Taste Of Summer Citrus Chicken

By littlefish

I always like to have one or two slow cooker meals on my menu plan for times such as a sick child or an overwhelmingly busy day. I had a sick baby boy this week. I am so glad I had planned for a slow cooker meal because boy did he need attention. I was able to throw together a masterpiece of a meal to look at and one that could be served in any restaurant, with a very sick little guy.

This recipe would be a hit at any restaurant with all of the citrus that is in it. I had fun decorating my bird with slices of lemon and lime… did I mention I had a sick baby? The most time investing part of this recipe was slicing up some fruit. We are talking a 10 minute total prep- that’s stretching it.

Ingredients

• I used 3 mandarines
• 3 lemons
• 3 limes
• 1 tbsp of minced garlic
• 1/4 yellow onion (Use onion powder if you don’t like the texture of onion)
• 6 about 6 Rosemary stems
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 whole chicken (mine was just under 5lbs)

Preparation

Step 1

First throw a few slices of onion, lemon, lime, mandarin, Rosemary and garlic on the bottom of your slow cooker. Rinse the bird with water, pat dry with a paper towel. Stuff her with onion, garlic, lemon, lime and a mandarine. If you have room, shove in some onion and Rosemary. Place her in your slow cooker. You can’t leave her neeeeked! Sprinkle some salt and pepper on her quick!

Time to really dress her up, after all, she is going to be centerpiece at your dinner table tonight. Add the rest of your lemon, lime, garlic, onion Rosemary and mandarine in the pot all around and some on top of her. You want to encapsulate her with the smells and tastes of citrus goodness.

Once you are satisfied with your arrangement…

Place the lid on, set to low and cook for 8 hours. Even the rinds are cooked so that you can eat them with a bite of chicken!

I served this with corn on the cob (Publix has them 12 for $3 this week!!), sliced potatoes baked with olive oil and salt, and rice. I added rice to my slow cooker about 40 minutes before it was time to eat. Since I wasn’t sure if there was enough liquid, I added 1/2 cup of water as well. The chicken, the taste, the smell… this is just something you have to try. Happy slow cooking!