Monterey Chicken

I came up with this recipe after attempting a Sandra Lee recipe. I decided to delete a few ingredients because I didn’t like some of the items (mushrooms, onions, and baby corn). I also bought only one can of the cream soup instead of two. Lastly, I didn’t have any fresh or dried thyme, so I substituted my favorite all-around spice. When the chicken came out of the crock pot, it was delicious, but definitely not what Sandra Lee had intended. Here’s what I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 3 or 4 chicken breasts
• McCormick Garlic Pepper seasoning
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 3 or 4 red potatoes, skins on, quartered
• 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

Step 1: Place red potatoes on the bottom of a 5-quart slow cooker, add the carrots on top of the potatoes. Top veggies with about 2/3 of the condensed soup.

Step 2: Generously coat both sides of the chicken breasts with the Garlic Pepper seasoning. I always have the dried blend on hand because it has not only garlic and black pepper, but also red and green bell peppers, onions, and a little brown sugar. I don’t care to add much salt to my cooking, but if you do, go ahead and add a little salt as well.

Step 3: Lay the chicken atop the veggies. Dollop the remaining 1/3 of the condensed soup on the chicken. Don’t smear it around or it’ll shift the seasoning and some of your chicken will have too much seasoning while other chicken areas will be bland.

Step 4: Cover the crock pot and cook on Low for 4-6 hours.

Optional Step 5: During the last hour of cooking, cut up 3 or 4 strips of bacon and add 2 half-strips to the top of each chicken breast. Add a handful or so of shredded cheese sprinkled over the whole crock pot (aiming mostly for the chicken). Replace the crock pot lid and let cook for the last hour so the bacon gets crispy and the cheese gets all gooey.

The chicken comes out juicy and very flavorful and the veggies have a delightful thick sauce from the soup. Enjoy it as-is or add some rice as a side dish to stretch the meal between more people.