Posts

Chicken Sandwich With Mango Salsa

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , /by

This chicken sandwich with mango salsa can be made with leftover chicken or store-bought rotisserie chicken!

Chicken Tartine With Mango Salsa-0292

Last week when I discovered the wonders of cooking a whole chicken in my slow cooker (get the recipe here), I had the good fortune of having so much delicious shredded chicken left over that I was able to make the best sandwiches.

Sandwiches always excite everyone in my house. I mean, really, anything between bread is good… but part of the excitement is due to the fact that I almost never make them… absence makes the heart grow fonder I guess…

I don’t eat a lot of bread, so I made these pretty little open-faced sandwiches.

This chicken sandwich with mango salsa is a great recipe to make with leftover homemade chicken or with the chicken from a store-bought rotisserie chicken.

It’s so pretty.

It tastes yummy.

It’s really good for you.

And, you can customize these beauties any way you like. I wanted a little spice so I used jalapeños and radishes. I wanted a little sweetness, so I made some mango salsa. And, let me tell you, this was the perfect combination!

Chicken Tartine (in hand)-0349

Here are the healthy ingredients I used:

Chicken is something I always buy organic. Organic chicken is a great, healthy protein to give you energy, lessen the pain of some types of arthritis, and boost your system when you are particularly weak — like after surgery or childbirth. People who have some conditions that we consider “excess heat” conditions should limit the amount of chicken they eat. So, if you have an illness that gives you a bright red tongue or severe dryness in your body, check with your doctor first.

Radishes are good for your tissues, blood vessels, teeth and bones. They also can help regulate your blood pressure and can ease the symptoms of asthma and other respiratory ailments. In this tartine, they also add a good amount of crunch and peppery bite.

Hot peppers contain more vitamin C than any other vegetable and they are good at fighting off the common cold. So, if you like spice, as I do, use a generous amount of whatever hot peppers you like. The main component of hot peppers is capsicum. Capsicum actually works with your body and mind to make you feel happy. It’s also good for reducing swelling and can relieve arthritic joint pain. If you have high blood pressure, check with your doctor before eating too many hot peppers because they can actually raise the blood pressure in some people.

Cilantro is also known as Chinese Parsley. It is good for the common cold, indigestion, and energy flow in the body. An old Chinese remedy for the common cold and even for measles was to drink cilantro and mint tea. Cilantro is one of those herbs you either love or hate; I’m a lover…

Mangos are great for digestion and they help if you have one of those annoying dry coughs that just won’t go away. This delicious fruit will also help strengthen your bones and is good for your heart.

Chicken Tartine (single)-0329

Chicken Sandwich With Mango Salsa
Print
Recipe type: sandwich, lunch
Cuisine: american, french
Author:
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 to 4
This pretty open-faced sandwich is perfect to make with leftover chicken or with a store-bought rotisserie chicken. It's spicy and sweet and juicy and so good!
Ingredients
  • about 2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken
  • 4 radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced
  • ⅓ cup cilantro leaves
  • sea salt and black pepper to taste (this is the fine sea salt I just bought)
  • 4 slices pure rye bread (or your healthy bread of choice)
  • For mango salsa:
  • 1 mango, peeled and cut into chunks
  • juice of 1 lime
  • ¼ tsp dried hot red pepper flakes
  • ½ tsp avocado oil (or healthy oil of your choice)
  • tiny pinch of sea salt
Instructions
  1. Put all of the salsa ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth. Set aside.
  2. Toast the bread if you like, and cut each slice in half diagonally.
  3. Divide the chicken, radishes, hot pepper slices, and cilantro among the slices of bread. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Drizzle with mango salsa.
  5. Enjoy!

Chicken Sandwich With Mango Salsa

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken Recipe

/0 Comments/in , , , , , /by

What could be easier than a slow cooker whole chicken recipe? Nothing! And it’s moist and delicious!

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (beginning)-0168

It seems almost everyone is a huge slow cooker fan.

Even though I completely understand the draw — I mean, they are easy — I never completely jumped on the slow cooker bandwagon (mostly because I don’t feel I’m that good at it…)

But, everywhere I turn, I see recipes for EVERYTHING in a slow cooker.

