Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

Thanksgiving seems to open the season of eating lots of rich food. Don't get me wrong, I like rich food as much as the next guy, but once the season comes to an end I am more than ready for something simple like a slice of meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, a nice salad, or some Chinese food. To get you thinking about what you may want after the holidays during your focus on making the Thanksgiving meal, here is a simple, very delicious recipe for orange chicken made in the slow cooker.

Prior to trying this recipe I’d never had orange chicken before, so I really didn't know what to expect. My number two son and his wife buy the frozen orange chicken from Trader Joe's and really enjoy it, so I figured I would give this a try. If I didn't like it, I reasoned, I could always fob it off on them. :-) Fortunately I did like it, and thought I would pass it along to you. File this away in your folder for recipes that are quick, easy, and a relief from rich holiday food.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

8 boneless skinless chicken thighs

3 tablespoons flour

1/3 cup orange marmalade (I used homemade)

1/3 cup barbecue sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root 

Toss chicken with flour in slow cooker. Stir together remaining ingredients; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours. Serve with rice.

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Trader Joe’s Maple Mustard Chicken

I make good use of our local library. I don't know about you, but I find it stunning the amount of resources that the library has available (for free, I might add), from hardcopy to digital streaming to genealogical services, the library, in my opinion, is one of the best places in town. When I visit, I tend to head in one of two directions, the audiobook section (because I am a huge fan of audiobooks) or, no surprise, the cookbook section. 

I try to keep up with new cookbooks that are being released, but some of them manage to slip by me. Apparently the entire series of Trader Joe's cookbooks completely escaped my notice. Once spotting them, naturally, I couldn't resist, and brought home the I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook. 

Like a lot of people, I am a fan of Trader Joe's, so this was a fun cookbook to read. One recipe that I stumbled across, was particularly inviting, because of the relatively few ingredients required, the fact that I had all of them, and that the meal could be on the table without a whole lot of effort. This recipe is a good one. I find the combination of maple syrup and mustard to be quite pleasing with the chicken thighs. I cut the recipe in half and made only two chicken thighs, one of which I ate for dinner, the other I pulled apart and had on a sandwich with additional sauce for lunch the following day. Both were sensational. Here's the recipe, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Trader Joe’s Maple Mustard Chicken

1 1/2 - 2 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken thighs, trimmed of fat

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450° F. Spray an 8x8" ovenproof baking dish with Pam; set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together Dijon mustard, maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Place the chicken thighs into the prepared baking dish, and then pour the mustard mixture on top of it. Turn the chicken around in the sauce to make sure it is well coated.

Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes.

Remove from oven and let chicken rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate, ladle the sauce over, and serve.

PRINT RECIPE

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