Gluten-Free Recipe Experiment: Slow Cooker Chicken Verde & Southwest Style Quinoa

While we are not an "anything goes" type of food family, we do avoid most of the overly processed 'junk' in our kitchen but the last time we jumped on a food fad was low-carb about eight years ago.  I know that gluten-free is not a fad, for many people it is a necessity for living with Celiac disease but there are people that will jump on something because it's cool or new and run with it.... anyways, I have not had the occasion to need a recipe free of gluten- or dairy for that matter- until last night.  The hubby volunteered us me to cook dinner for a co-worker recovering from breast cancer surgery.  Once I read the reminder e-mail, I freaked a tiny bit inside seeing her dietary requirements and 'phoned a friend' for advice. While meat, potatoes and a veggie were a great suggestion, I decided to take the challenge head on and create something grand and easy.... and it was, and tasty to boot.  I will most certainly keep this one in my recipe rotation, bonus points for cooking with an ingredient not attempted before too!






6 to 8 frozen chicken breasts
28oz can of mild green enchilada sauce
2 cans mild green chiles (4.5oz I believe)
1 large jar of Southwest-style salsa
2 cloves of garlic, pressed (chopped, diced)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tbsp. Southwestern Style seasoning (I LOVE the one from The Pampered Chef)
Juice from 1 Lime

Place all ingredients above in your slow cooker and cook on low for six hours or high for four hours.  When chicken is thoroughly cooked, remove to another shallow container and shred.  Remove some of the liquid from slow cooker and mix with shredded chicken.

I served with Southwestern Style Quinoa (new ingredient for me!) which was just quinoa cooked to package directions mixed with a bag of frozen sweet corn, two cans of rinsed black beans, more lime juice, a bit of olive oil, and seasonings (your preferred taste) and heated through.  Other side dish was steamed broccoli and garnished with fresh avocado slices.

Hubby ate his as a burrito with sour cream and cheese, so his was not 'dairy-free' but I ate mine as cooked and it was delish!