Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Have I mentioned how much I love my slow cooker? Now, now, enough of the sarcasm. I know I do tend to wax lyrical (i.e. go on and on) about how awesome this piece of kitchen paraphernalia is, but you have to agree that I have a point. In case any of you have yet to discover the work I've been doing behind the scenes, there is now a recipe index on this site here, which is divided into sections, one of which is dedicated to all the slow cooker recipes I've blogged about thus far (with dates and titles of posts, so that you can find them, once you've finished dribbling).

This week has been somewhat trying in the Farrar house, as I had shoulder surgery last Friday, and have been unable to drive all week, not to mention stiff and sore. Add to this that, apparently, serving as my personal chauffeur, was not one of my husband's burning ambitions, that he didn't want to have to cook, clean and bottlewash as well as hold down the rest of the sizeable metaphorical fort that is life chez Farrar, AND that we stupidly signed our kids up for activities in three different places at the same time, and you can understand that dinner needed to be quick, easy but nonetheless healthy and tasty (sitting on my behind on the sofa all week and a diet of fast food was not a combination I wanted to contemplate). I have some pretty awesome neighbors who treated us to home-cooked deliciousness in honor of my advancing age and physical decrepitude, but the remaining evenings were a perfect opportunity for the slow cooker to shine, and shine it did :-)

The recipe below is a perfect example of why the slow cooker isn't just for winter stews and soups, and comes from Sara Lewis's excellent book Slow Cooker Easy. It is a delicious chicken dish, steeped in lemon over a bed of summery couscous. Add a glass or three of chilled Sauvignon Blanc and you have a dinner that might make you forget your advancing infirmity for an evening at least.

Lemon Chicken
Serves 6

For the chicken:
olive oil
6 skinless chicken breasts (about 2-2 1/2lbs in total)
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 TBSP AP/plain flour
900 ml (30 fl oz) chicken stock
2 small lemons, each cut lengthways into 6 wedges
4 baby pak choi, thickly sliced, cores discarded
6 oz sugar snap peas, halved lengthways
1/2 cup crème fraiche
4 TBSP chopped fresh mint and parsley, mixed
salt and pepper

For the couscous:
2 cups wholewheat couscous
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 roma tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped green (spring) onions

1. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and fry the chicken breasts until browned on both sides (they don't need to be cooked through).
2. Remove chicken from the pan and place in the slow cooker pot. Add onions to skillet with more oil if necessary, and fry stirring until lightly browned.
3. Stir in the garlic and the flour and continue to cook for one minute more. Mix in stock and lemon wedges and bring to the boil, stirring. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour lemon sauce over chicken breasts in slow cooker pot and press the chicken below the surface of the liquid. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours.
5. Add pak choi and sugar snap peas to slow cooker and cook on high for 15 minutes more, or until just tender.
6. Meanwhile cook the couscous according to directions. When cooked, stir in remaining ingredients for couscous.
7. Once vegetables in the slow cooker are tender, lift out the chicken and plate on a bed of cous cous. Stir the crème fraiche and herbs into the sauce in the slow cooker and let it heat through for a few minutes, then pour over the chicken on the plates.