3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

For those who are wondering, cassoulet is basically a French peasant dish consisting of beans and meats slowly cooked together. This was slightly modified from a recipe in Mable Hoffman's Crockery Cookery. It is not authentic cassoulet, which typically takes at least 2 days to prepare and is laden with pork (which we don't eat), sausages, and goose confit (or duck if you can't get goose) - very rich and fatty! My modified version of this recipe, while not authentic, is delicious, filling, easy, and (as far as I know) SBD friendly - and it smells incredibly good while cooking!

Slow-Cooker Cassoulet

4-8 skinless chicken thighs (or use 4-6 b/l, s/l chicken breasts - I used thighs as DH doesn't like white meat)
1 small leek, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 (15 oz) cans white kidney (Great Northern) beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 lb smoked meat (I used smoked lean beef bacon, microwaved and blotted with paper towels and snipped into bite-size pieces; smoked ham or other lean pork would work, too)
1/4 cup dry white wine (I used Pinot Grigio)

In a 5 qt slow cooker, combine chicken, leek, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Add beans and smoked meat and pour wine over all. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours (or longer if needed - I cooked on High for about 5 hours, approximately) or until chicken is tender.

This made 4 generous servings, although I would think you could get 5 or 6 servings for people with smaller appetites than my family has!

For this meal, I served some leftover Hamburger Minestrone (since I had it on hand - otherwise I'd've made some veggie soup), followed by salad consisting of a bag of organic herb salad (baby chard, escarole, baby lettuces, herbs, etc) and chopped heirloom tomato with a balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing, then the cassoulet with whole wheat sourdough bread. It was all very good; everyone enjoyed their meal!