J. Friedman Fast

Fast Food | Episode 6

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 14 oz can Fire-roasted plum tomato
• 2 tspn oil
• 1/2 medium onion Finely Chopped
• 1 tbsp Minced garlic
• 1 red bell pepper Chopped
• 1.5 tsp Roasted Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Dried Oregano
• 1.5 tsp Chili powder
• 1 tsp paprika (Optional)
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup half and half
• ½ Cup Cream Cheese (room temperature)
• 1 cup cheddar cheese (or Mexican blend)
• Salt to taste
• Fresh Cilantro leaves for garnishing
• Toppings: tortilla chips, sour cream, avocado, etc.

Instructions

TO MAKE IN SLOW COOKER

• Heat oil in a pan. Once hot, put in minced garlic, followed by onion and bell pepper. Fry till Onion starts to soften a little bit and it is aromatic.
• To a pre-heated Slow cooker, add chicken breast, crushed tomatoes, cooked vegetables and garlic mixture, all the spices, warm Chicken Stock and salt.
• Cover and let it cook on high 3 hours.
• To the Crock-Pot, stir in half n half, cream cheese, Shredded cheese. Cook on high for 20-30 minutes until all the cheese has melted.
• At the end of cooking using two forks shred the chicken breast.
• While serving, top it with fresh cilantro, Sour cream, Avocados.

TO MAKE IN AN INSTANT POT

• Set the Instant Pot to Saute mode. Once hot add oil.
• Add minced garlic and chopped Onion and Bell Pepper to the pot. Saute until vegetables have softened and it is aromatic.
• Add Cumin powder, Chili Powder, Oregano, Paprika. Saute for 30 seconds. (Sauteing the spices in oil develops flavor. This step can be skipped)
• Stir in Roasted Tomatoes, Chicken Stock. Scrape the bottom of the pot to release any stuck brown bits. Add salt.
• Add Chicken Breast to the pot. Cover the lid and cook on Manual /High-Pressure mode for 8 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes followed by Manually releasing the rest of the pressure.
• Carefully remove Chicken breast to a plate and shred using forks.
• To the pot, add Softened Cream Cheese, Cheddar Cheese and half & half. Stir well until all the cheese has melted.
• Add back the shredded chicken to the pot. Stir well.
• While serving garnish with toppings of choice.

The Story:

As you can see, I’m not one of those annoying bloggers who make you read a whole story before you get the recipe. I hate that, too. You’re welcome.

This recipe was inspired by my Midlife Crisis Challenge – Day 16 was to find a new recipe to cook for dinner. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, here is the entire Midlife Crisis library, so you can catch up.

This is a great cold/rainy day recipe, especially for winter evenings. Hearty enough for a carnivore husband who has worked outside all day and needs something hot and filling. Yummy enough to not scare off the kids. And your house will smell mouthwatering all day a this cooks.

We think that customizing the toppings to suit each person’s taste is the fun part of this dish. No one in my family believed how easy it actually was to make, until they saw the video 😉

I would love for you to give this recipe a try and let me know what you think. Better yet, give it your own spin and report back how your tweaks worked out so I can try them out, please. And be sure to include photos.

Would you be interested in a full-length step-by-step video of how to make it? Let me know in the comments and I’d be happy to film it for you!