker!

Orange Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into bite size pieces)
• 3 tbls. coconut oil
• juice of 2 oranges
• zest from 1 orange
• 1/4 cup of orange juice (it adds extra orange-y goodness to the fresh stuff.)
• 1 tsp. minced fresh ginger
• 3 tbls. soy sauce
• 2 tbls. sriracha
• 1 can whole baby corn
• chopped peanuts (unsalted) for topping

Spray slow cooker with non-stick cooking spray. Place cut chicken into pot.
Mix the rest of the ingredients together (except for peanuts) and pour over chicken.
Cook for 4-6 hours on low. (I added the baby corn at the end, setting the Crock-Pot to warm while I assembling the rest of the meal.) Serve the chicken as desired, topping with chopped peanuts. (I had no peanuts, so I used almonds. It was totally fine.)

I made a little brown rice (adding a tsp. of toasted sesame oil in with the water) to serve as a little bed for the chicken.

I also threw together an Asian-style slaw which came out insanely good.

Ginger-Peanut Slaw:

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of shredded coleslaw with broccoli florets (Don't ask me what size the bag was or what brand I used. I have no idea. The regular size and whatever brand I saw first.)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tbls. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbls. peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. Sriracha sauce
• 1 tbls. minced fresh ginger
• 1 large garlic clove, minced

Dump the coleslaw veggies into a big bowl. Mix together the rest of the ingredients, and whisk together until the peanut butter breaks up and is well incorporated. Pour over the veggies, and mix it together until everything is well coated. Cover with plastic wrap and let it hang out in the fridge for at least 10 minutes so it can soak up all the deliciousness.

*Pro tip: Measure out the oil first, and then measure the honey in the same cup. The oil keeps the honey from sticking to the cup. AWESOME!*

I wound up with a lot of dressing at the bottom of the slaw bowl (which I was tempted to slurp up with a straw) so you could even think about reserving some of the dressing to use for a next-day salad instead of dumping it all in.

And...now I'm hungry.

Happy eating!

Do you have a favorite slow-cooker recipe? Share it in the comment section below!