Crock Pot Chicken & Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken, gizzards etc. removed
1/2 butternut squash, cubed (about 3 cups)
carrots, sliced thick (about 1 cup)
celery, sliced with some of the greens included (about 1 1/2 cups)
5-6 garlic cloves, left whole
1 sweet yellow onion, sliced thick
dried thyme leaves
ground pepper
paprika
Sea Salt
1 bay leaf
Instructions:
- Clean Chicken, pat dry, and place in crockpot
- Place Bay Leaf in bottom of Crockpot next to chicken
- Add veggies around the chicken so that it ends up “nestled” in veggies
- Sprinkle the thyme leaves, ground pepper, and paprika over the top of the chicken & rub into skin
- Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt over chicken and veggies
- Cook on High for 2-3 hours, then turn to low for another 2-3 hours
This dish makes it’s own (delicious!) juice so there is absolutely no need to add liquid.
When you’re ready to eat, remove the chicken from the pot. It will be tender and may fall apart, so be careful! Serve with the veggies, and top with some juice from the pot.
I’ve found that this is a particularly good post-workout meal because of the butternut squash. I usually lift in the evening in my backyard, so if I have this cooking, all I have to do when I’m done liftin is come in and fix a plate – this eliminates the need for me to fix a post workout snack, wait an hour, and then eat dinner 🙂