I grew up in a home without central air conditioning. (I know, I know … my children could never.)
Because of the heat, my mom was fastidious about avoiding the oven during the summer months. I couldn’t blame her. The heat from a single hour of oven use would stay in the house for days.
But then I got older and moved into homes that had central air. I could use the oven! Even in August! And I certainly did.
In fact, I recall baking loaves and loaves of sourdough bread in the middle of July just a few years ago.
But now? No way. No how. I don’t know if the temperatures really are warmer now (it feels like it) or if it’s just my age (probably, but you’d best not agree with me on that), but the heat seems more oppressive now than ever.
So I’m doing everything I can to keep extra heat out of my kitchen.
Enter: the slow cooker.
I have a real love-hate relationship with this thing.
I love the idea of popping a few ingredients into it first thing in the morning and coming home to a cooked meal.
But I hate the way it can overcook things – especially lean meats – and make them dry.
I also hate the use of canned condensed soups that most recipes call for. I know they can stand up to long cook times, but they don’t taste like real food to me.
But desperate times call for desperate measures, so I decided to try adapting for the slow cooker a fan favorite from the SHS cafeteria: cheesy chicken over rice.
Now, the cafeteria staff at SHS do not use a slow cooker to make this dish. And their version calls for – I kid you not – 3 quarts of sour cream and 3 pounds of cheddar cheese.
No matter how good it was, I was not looking to make that much of it.
So I knocked down the amounts to fit what I needed and what I had on hand. And yes, I am calling for cream-of soup in this recipe.
However, I have learned that it is remarkably easy to make a very tasty version at home. It is essentially a thick white sauce with some type of flavoring. There are tons of versions online. I usually make mine using butter, flour, milk and chicken stock, but I’ve seen recipes that use cornstarch instead of flour.
To make it more convenient, I make a large batch at once and freeze it flat in quart-sized bags. That’s what I used in this recipe – and the soup wasn’t even thawed. It worked just fine.
SLOW-COOKER CHEESY CHICKEN OVER RICE
Ingredients:
1 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (I used butterflied breasts. Use thighs if you prefer or need a longer cook time.)
1/2 cup chicken broth (I use water and bouillon.)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can cream of chicken soup (or homemade equivalent)
1 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
4 to 5 slices American cheese
1 cup shredded cheese, preferably cheddar or Colby Jack
Additional seasonings, to taste: chicken bouillon powder, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper
Directions:
■ Grease the crock of a slow cooker. Place the chicken in the crock and pour in the broth. Add the seasonings and bell pepper. Pour the cream of chicken soup over the top. Do not thin it with water.
■ Cover and cook on low until the chicken is cooked through. This took 3 hours in my slow cooker. Many recipes recommend as many as 8 hours of cook time for chicken breasts, but that has been far too long in my experience. Use thighs if you need a cook time longer than 3 to 4 hours.
■ When the chicken is done, remove it from the crock and cut it into bite-sized pieces. (If you used thighs with a longer cook time, you can shred the meat directly in the crock.)
■ Return the chicken to the crock and add the sour cream and cheeses. Cover and heat on high while you prepare rice in a separate pan.
■ Stir the chicken mixture well. Taste carefully and adjust the seasonings to your liking. I added more bouillon powder, salt, pepper and a pinch of cayenne pepper to mine.
■ Serve over cooked rice.
Amelia Plair is a mom and high school teacher in Starkville. Email reaches her at [email protected].
Amelia Plair is a Starkville resident who writes occasional food columns.
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