Foodie Fridays: Slow Cooker Coq au Vin I

I am such a fan of the main dish recipes on the Half Baked Harvest website!  Today I am sharing my version of yet another one, the Healthier Instant Pot Coq au Vin recipe, but made with the slow cooker instructions rather than in an instant pot, because I do not have and do not want an instant pot.  No offense to instant pots, but I am not fond of cooking gadgets (I have never even used my stand mixer, because I prefer to get a little exercise by hand mixing ingredients).

Since I already own a slow cooker and do not mind using it, I decided to make this recipe on a day when I had the time and the weather was cool.  If you are not using an instant pot, this dish will take a while to make, but you will be leaving it to cook on its own for at least four hours, so you will be free to do other things for a while.  This is such a comfort food, and the long cooking time is worth it for the delicious aroma that will permeate your kitchen as it cooks!

As usual, I made a few changes to the original recipe.  I do not eat bacon (that pesky red meat allergy again), so I just sautéed the onion, garlic, and tomato paste in a little vegetable oil instead.  I did not miss the flavor of bacon, but bacon lovers will probably want to include this ingredient!  I also substituted arugula for the parsley, since I was too lazy to go out to my garden and harvest this herb, and I had a container of arugula in the fridge that had to be used up before it went bad.  I used Merlot as my red wine because we had Merlot, but use any red wine you like.  Since chicken breasts seem to be absolutely humongous these days, I found a package of two extra-gigantic ones and cut them in half to make four servings.  I served mine over creamy polenta instead of mashed potatoes, but use the starchy base you prefer (mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes, rice, pasta, quinoa, or whatever!).

I highly recommend this tasty cold weather comfort food recipe - refer to the original recipe if you have an instant pot and want to use it, but the slow cooker version is just perfect in my opinion!

Slow Cooker Coq au Vin I

1 T. oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. tomato paste
8 oz. (1/2 of a 16 oz. bag) baby carrots, cut in half on the diagonal
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 1/2-2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 C. red wine (I used a Merlot)
1 C. chicken broth (I used unsalted)
2 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs
salt and pepper to taste
5 oz. baby arugula

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion, garlic, and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from the heat and spoon into the bottom of a slow cooker bowl.

Layer in the carrots, mushrooms, and chicken breasts.  Season the tops of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp. salt and no black pepper since I do not like it).  Tuck the bay leaves in around the chicken, and place the thyme sprigs on top of the chicken.  Slowly pour in the wine and broth, and rearrange the chicken breasts so that they are submerged in the liquid.

Cover the slow cooker bowl and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or HIGH for 4-5 hours (I cooked mine on HIGH for 4 hours).  Once the cooking time is complete, uncover the bowl and cook on HIGH for 15-20 minutes to reduce the sauce.  Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.  Stir in the arugula and cook until it wilts.  Turn off the slow cooker or set it on WARM.  Spoon the coq au vin over individual bowls of polenta or mashed potatoes.  Serves 4.