Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Thighs

The Samurai and I had this for dinner last night, and it was so good I had to get it up here to share with the rest of you!  It's loosely adapted from a recipe from the online "Menu-Mailer" service.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken Thighs

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 4 medium carrots, diced
• 4 pounds chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
• salt, pepper
• 1 can/jar crushed tomatoes, 14-15 oz., or tomato sauce
• 1 medium lime, juiced
• 2 chipotles (canned in adobo sauce), minced
• 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (from the can of chipotles)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 bunch cilantro, chopped
• 1 bag frozen green beans
• sour cream, avocado, optional

Directions:

In a skillet (with a cover), cook the onions, celery, and carrots in a little oil and salt for 5 minutes over med-low heat, covered, until soft. Do not brown. Scrape the contents of the skillet into the bottom of your slow cooker. (You can skip this step and just place the raw veggies in the cooker if you are really short on time, but I think this step helps the flavor and texture a lot.)

Cover the veggies with half of the thighs, sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Then layer the remaining thighs and sprinkle those with salt and pepper.

Combine the tomatoes, lime juice, chipotles, adobo sauce, and garlic in a bowl, then pour over the chicken.

Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 3-4. Add the frozen green beans during the last hour of cooking (you can just throw them right on top of everything and sort of push them into the liquid a bit).

Once everything is done, remove the thighs from the slow cooker and set aside. Stir the cilantro into the liquid and veggies remaining in the cooker. Serve by placing 2-3 thighs in a shallow bowl then topping with veggies and liquid. Serve with optional sour cream, avocado, etc.

Serves 6 (at least!)