Nourishing Chicken and Broccoli

Chicken and broccoli make a great team, don’t you think?

This particular recipe takes a little advance preparation by roasting a chicken in the crock pot, but in the end you’ll wind up with a healthy chicken dish that takes advantage of every single part of your chicken!

This recipe incorporates the flavorful taste of a roasted chicken, the health benefits of broccoli, as well as a secret ingredient that has been nourishing people for millennia – homemade gravy!

Let’s get started:

Nourishing Chicken and Broccoli

Ingredients:

• 1 whole raw chicken, seasoned to taste
• 1 large or 2 small heads of broccoli, fresh, or equivalent of frozen
• 2 tablespoons ghee, optional – can also use tallow or duck fat
• Sea salt, pepper, and seasoning salt of choice

Equipment:

• immersion blender
• quart mason jar or similar glass container for blending
• steamer or pot for cooking broccoli
• slow cooker

Instructions:

1. Place chicken in your slow cooker and roast on low according to your slow cooker’s directions, since slow cooker temperatures vary.

2. When your chicken is finished roasting, place the broccoli in your steamer or regular pot to cook. Cook until just done.

3. While broccoli is cooking, start going through the chicken and removing all the bones. While you are doing this, place all soft parts into the mason jar. This includes the chicken skin, fat, organs, and any soft cartilage you can find, which, contrary to popular belief are incredibly wholesome and nourishing to your body. Get as much as you can, and remember NO BONES whatsoever into the jar!

4. Take your jar, and add 1/2 cup of the broth from roasting the chicken. Add the ghee/tallow/duck fat, add 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt to jar. Blend with immersion blender until well blended. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary – this should make a nice, salty, flavorful gravy.

5. Shred the chicken meat that you have left, and pour the gravy over it. Stir well to incorporate. (Tip: You might want to do this in a new bowl.)

6. When the broccoli is finished cooking, chop into small pieces, and add to your creamed chicken. Stir to incorporate.

Notes:

• You can eat this hot, and also cold, as leftovers. Hot makes a nice heartwarming dish, and cold makes a nice chicken salad. Try on bread as a sandwich or use raw bell pepper halves as an interesting grain-free “sandwich”.
• Just to reiterate, make sure that absolutely no bones end up in your jar of “goodies” – that will ruin your creamy, nourishing gravy. (Ask me how I know.)
• For extra mileage, save your bones, add a few tablespoons apple cider vinegar, and fill the crock pot up with water. Cook on low overnight and in the morning you’ll have several quarts of nice, healthy bone broth waiting for you. Strain and refrigerate. Yay!
• Since the chicken in cooked in a slow cooker, be sure to start early enough to have it ready on time.

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Enjoy!

Love,

Danielle