Slow Cooker Chicken with 7 Vegetables is a recipe created to celebrate the increase of recommended vegetable portions from 5-a-day to 7-a-day.
It is a bit of a challenge to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables. every day. Putting a full seven portions of fruit or vegetables onto one your plate seems like a mammoth challenge.
7 a day
7 a day fruit and veg ‘saves lives’” reports BBC News, while The Daily Telegraph states that “10 portions of fruit and vegetables per day” is best.
The headlines have been prompted by the results of a UK-based study that used information on more than 65,000 randomly selected adults who were participating in the Health Survey for England.
This is an ongoing health survey that looks at health and lifestyle factors such as fruit and vegetable consumption. The researchers followed up participants for an average of 7.7 years after their initial participation.
The researchers found that eating fruit and vegetables was associated with a lower risk of death from any cause, looking especially at deaths as a result of cardiovascular disease and cancer. The higher a person’s intake of fruit and vegetables, the greater the protective effects seemed to be.
People who ate seven or more portions a day had a 33% reduced risk of death compared with people who ate less than one portion.
source NHS
7 Vegetables in one meal
This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken with 7 vegetables gives you all 7 portions in a single meal.
Brown the chicken and set aside, then add all the chopped vegetables to your slow cooker.
Add extra flavour with balsamic vinegar, pesto and olives. Top the vegetables with the chicken and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.
The vegetables will be soft and yielding and the chicken will be tender and falling off the bone.
Serve with mashed potatoes, rice, pasta or simply with crusty bread to soak up all the delicious sauce.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes from Farmersgirl Kitchen
I’m also entering this recipe for Four Seasons Food Spring Challenge: Let’s Celebrate Vegetables run by Delicieux and Eat Your Veg.
Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy are also celebrating 7-a-day with their challenge Extra Veg.
Slow Cooker Chicken with 7 Vegetables
Ingredients
- 8 chicken thighs
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 8 mushrooms
- 7 small vine tomatoes
- 2 Aubergines Eggplant
- 3 large orange or yellow (bell) peppers or 12 mini red
- 2 large courgettes zucchini
- 12 pitted black olives
- 2 tablespoons of pesto
- 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
- small bunch of parsley
Instructions
- Brown the chicken pieces in a pan with a little oil, set aside.
- Chop all the vegetables into even sized pieces and place them in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Mix the pesto and balsamic vinegar into the vegetables and top with the chicken pieces.
- Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.
- Top with chopped parsley.
- Serve with crusty bread to soak up the juices.
Karen S Booth says
What a LOVELY recipe and I love the addition of herbs in the concoction too! It also looks VERY colourful and that makes it more enticing to eat! I will try to add an entry to your slow cooker challenge this month, but I am away from home for 2 weeks, so I will have to make it soon! Karen
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Karen, no worries if you can't, there's always another time.
Camilla Hawkins says
Ooh that looks really healthy and really tasty Janice:-) Did you use green or red pesto?
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Camilla, I used green pesto, but red would work just as well.
London Unattached says
you are making me wish I had a slow cooker!
Janice Pattie says
Ha ha! I'll convert you yet, Fiona.
belleau kitchen says
oh good lord that looks stunning and i'm loving what you're doing with my chicken thighs… I'll have to add this one to the list.. those veg look divine and I bet all those chickeny juices were incredible. Very hungry now!
Christian Halfmann says
It looks very delicious. I think eating colourful is a very good and healthy thing to do.
Janice Pattie says
I agree Chris, nice to get some spring and summer veggies into us!
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Dom, those thighs were just so tender and you are right about the juices, that's what all the crusty bread was for, love mopping up cooking juices.
Nayna Kanabar says
What a lovely selection of veggies, would not mind them with some rice cooked in slow cooker.
Heidi Roberts says
Those are some of my favourite vegetables and everything goes with chicken. Looks delicious.
Rebecca Subbiah says
looks delicious and so healthy
Elizabeth says
Sounds delicious, and a great way to contribute to one's 7 a day 🙂
Sylvia F. says
Looks super delicious! I love dishes with loads of veggies with sauce it always smells so great!
GG says
Oooh, this looks fab! A wonderful array of sweet and tasty veg. GG
Choclette says
Take out that chicken and I would be tucking into that with gusto Janice, so just as well the chicken is there 😉
Nazima Pathan says
looks amazing Janice and I would love this as a weekend slow cook and use the remainders in the rest of the week. I am sure this must smell as good as it tastes!
Bintu @ Recipes From A Pantry says
I need to do more things with my slow cooker. So much to do and so little time.