Loaves and Fishes: Tex Mex Issue

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Cooking chicken in the crockpot with corn, beans and vegetables makes a great taco, fajita, or plain casserole dish. Yum!

Now that I go over to my daughter’s daily to help the teenagers with their homework, and come home to a house with two graduate student boarders, my cooking life has taken a giant leap back to the future.

Back to a time when I had a husband and three children and two dogs and everyone was hungry all at once.  I like it.

I’m always looking for something flavorful and easy that I can “make it and forget it” then get it out to serve with a minimum of attention.  This is just such a recipe.

The crockpot I have is the old fashioned kind that doesn’t not brown things, so I have to brown onions, garlic, peppers and chicken in a black skillet before I put them into the crockpot to finish.

Rival Crockpot: my friend for cooking for the family and for the dogs. Yes.

But the basis of this dish is good old canned foods.  A can of black beans, one of red, a can of Mexicali corn,  two cans of Rotel tomatoes with chilies.  It sounds pretty hokey and it is but it will sure feed the masses.

Once you get the dish crock potted, you can make tacos, fajitas, or a simple casserole dish you run under the broiler to brown.  All delicious.

Here’s how.

Mexican Crockpot Chicken Fajitas

Makes about 12 servings

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 medium yellow onions,  peeled and sliced thin

Brown chicken, onions, garlic and peppers in the black skillet before placing in the crock pot. Fresh garden tomatoes, if you have ‘em, are a fabulous addition.

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 bell peppers,  one yellow and one red, seeded and sliced thin

4 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts, sliced into thick 1 x 4” pieces

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon powdered New Mexico red chile

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 15 oz. can red kidney beans or black eyed peas,  rinsed and drained

1 14 oz. can Mexicali corn,  rinsed and drained

2 cans Rotel tomatoes and chiles,  NOT drained

Chicken, peppers and onions in the crockpot on top of the corn and beans

Toppings:

1 cup grated mixed cheddars

Chopped fresh tomatoes, cilantro, and yellow onion

Salsa of your choice

Sour cream

Chopped black olives

Corn or flour tortillas,  or crisp corn tortilla chips

Heat a 10 inch cast iron skillet over medium high heat, then add oil.  As you cut up the vegetables,  add them to the skillet to brown, in order: onions, then garlic, then peppers.

While these are cooking,  place beans and corn and Rotel tomatoes in the bottom of a crockpot set on HIGH.  Add the browned vegetables on top of this.  Do not stir.

Season chicken with cumin, chile, salt and pepper then brown in a bit of oil in the black skillet.  Once it’s browned place it on top of the vegetables in the crockpot.  Put the lid on and forget it.

20 minutes before serving time,  spoon as many servings as you have dinner guests and top with grated cheese.  Run it under the broiler to brown.

crock pot chicken casserole with bubbly cheese topping

Once dinner time comes,  heat plates,  then tortillas in a skillet.  On each dinner plate,  place a warmed tortilla, then a scoop of the fajita mixture.  Top with fresh tomatoes, cilantro, onion, salsa of your choice, sour cream and black olives.  Serve at once.  Yum!

Use the cooked chicken and vegetables in tacos, fajitas or simply in a casserole. Yum.

Refrigerate leftovers and serve them the next day.  I just had mine for breakfast.  Outstanding.

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