Rachel Donaldson.

Welcome back to Dining with Donaldson, the place where I try recipes so you don’t have to! This week I decided to give you all a break from my recipes and try something new! With the Iowa heat finally showing its face, I knew I didn’t want to turn on the oven unless absolutely necessary. There is just something about a hot kitchen in the middle of summer that makes cooking feel like a punishment instead of something fun. So, this week I went for one of my favorite types of recipes, a slow cooker meal.

I love being able to dump everything in my slow cooker, turn it on, and go about my day. During the school year, freezer meals and slow cooker recipes are my go-to option. Any time I can add another simple recipe to my list, I will gladly do it. Believe it or not, after spending the whole day in a kitchen at school, I don’t always want to come home and cook a full meal from scratch.

The recipe for this week is slow cooker chicken burrito bowls. While I have a tendency to switch up recipes that I find, the original came from the website NoblePig.com (https://noblepig.com/slow-cooker-chicken-burrito-bowls). I like the simplicity of this recipe because it still had a lot of flavor from cooking it low and slow, but didn’t require a long list of complicated ingredients. That is always a win in my book.

The basic idea is simple. Chicken, broth, salsa, tomatoes, beans, corn, rice and seasoning all cook together until you have a flavor-packed, filling burrito bowl. At this point, you can add any other toppings you would like. The recipe offered some great suggestions such as sour cream, lettuce and cilantro. I would also recommend crushed tortilla chips to give you a little bit of crunch. The great thing is that this is one of those meals that can be served a lot of different ways depending on everyone’s personal preference.

Overall, I would say this recipe was a success, but I would make a few changes for next time. The flavor was good, and I loved how easy it was to put together. This is definitely the kind of meal that would work well on a busy night when you have practices, meetings, errands, or just no desire to stand over the stove.

Pros

-Super simple to make (just dump and go)

-Budget-friendly

-Customizable

-Can easily make a bigger batch for company

Cons

-A little dried out with the instant rice

-Hard to accommodate picky eaters

Suggestions

-Making this again, I would switch to long-grain rice (my usual go-to).

-Between the salsa and the diced tomatoes, it felt like a lot of tomatoes for my family. I would remove the diced tomatoes and add a little more chicken broth to keep the liquid amount similar.

-I have an obsession with the cilantro-lime seasoning from Sam’s Club. I highly recommend using this to season your dish. (In fact, I use this in all of my Mexican-style dishes.)

Rachel Donaldson is an author, self-described foodie and the current family and consumer sciences teacher at North Tama Community School District. She resides with her family in Vinton.