Barbeque Pulled Chicken and How to Poach Chicken

Barbeque pulled chicken on brown rice

with a side of sauteed spinach and mushrooms.

Insanely easy.  Exceptionally yummy.

Barbecue Pulled Chicken   

You will need: 

• leftover cooked chicken 
• barbecue sauce, bottled or your favorite homemade recipe
• a couple tablespoons chicken broth or water 

"But Squeak," you say, "I don't have leftover cooked chicken.  What am I to do?"

Well, funny you should ask!  I didn't have leftover chicken either but I did have 2 big boneless, skinless chicken breasts, defrosting in the fridge.  So I poached them because poaching chicken is fun and easy!

Poached chicken

• meaty chicken parts
• chicken broth or water with some bouillon (I use Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base)

Place the chicken in a pot and add just enough broth to cover.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer:  10 minutes for boneless chicken.  15 minutes for chicken on the bone.

  

Remove from heat and let rest in the hot broth, covered:  15-20 minutes for boneless chicken.  20-30 minutes for chicken on the bone.  Dark meat takes longer to cook than white meat so choose the longer standing time for dark meat.  Test the chicken with an instant read thermometer.  White meat should be 170°F and dark meat 180°F

Remove the chicken from the broth and let cool. Cover and store in the fridge. Voilà!  Leftover cooked chicken!  Use the broth to make Baked Brown Rice or cool, transfer to a jar or covered container and store in the fridge or freezer.

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And now, back to our regularly scheduled recipe,

already in progress.

Barbecue Pulled Chicken

I really don't have a recipe for this. How much you make will depend on how many people your feeding.  (FYI:  2 big chicken breasts made 3 nice sized servings.)

Use 2 forks to shred the cooked chicken.  Place the shredded chicken in a pot or a microwaveable bowl and add your favorite gluten free barbecue sauce. Add a little chicken broth to thin the sauce (I used a couple tablespoons of the chicken poaching broth) and heat until it's bubbly hot.  Serve on rice, baked or smashed potatoes, quinoa, hamburger buns, English muffins or whatever you have laying around the house.

  I used Naturally Delicious Barbeque Sauce, which, by the way, is delicious! 

 And look way down at the end of that ingredient list.  

Gluten free.   

Gotta love a product that puts that on the label!

It's made by Cains, which sells primarily on the East Coast so you may not be able to find it in your area. 

Sauteed Spinach with Mushrooms

• 2 tablespoon coconut or olive oil
• about 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced (I used a half a box of crimini)
• 3 green onions, sliced (white and green parts)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced (about 1 tsp of the bottled stuff)
• 1 bag of pre-washed baby spinach leaves (6-8 ounces)
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar (optional)
• salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the mushrooms until tender.  Add the green onions and garlic and saute until fragrant, about a minute.  Add a large handful of spinach and saute, stirring constantly.  As soon as the spinach starts to wilt add another large handful of spinach.  Continue cooking, stirring and adding the spinach until all of the spinach is in the pan.  As soon as all of the spinach is wilted, remove from heat.  Add the vinegar, salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Makes 2 large or 4 small servings