Slow Cooker Harissa Chicken

Some time ago, I found this flavorful veggie soup recipe that called for Harissa. I was really impressed with this condiment or soup flavor enhancer thing from Tunisia. Being a huge fan of chicken thighs while my better half prefers breasts, we tend to eat chicken fairly often. I think breasts are perhaps the least flavorful part of the chicken. Well perhaps better than the beaks but I digress. If I am going to each breasts fairly often I had to create a more flavorful and different way to cook them.

This is what i worked out.

 

 

Ingredients

3-4 Large Chicken Breasts (yeah, yeah boneless, skinless, if you must) or 6 tasty bone-in with skin thighs (thats what I am talking about!) or you can mix or match
1/4 cup harissa with 1 Tbs divided
1.5 lbs baby potatoes (yukon, or red bliss)
1 yellow onion. cut into 6-8 sections
1 lbs carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs olive oil, divided
1 tsp garlic power
1 tsp Kosher salt
1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
3 Roma Tomatoes, rough chopped
parsley, chopped for garnish
Lemon wedges

Directions:

  1. To the bottom of a 6 quart slow cooker, add the Harissa paste and 1 Tbsp of the olive oil. Add onion, potatoes, carrots and 1/2 tsp salt and stir gently to combine.
    In a small bowl, add garlic powder, smoked paprika, pepper and remaining 1/2 tsp salt. Stir, and sprinkle evenly over chicken.
  2. Add remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet and heat over MED-HIGH. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook 4-5 minutes, until golden brown.
  3. Place browned chicken over the top of vegetables in slow cooker. For extra flavor, mix a tablespoon of Harissa with the chopped tomatoes and spoon over the top of chicken.. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
  4. Serve chicken with vegetables and a spoonful of cooking juices spooned over the top. Garnish with parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.