If you know us, you know that we love quesadillas so here we have a great way to make your next batch. But, this recipe isn't just about quesadillas. It's about making the easiest roasted chicken ever, which is so delicious and could be used in a hundred different ways, or simply served with a delicious side of green beans and other fresh veggies!
It helps to start with a great whole chicken. Of course you can use any whole chicken or roaster. But, we've fallen in love with the chickens that are raised on farms where they are free to roam around freely and eat what chickens were created to eat. How are they different? Well, for one thing they are free of coloring and extra water and extra sodium. And they are fresh fresh fresh! When you cook it, you'll notice that you don't lose as much volume and that the meat is much more tender. At the Apex Farmer's Market we recently purchased one of Andreas Homestead's chickens and decided to give the Slow Cooker a whirl. I have to be honest... I'm an oven roasted kind of girl, so I was a little reluctant to try the crock-pot for a whole chicken. But, with a day full of activities and pool fun planned, it would be nice to come home to a fully cooked chicken...
We started by stuffing the bird with cut onions, limes and garlic. (If your chicken has giblets, you'll want to pull those out first.)
And then we lined the bottom of the crockpot with onion and celery. You could add anything you'd like here...zucchini, yellow squash, etc.
We placed the stuffed bird on top of the onions and celery.
If you'd like, you can rub the chicken with a mixture of the following:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayanne pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
The paprika helps add color if you plan to serve it as a whole chicken. But, we simply sprinkled on a bit of salt and pepper and kept it simple.
Cover the slow cooker and put it on high. There is no need to add any liquid. Really. The chicken will produce enough of its own. For a 3.5 lb chicken, cook on high for about 5 hours. I recommend checking with a meat thermometer before serving just to be sure since each slow cooker is a bit different.
From there, you can serve your chicken as is, or use it in a variety of recipes. Don't forget to keep all the bones and scraps in the crockpot after... you can add 8 cups of water and simmer on low for another 3 hours to make the richest, most delicious chicken stock! Then just strain and freeze the stock to use later.
Tequila Dale's Slow Cooker Roasted Chicken Quesadillas
Ingredients
1 roasted chicken, meat pulled off and shredded
chopped onions and celery from crockpot (or fresh ones can be used)
1 lime
1 garlic clove, minced
1 fresh jalapeno, chopped and seeds removed
2 ears of steamed corn, corn cut off
1 cup steamed rice
1 cup shredded cheese
Tequila Dale's Sexy Spicy Salsa or Fresh & Sassy Salsa
four tortillas
oil
salt, pepper
In a large sautee pan, sautee your onions, garlic and celery. Add the jalapeno and cook until softened. Add the roasted chicken and corn. Mix well. Add up to 1/2 cup of your favorite Tequila Dale's Salsa, and Salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and squeeze the juice of one lime over the whole mixture. Mix well.
To assemble your quesadilla, add a small amount of oil to your pan and lay out your flour tortilla. Sprinkle half the tortilla with a little cheese, layer on chicken mixture, add a small layer of rice and top with more cheese and fold the other half of the tortilla over your layered ingredients. Grill until tortilla is just slightly browning and cheese is starting to melt, then flip over and grill the other side.
Serve with delicious Tequila Dale's Salsa and sour cream!
This chicken mixture can be prepared up to a couple days ahead of time or used later for leftovers. It's also great for nachos, over rice or in an omelet!
