Slow Cooker Chicken Verde

Have you ever made your own salsa verde?  It is super easy and delicious!  Now, believe me, there is nothing wrong with the salsa verde from a jar (I prefer Herdez please) but sometimes it's fun to make something yourself if you have the time!  If you make this, know that it makes A LOT and that you will be sharing with friends (another reason to cook, in my opinion.)  If you only want enough to make the chicken listed here I would make 1/4 of the recipe and use the same amount of chicken called for here.  I made double the amount of chicken, used 2/3 of the full recipe and gave the other 1/3 of the salsa away.  That adds up, right?  I served this over Chipotle Style Rice.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chicken Verde (adapted from Cooking Light, December 2013)

1/3 c. garlic cloves
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 lb. tomatillos, husks removed
2 poblano chiles, halved and seeded
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
1/2 c. fresh cilantro
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. cornstarch
2 t. salt
3/4 t. black pepper
1/2 c. low sodium chicken broth
Cooking spray
8 chicken leg quarters, skinned
8 lime wedges, for serving

Preheat the broiler.  Combine the first 5 ingredients, tossing to coat.  Arrange on a jelly roll pan and broil for 10 minutes or until the vegetables are black in spots.  Place mixture in a blender; add the cilantro, oregano, cornstarch, salt, pepper and stock.  Remove the center piece from the blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure lid to blender and place a clean kitchen towel over the blender opening (to avoid splatters.)  Blend until smooth.  

Spray a 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray and arrange the chicken in the slow cooker.  Pour 1/3 of the salsa verde over the chicken, cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until done.  Serve with lime wedges.

4 servings (320 calories each serving) according to my calculator on loseit.com