Taco Bar Recipes

Tonight was our neighborhood's Progressive Dinner party and we hosted the hot food-- a taco bar. If you know us, you know how we both love Mexican food (both authentic and American style).  So we jumped at the chance to make some!  I (Leah) tried out a new recipe for slow-cooker chicken.  Now, I must admit this was the first time that I have ever used my slow-cooker to cook anything.  So-- I had to make sure that the recipe was fool-proof.  And it was!  The chicken was perfectly seasoned, moist and juicy.

Here's the recipe:
5 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I was cooking for 20+ people)
3 cups of chicken broth
2 packets of taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles

Dump into slow cooker, stir together and cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Drain the chicken, reserving some liquid.  Shred chicken (this was really easy-- Rob did it) and return to slow-cooker. Add some of the reserved liquid back into the slow cooker and keep warm until ready to serve.

I also made refried beans (without frying them!):
1 onion, peeled and halved
3 cups dry pinto beans, rinsed
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups of chicken broth
7 cups of water
1 3/4 teaspoons black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1 packet taco seasoning
1 teaspoon chili powder

Add all ingredients to slow cooker, stir together and cook on high for 8 hours.  Once beans are cooked, strain and reserve the liquid.  Mash beans and onion with a potato masher, adding reserved water as needed.  The recipe also called for 1/2 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped to go in the slow cooker. I didn't remember to buy the peppers and thought it tasted good without.

And I made black beans (this is for you, Molly) by adding 1 tablespoon of oil into a skillet on medium heat.  Then, I added 4 cans of black beans (rinsed), 1/2 packet of taco seasoning and one onion, chopped.  I let them saute until the beans were well-heated, then simmered until they were ready to serve.

Sorry there are no pictures, but it was yummy!