It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! I can’t tell you how thankful I am to Amanda for starting this club. The amount of fun I have with it is a little ridiculous. My favorite part is getting my blog assignment and stealthily stalking that blog, hunting down recipes that I want to make and post for reveal day. I always bookmark a million and it takes me an entire week to narrow down my choice to one recipe.
{You can find my past Secret Recipe Club posts here.}
This month I was assigned to A Little Nosh and unlike previous assignments, I knew which recipe I was going to make within a minute of clicking on her blog. I still went through Amy’s archives and bookmarked half her recipes, but did eventually return to the original that caught my eye and knew I couldn’t fight it. I had to make the crockpot chicken cacciatore because:
1) It’s beautiful and I like pretty food.
2) I’d never eaten or made it and thought it would be fun to try something new.
3) It fit perfectly in our diet plan while we were in the 2nd cycle of the 17 Day Diet.
4) I noticed the recipe originally came from one of my blogging buddies, Renee of My Kitchen Adventures, and it tickled me to think that I’d be making Amy’s and Renee’s recipe at the same time.
I changed the recipe to make it on a slightly larger scale with a higher ratio of veggies, and it completely filled my 6-quart crockpot to the brim. The leftovers were enough to last us all week, and what beautiful lunches we were bringing to work! The vegetables and sauce were such a tasty compliment to the tender chicken breast meat, which pretty much fell apart as soon as you touched it with a fork. So delicious.
Thanks, Amy, for sharing this great recipe. I never even saw it on Renee’s blog, so I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity through you and the SRC to try it!
Crockpot Garden Chicken Cacciatore
Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture
6 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large ribs of celery, diced
3 large carrots, diced
2 (4 oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ cup cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons water or chicken broth
Additional salt and pepper, to taste
Place chicken breasts inside the bottom of a 6-quart crockpot. Add in the bell peppers, onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic. Pour the juice from the tomatoes into a medium bowl, then put the tomatoes into the crockpot.
Into the bowl with the tomato juice, add the tomato paste, chicken stock, and balsamic vinegar. Mix well, then pour on top of the tomatoes and vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender.
Mix the cornstarch and water together until no lumps remain, then pour over the top of the vegetables. Stir, turn the crockpot to high, and allow to cook for another 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over brown rice or your choice of starch.
Recipe source: adapted from A Little Nosh, originally from My Kitchen Adventures
To check out the other submissions in Group A for The Secret Recipe Club, click on the Mr. Linky below!
Veronica's Cornucopia 
This looks great V! It is a pretty dish, nice and colorful. Plus, you have to love crockpot dishes, coming home from work to the smells and dinner :)
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Oooh, this looks delish! I haven’t had chicken cacciatore since I was a kid! I need some, lol. I love how you upped the veggies in there…a girl after my own heart! :)
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Super colorful – love it! I think that’s one of the dishes my MIL made for my husband routinely when he was growing up – its either that or braciole – I always mix those two up!
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So glad you liked it! As soon as I saw it on Renee’s site, I pinned it immediately and couldn’t stop thinking about it.
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oh so glad you liked it…and so honored to see it posted again! :) ya, it’s a keeper for sure! That is too funny that you got to cook from two blogs at once and thanks for the link love too!! :0))))))
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Yum, this chicken looks wonderful! I love crockpot meals – so easy and delicious – and the flavors here look spot on! :)
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This looks fabulous! Thanks for sharing!
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It IS a beautiful dish Veronica! The colors are practically jumping off the screen at me. It’s great that you’re having so much fun with the Secret Recipe Club–and I certainly have fun reading your posts about it!
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I want to include more crockpot recipes into my cooking, and this looks like a good addition to the dinner table. Great pick for the SRC this month. Love all the veggies in it!
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That’s one of my husband’s favorite meals ever so it looks like I’ll need to make it. Love the crockpot version and all the colorful veggies!
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What a vibrant dish! I’ll keep this on my “to do” list for my new crockpot.
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Now that my oven is kaput, I’m looking for other ways to cook and the crockpot is one of them. This looks delicious!
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Veronica, you’re right – this IS so pretty and colorful! And how nice to have a recipe that practiacally cooks itself!
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This does look beautiful! I will definitely be bookmarking myself because I have been using my crockpot more lately as it makes my life so much easier during the week!
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Wow, your photos are gorgeous and that chicken looks so succulent! Very cool that you got to do your SRC pick and a friend’s recipe at the same time.
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It sure is beautiful and sounds absolutely wonderful.
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my SRC entry: Broiled Sushi.
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
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This sounds yummy! Will have to try it. Thanks for sharing
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