Low in fat and calories, this slow cooker Spanish-style Citrus Mojo Chicken is as flavorful as it is healthy. In this slow cooked chicken, Mojo sauce and chicken help each other getting more flavorful. I mean, chicken slow cooked with tangy-sweet orange, lemon, garlic and spices gets flavorful, moist and very juicy.... on the other hand, sauce picks up juicy flavor from cooking chicken!
Oh, and guess what? Today's chicken dinner is not served with plain rice. I'm sharing a simplest trick to make plain-rice extra scrumptious! I mean - finger looking good (if you happen to eat'em old-style with hands :-) )
For weekdays, I'm always in hunt to perfect easy chicken dinner recipes.
Honestly for me, a flavorful, easy to cook, and healthy bowl of food means - completing the day on a good note. However, just like you, some weekdays I'm so so busy that cooking and eating a homemade meal really looks like a big challenge.
1) Slow Cooker : When I know I have a tight schedule, then slow cooker comes in handy. Just a little prep, put in crock pot and then come home to fragrance of a cooked chicken dinner.... ready to be devoured!
2) Pressure cooker: When I have no idea of tight schedule then.... come home and throw everything in pressure cooker, just 15 minutes and dinner is ready to be served! Winner winner Chicken Dinner!!
...... and leftovers for the lunch tomorrow! Voila!!! ;;)
As easy as it sounds, the only catch in the story is: recipe should be tested, family-fav and foolproof!
So when I share a recipe with you, I prefer to test it few times in Slow Cooker and Pressure Cooker. That helps me adapt it for my family dinner and it helps you guys too! win-win
Like today's Mojo sauce... first-time I tasted in a local Spanish restaurant and loved the fresh and clean flavors. Mojo, in Spanish means sauce or a marinate made primarily with citrus juices such orange or lemon, and spices like cumin, paprika, garlic etc.
Different Spanish countries use different acid ingredients in place of orange for the Mojo Marinade - like lime, lemon, and vinegar are most common. I have used two of them today - orange and lemons. Since oranges are in-season and very sweet, I found just orange-based sauce lacking the flavor.
So, in my second attempt, I also added lemon juice to bring out more of citrus notes. What I'm trying to say is: not just orange or lemon, a good mojo sauce is all about delicious citrus-y flavors. So go ahead, use whichever citrus is available in your refrigerator and make this chicken dinner your own!
I thing is certain though, this chicken dinner has abundance of Vitamin-C! First, the mojo chicken marinade, then salsa, and fresh juicy pineapple!!
Looking at this bowl reminds me of sunny California and Mexican cuisine! Actually, initially I decided to work on my version of Mojo for my love of Spanish/Mexican ingredients only and then of-course the clean flavors of Mojo sauce just won every one!
Really, a Chicken marinade cannot be simpler and cleaner than Mojo Chicken Marinade. First, the ingredients are simple, easy to find, pantry/refrigerator staples and then taste is super zippy and flavorful.
Bonus! Cooking in slow cooker makes this chicken dinner very accessible as every day light dinner.
And.......
....... You guys, kitchen is filled with aroma like grab-the-plates-and-get-ready-to-eat kinda delicious!
Flavorful Rice
I'm super fan of adding flavors to the plain rice to make'em scrumptious on their own. When I made Mojo Chicken first-time, I did not want to serve it over plain rice. So here is what I did!
When we cook marinades or liquid-based sauces and chicken/meats in slow cooker, the marinade cooks and turns into intense flavored (in good way) sauce. It mostly does not get thick in consistency. So, one way is to reduce the remaining flavor-packed sauce in pan until it is thick and glossy. Other way is to mix half of liquid in chicken and rest into the rice.
Oh yeah! You will be surprised how much flavor a 1/2 cup of cooked mojo sauce / or any slow cooker liquid will bring to plain bowl of rice.
Here is what you need to to do:
Instead of mixing all of the mojo chicken sauce back into the shredded chicken.. Mix half of the sauce (while still warm) into cooked rice and remaining into the shredded chicken. This little steps ensure most flavorful bowl of rice.... as if cooked low and slow in the slow cooker.
Sauce of cooked mojo chicken has tone of chicken flavor. Even if you save just some rice to eat the other day, you will not miss the chicken. (you will crave to make it soon again though ;))
