Salsa Verde Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Since my last 6 posts have been decadent desserts, I guess it's time to give you a delicious, clean, easy meal to get back on track. This is another great recipe where you let the crockpot do most of the work. Slow cooking the chicken with tomatillo salsa gives it great flavor without drying it out. I chose to make my own salsa verde and corn tortillas, but you can also use store bought to make this dish even easier.

We loved the combination of flavors here - bright red onion, creamy cojita cheese, earthy black beans, and of course the wonderful salsa verde. It's a new favorite of ours!

Salsa Verde Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Source: Slightly adapted from The Novice Chef
Yield: 4 servings





Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken breasts
• 3 cups medium salsa verde, divided (recipe follows)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For the tacos

• 8-10 corn tortillas
• 1 can black beans
• 1 jalapeno, stem removed (remove seeds if you don't like the heat)
• 1 small red onion, sliced
• 1/2 cup crumbled cotija cheese
• lime, for squeezing on top

Directions:

1. Whisk together 1 cup salsa verde, chicken broth and garlic salt in crockpot. Add chicken breasts and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
   
2. Combine black beans (do not rinse/drain) and jalapeno in a small sauce pan. Heat on medium-low until beans are cooked and pepper has softened, about 8-10 minuted. Puree in a food processor or blender.
   
3. Remove chicken from crockpot and discard remaining liquid. Shred chicken with two forks and place in a medium bowl. (You can also shred chicken by beating on low spead in a stand mixer for about 30 seconds - works great and is very quick!) Add remaining 2 cups salsa verde and chopped cilantro to chicken. Mix to combine.
   
4. Fill tortillas with a scoop of black beans, a scoop of chicken, a few slices of red onion, a healthy scoop of crumbled cotija cheese and a squeeze of lime!

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
Source: slightly adapted from Rick Bayless
Yield: about 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds (12 medium) tomatillos, husked and rinsed
• Fresh hot green chiles to taste (3 serranos or 3 jalapenos), stemmed
• 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
• 1 cup fresh cilantro (thick bottom stems cut off), roughly chopped
• 3/4 cup water
• 3/4 small white onion, finely chopped
• Salt

Directions:
Roast the tomatillos, chile(s) and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, until blotchy black and softening (they’ll be turning from lime green to olive), about 5 minutes. Flip them over and roast the other side. Cool, then transfer everything to a blender, including all the delicious juice the tomatillos have exuded during roasting. Add the cilantro and water, then blend to a coarse puree. Scoop into a serving dish. Rinse the onion under cold water, then shake to remove excess moisture. Stir into the salsa and season with salt, usually 1 teaspoon.