Lebanese Inspired Chicken - Clean and Crockpot Style!

The hubs and I have some fantastic Lebanese friends. They are some of the kindest, most hospitable people we know. And, they're also some of the best cooks we know! If you haven't had Lebanese food, you really need to live a little and try some! It's so healthy and SO flavorful. You'll love the rich, spicy aroma that fills your house when this is slow cooking all day.

One of our favorite dishes is shawarma. Now, we love the flavor of shawarma, but of course I wasn't going to be able to pull off the whole roasting on a rotating spit deal, so I opted for crockpot production instead. Authentic, right? :) I call this "Lebanese-inspired" because I added some of my own flare to it which drives the authenticity down, but it was still SO GOOD. I try to convert a lot of traditional recipes to the crockpot because that just fits our life a little better right now. We never quite know what time dinner will be served.

Here's what you need:

• About 2lbs, boneless skinless chicken breasts
• Shawarma spice mix (or make it yourself)
• 6T olive oil
• 6T lemon juice (I used bottled, ssshhh!)
• Minced garlic (I guessed and used a little under a tablespoon or so)
• Red bell pepper 
• One small onion

Here's what you do: 

• In a small bowl (like a cereal bowl) mix olive oil, lemon juice, spice mix (like 3T or so) and garlic. Stir until well incorporated.
• Place your chicken in the crockpot, pour liquid mixture over chicken. Cover and set to 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low. 
• A couple hours in, go ahead and sauté the red bell pepper and onion (cut into strips) with some salt and garlic. Once sautéed  throw that in on top of your chicken. It adds a nice flavor, color and some added veggies. 
• When chicken is finished cooking, shred with two forks and serve over rice with whatever garnishes you may want. 

What else: 

• In an effort to keep this recipe clean, I served it with brown basmati rice, black beans, and a dollop of non-fat plain greek yogurt on each dish. 
• This would also be delicious in a whole grain pita or whole grain tortilla. 

This recipe is husband and older-child approved. :) My little littles weren't sure about it, but with some coaxing (or maybe a tortilla) they'd probably take it down.