Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken & Potato Salad

Happy Monday, ya'll!!  Hope everyone enjoyed the first weekend of Summer 2014!  I sure did, it was busy and full of friends and fun.  But yesterday, it was so hot that I did not want to cook inside or outside, so what's a girl to do???  Use the crock pot! Or slow cooker, depending on where you're from :)

Today I am going to show you a super summery meal that is FULL of flavor and anyone can make!  Here is my recipe for Crock Pot Balsamic Chicken & Potato Salad.  This is also a meal that can be tweaked with whatever you have in your cupboard, because that is basically what I did!

I am a HUGE fan of fresh herbs but this recipe doesn't call for them as again, we want this to be super simple.

Now you can use breasts or legs for this recipe.  You will just need to adjust cooking time if your chicken has bones in it.  I had chicken legs, so I cooked them in the oven for 30 minutes at 325 to help get them cooked since I am only going to put them in the crock pot for 4 hours on high.  If you use boneless chicken, you only need to cook them for 4 hours on high in the crock pot.

Now I was raised on directions that include a "pinch" of this or a "dash" of that...were you? But here are the actual measurements for the chicken seasonings to make it easier.

1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons dried minced onion

I didn't have minced onion, so I improvised! I love being able to do that in recipes :)

Mix all of the spices together and rub them on both sides of the chicken.

Take 4 garlic cloves and mince them (or use minced like I did) and mix it with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.  Spread on the bottom of the crock pot.

Place the chicken in the slow cooker and cover with 1 cup of your choice of balsamic vinegar. 

This is what it should look like!  Cover and cook on high for 4 hours.

Now while that is doing it's thing....lets prepare the potato salad!  Another super easy, flavorful recipe!

 Okay, so for this we will need:

2 1/2 lbs red potatoes
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1/2 cup of sliced pickles (I like sweet ones for this recipe)
1 garlic clove (minced)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 cups of corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1/2 cup of sliced scallions

Now of course, depending on how many people you are feeding, you can double or triple this recipe.  I just wanted a small batch as this really only holds well for about a day in the fridge (IMO).

Cut up the potatoes in chunks (make them smaller then mine here as my husband even said they were huge HAHA).

Put them in a pot of water and add a dash of salt, get water boiling and then reduce to simmer.  Cover and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until potatoes slide off of fork when pierced.

Clean off your ears of corn and cut in half and boil on the stove (in separate pot) until tender, about 4-5 minutes.

Drain potatoes and corn and put on the side to cool.

Chop up your scallions and pickles.

Then cut your corn off the cob.

Now, take your spicy brown mustard and mix it with your garlic and your sugar.

 

Now mix your sauce with the potatoes and add in all the chopped up vegetables!

TA DA!!

Now, of course, I started this about half an hour before I knew the chicken would be done so that it is all ready at the same time.

Once I took the chicken out, I sprinkled some fresh parsley from my garden on it.

I hope ya'll enjoy this recipe and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below!!  Keep in mind, you can add almost anything to this salad! I know my cousin would have loved if I added bacon to it :)

Have a great day!!