Week 39: Sun-dried Tomatoes and Chicken Pilaf

The Recipe
450g chicken breast
2 gloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 can (400g) stewed tomatoes
1/2 squash, chopped
50g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (use scissors - that's easier)
2 tsp pesto
6dl chicken stock
200g brown rice

Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken on one side only. Transfer to a plate and quickly cook garlic and onion in the pan. Add chicken stock and get all the bits and pieces off the bottom of the pan. Transfer to a slow cooker.

Add squash, stewed tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto and rice. Stir to mix up everything. Place the chicken breast on top, cooked side up, pushed down just beneath the liquid to keep them from drying out. Cook on HIGH for 3-4 hours.

The Verdict
First of all, I made a rookie mistake - I assumed that HIGH for 3-4 hours would equal LOW for 6-7 hours. Not the case at all, and thus the rice wasn't properly cooked through. Not that they were 'raw', there was just a bit more of a bite to them than usual. Fortunately that was the only problem with this dish and easily remedied. Everything else worked out really well. The tastes meshed wonderfully, and the chicken was more moist than I've ever experienced white meat being before. I might add a tad more pesto and sun-dried tomatoes next time as those two ingredients seemed to disappear altogether, but otherwise it was perfect as-is.