Crock-Pot Recipe: Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Crock-pot Recipe:

Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce

Source: Slenderkitchen.com

Slenderkitchen.com is centered around Weight Watchers and their point system. Therefore everything (that I have seen) on her webpage uses the W.W. point system:

 [Points = Calories/50 - (Fiber x 0.2) + (Fat x 0.080]

Slenderkitchen.com has a great inventory of recipes and I just recently stumbled upon it when I was Googling for crock-pot ideas.  I am always on the look out for a good healthy BUT savory crock-pot recipe because:  

1. They are great for work/busy days- throw everything in the pot, and when you get home TA-DA! Dinner is ready!
2. Crock-pot recipes tend to lean towards the hearty rather than the healthy. Therefore when I find a great healthy crock-pot recipe, its like finding gold... OR in my case, finding a $20 bill that I left in my ski jacket from year before. 

Recipe Review 

The Thai Chicken with Peanut Sauce was easy to prepare, about 10-15 minutes depending on how much slicing and dicing you do- AND it has one of my FAVORITE aspects about crock-pot cooking: adding frozen chicken straight to the pot. I hate defrosting meat, especially chicken. I typically buy the Costco size bag of chicken tenderloins, so when I can just throw a few of those into the pot without any prep- its delightful. 

 

I gave this recipe two forks out of four. Although the recipe was easy to make AND it contained the health factor (237 calories and 28.5g protein!), it was definitely lacking something. I haven't completely written this recipe off yet, but I believe it needs some tweeking. Frank's comment was that is wasn't "saucy" enough. The peanut butter sauce, although melted, had too thick of a consistency. 

 

I have a similar recipe that I make in a wok that we LOVE, although its not a crock-pot recipe, it too has the health factor. The main ingredient difference between the two is rice vinegar- which may be the ingredient the crock-pot version was lacking? I will post my wok recipe under the recipes I've tried tab.

 

All in all not a bad recipe to try, especially if you enjoy peanut butter, but I will not be making this recipe again without some experimentation beforehand.

 

*Note* 

I added two small red potatoes, sliced thinly to the crock-pot when I added the onion.

I didn't have a red-bell pepper, so to increase the veggie count, I added some "Asian stir fry" blend of frozen veggies at the end (NOT in the crock-pot) and topped it with some red pepper flakes to pump up the spice. I served it over about 1/4-1/2 cup of cooked long grain brown rice.

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Servings: 6 servings
Serving Size: 3/4 cup
Nutritional Info: 237 calories, 9.1 g of fat, 14.1 g of carbohydrates, 2.9 of fiber, 28.5 g of protein
 Ingredients
 
1.5 lbs of chicken breast tenderloins
1 red pepper, diced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup reduced fat chunky peanut butter
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup non fat chicken broth
1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cumin
1/2 tbsp coriander
Chopped scallions, cilantro, and bean sprouts for garnish

Instructions

1. Add the chicken, red peppers, and onions to the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, chicken broth, cumin, and coriander. Pour over the chicken.
3. Cook on high for 4 hours or until chicken is cooked through. Break into smaller pieces with a fork and serve over rice or noodles. Garnish with fresh lime, scallions, cilantro, and bean sprouts.