You know what they say… you like what you’re good at? Well, my slow cooker food is often not my best food. When you see me post a slow cooker recipe, I’ve usually had to test it over and over again to finally get a great result. I think this might be due to the fact that once you put the ingredients in, you can’t fiddle with them and keep tasting it to adjust the seasonings, etc.

But, I am a HUGE fan of cooking a whole chicken. Whole roasted chicken is kind of my signature dinner when I’m having friends over.

During Thanksgiving, I saw recipes for turkey breasts in slow cookers… and they looked good! And I saw whole huge roasts being cooked in them.  And big big pieces of everything imaginable.

So, I figured, a whole chicken has to work, right?

RIGHT! 1000 times right! This recipe for slow cooker whole chicken is amazing! The chicken came out so moist! It won’t replace my roasted chicken when I’m in the mood for crispy skin, but for all of my recipes for chicken salad, soup, quesadillas, nachos, pulled chicken, and everything I like to make with shredded chicken or just the meat of the chicken, this is perfect!  Pesto Chicken Salad or Shredded Chicken And Cabbage Slaw would be perfect!

All you do is season the bird, put it on top of your veggies of choice in the slow cooker and leave it alone. I wish I could find the words to tell you how easy and how delicious this is and how moist and juicy the meat is…

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (shredded)-0246

Feel free to substitute whatever vegetables you like in this recipe, but I used what my body needed at the time. Here’s what was in my slow cooker:

Chicken is something I always buy organic. Organic chicken is a great, healthy protein to give you energy, lessen the pain of some types of arthritis, and boost your system when you are particularly weak — like after surgery or childbirth. People who have some conditions that we consider “excess heat” conditions should limit the amount of chicken they eat. So, if you have an illness that gives you a bright red tongue or severe dryness in your body, check with your doctor first.

Onions are great for your immune system; they are a natural antihistamine. It sounds odd but if you have bronchitis, you can actually put sliced raw onions in your socks when you go to sleep and you will wake up feeling so much better. The onion draws the unhealthy germs right out of your body. Onion is a superhero in the food world! I used red onions in this recipe, but I have to say, I think white or yellow would be better because the beautiful color of the onions gets a bit murky in the slow cooker!

Sweet potatoes are good for your digestive system. They can be good for both constipation and diarrhea. These orange gems also help rid your body of excess water, are good for breast health, help people with diabetes and actually can help ease night blindness. In olden times, it was common in China to rub mashed sweet potatoes on poison insect bites to remove the toxins… I can’t say I’ve tried this, but if need be, I’m game!

In Chinese medicine, we use tomatoes to quench thirst and help with digestion. If a patient of mine comes in with hypertension or dehydration, I will often recommend eating tomatoes. In our country, one of the things that tomatoes are touted for is their choline content. Choline helps with sleep, memory and muscle function. So, between the Eastern and the Western ways, tomatoes are awesome!

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc….

I also added some raw Chinese Herbs to the pot. My favorite thing about using a slow cooker is that because things cook so slowly, any herbs I add get lots of time to infuse their healing capabilities into my food. I added Huang Qi (Astragalus) and Shan Yao (Chinese Yam) for energy.

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken (cooked)-0226

 

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
Print
Recipe type: chicken, dinner, entree, slow cooker
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
What could be better than putting a whole chicken in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a delicious moist chicken ready for you? This recipe was inspired by so many of my favorite cooks and bloggers, but I must give a shout out to Heidi at FoodieCrush because her recipe really inspired me!
Ingredients
  • 1 4 lb. whole organic chicken, rinsed inside and out and then dried
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp dried thyme
  • 1 large onion, cut into large chunks
  • 3 carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 1 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 large or 2 sm/medium sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 8 cloves of garlic
Instructions
  1. Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper.
  2. Sprinkle on the paprika and thyme.
  3. Put all of the veggies and garlic in the slow cooker.
  4. Nestle any Chinese herbs you are using in the vegetable pile.
  5. Lay the seasoned chicken on top of the veggies.
  6. Cook on low heat for 9 hours.
  7. Remove the chicken, and do what you want with it: shred it, eat it as is, cut it up and serve with anything you like...
  8. Remove the veggies and eat them too!
  9. Enjoy!