Crock-Pot Chicken Tacos (and a Wonderful Husband)

With the exception of the Margherita Pizza that I blogged about while I was eating it, I usually have a delay of about a week before posting a recipe. Most of the time it's because I have a back-log of other recipes (or books or other things) to blog about, and while that's no different today, this recipe jumped the ranks to get blogged after eating it for dinner last night. Not necessarily because it's that's super delicious (although it was quite good), but because I have to give a shout out of thanks to my husband for it. Now, he is usually very good about being helpful in the kitchen and makes dinner two or three times a week, but this recipe required him to go a little above and beyond and for that I'm very thankful.

Both of us had work or meetings last night until after eight, and although it would have been very easy for us to meet in Sioux Falls for a "fast food" dinner, we really strive to limit our eating out expenses (plus home-cooked is often so much healthier and tastier). So, our solution was to throw something in the crock-pot. Unfortunately, we've had some bad luck with crock-pot recipes in the past because usually I'm the one who puts them in when I leave in the morning (which is at 7:00), and on late nights such as last night we aren't getting home until after eight, which means the food has been cooking over twelve hours. We do have a crock-pot that automatically changes to "warm" after the prescribed number of hours, but we've still have a few recipes come out very bland and overdone from the extended cooking time. My proposed solution to that? Have Darrell drive home over his lunch to get the crock-pot started. Now, that may seem like a totally reasonable suggestion; however, it is terribly inconvenient (and long) for him to drive home from work in Sioux Falls. And while I only work a half mile from our house, I'm not really able to leave over my lunch break (and even with the short trip wouldn't have much time to since I only get a 24 minute lunch break). Thankfully, Darrell (reluctantly) agreed to make the drive, and then also proceeded to do all the prep work the night before because I was sick and unable to help him. So major props need to go out to my dear husband--I'm reminded nearly every day how lucky I am to have him in my life.

Anyway, enough of that. On to the recipe. For a crock-pot dish, we found that this chicken retained quite a bit of its flavor (but that might also have something to do with the fact that we cooked it for the specified time), and it could be a very versatile dish. We served it over tortillas last night for tacos, but it would also be delicious in a taco salad or over nachos (or even just on its own!). We also liked how easily adaptable the recipe is--different vegetables could easily be swapped in and out, as could other beans and even meats!

I apologize--I realized after the fact that I never really got a good picture of the chicken/bean mixture, but rather just one of the taco. But I'll be honest--it really isn't the most photogenic dish, just a great filler for these tacos!

Crock-Pot Chicken Tacos
(recipe adapted from here)

1/2 cup water
1 15 oz can black beans
1 jar salsa (I believe we used a 16 oz jar)
2 tbsp flour
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (easily adaptable to your own spice-preference)
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced

Combine the water, beans, salsa, flour, and seasonings in the bottom of a crock-pot. Stir together. Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper and place on top. Scatter the onion, pepper, and garlic over the chicken. Cover and cook on low for eight hours (no need to stir!). Remove cooked chicken, shred, and return to the crock-pot. Stir everything together and serve!