This sweet-and-savory slow cooker chicken recipe is a delicious filling for lettuce wraps, along with scoops of brown rice. Be sure to use crisp lettuce with big leaves, such as romaine, iceberg or green leaf. Simply bring the crock of chicken and the rice cooker pot to the table, set out a platter piled high with the lettuce leaves and fresh basil, and let each person make up their own wraps. Alternatively, simply serve the chicken spooned over brown rice.

Special cooking equipment needed: Medium sauté pan, slow cooker, wooden spoon, chef’s knife, cutting boards for meat and for vegetables, rice cooker, salad spinner, slotted spoon

See Also

Tips on Buying and Using a Slow Cooker

Slow Cookers and Delayed Start Times

Review: Hamilton Beach Set 'n Forget Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1 onion, large dice (1/2-inch pieces)
• 1 1/2 red peppers, large dice (1/2-inch pieces)
• 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 20-ounce can drained pineapple chunks, juice reserved
• 1/2 cup pineapple juice
• 1/4 c soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 rice-cooker cups brown rice (about 1 1/2 standard cups)
• 1 T cornstarch mixed with 1 T soy sauce
• 1 cup roasted cashews
• 1 head crisp lettuce, such as iceberg or romaine
• 1 small bunch Thai basil, rinsed

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 305 minutes

• Total Time: 320 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers and saute for about 5 minutes or until softened. Set aside.
2. Trim excess fat off the chicken, cut it into 1-inch cubes and place the chicken in the crockpot. Add the onion-pepper mixture and pineapple.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the pineapple juice, soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil. Pour it over the ingredients in the slow cooker crock and use a spoon to stir the ingredients together. Place the lid on the slow cooker and set it on high. Cook for 5 to 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.

1. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the brown rice: Measure two rice-cooker cups into the pot of a rice cooker. Rinse and drain the rice several times, until the water runs clear, then add the directed amount of water to the pot to cook 2 cups of rice. Set the cooker to the brown-rice setting and start it cooking.
2. Place the cornstarch in a small bowl, Spoon out about a teaspoon of the cooking liquid and stir it into the cornstarch mixture until it forms a slurry. Pour the cornstarch mixture and the cashews into the chicken mixture, stir to combine and let simmer for 5 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly.
3. Prepare the lettuce. For romaine or green lettuce, cut off the stem end and carefully separate the leaves. For iceberg lettuce, use a paring knife in a circular motion to carefully cut out the core of the lettuce. Pull the leaves apart, beginning with the core end. Wash and dry the lettuce in a salad spinner.
4. To serve, spoon a little rice onto a lettuce leaf. Using a slotted spoon to allow some of the cooking liquid to drain off, spoon some of the chicken over the rice, top with a basil leaf or two, wrap the sides of the leaf loosely around the filling and eat.