Recipe: Balsamic-Glazed Chicken & Veggies

I don't know about you, but I'm really enjoying this cooler weather. Summers in Iowa are much too hot for my taste, so I always welcome fall temperatures when they arrive.

With fall comes the opportunity to try out a few new "comfort food" dishes. Last week we tested a new recipe from Clean Eating magazine. I subscribed to this magazine a few months ago and it has been a wonderful source of healthful recipes. This particular recipe, Balsamic-Glazed Chicken and  Veggies, came from their website. Click here for the recipe, also shown below. I'll try anything with balsamic vinegar listed as an ingredient!

I personally LOVE crock pot recipes. It's great to throw everything together and forget about it until dinner time. This particular recipe really needs a larger crock pot than the one I have. It was a tight squeeze, even without the kale. (I left it out because Spouse thinks it looks--and tastes!--like lawn mulch.)

This is what the completed dish looks like, out of the crock pot. Can you imagine how great it smelled? We enjoyed it with couscous and some crusty bread and I also froze a good portion of it for later.

This recipe is definitely a KEEPER. If you're looking for a new crock pot dish to try this fall, I'd highly recommend it!

Balsamic-Glazed Chicken and Veggies

INGREDIENTS:

• Olive oil cooking spray
• 6 4-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp dried rosemary
• 2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp Sucanat (I substituted brown sugar for this sweetener)
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced
• 2 medium yellow squash, sliced
• 6 oz sliced white mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1 head garlic, peeled and separated into cloves
• 2 cups finely chopped kale (I omitted the kale; the recipe was great even without it.)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Remove lid from slow cooker, mist interior with cooking spray and place chicken inside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk vinegar, rosemary, soy sauce and Sucanat. Add remaining ingredients, except for kale, and stir well to coat.
3. Pour vegetable-sauce mixture into slow cooker, over top of chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5. One hour before serving, stir in kale and replace cover. Before plating, use a fork to lightly shred chicken in the slow cooker. Serve over brown rice, quinoa or whole-wheat angel hair pasta (or couscous).

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 144, Total Fat: 5 g, Sat. Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 13 g, Fiber: 3 g, Sugars: 4 g, Protein: 14 g, Sodium: 93 mg, Cholesterol: 37 mg