Chicken Taco Salad and a football watching feast!

I live for college football.  When I was in middle school, I went to the Iowa State University home games with my Dad whenever I could.  ISU rarely won but my love affair with college football began then anyway.  After those games, my Dad would always take me to the campus ice cream parlor for an ice cream cone.  That began my love of football food.  I am also partial to football fashion  but that would be for a fashion blog.

What defines football food is that it must be easy to prepare and able to be served  over/within a three hour window and still taste awesome.  I tend to prefer Tex-Mex food because it is easy to prepare and always a crowd pleaser.  This recipe is one that I cannot take credit for, I learned it from my daughters, Elissa and Sarah.

Tex-Mex Slow cooker chicken for a football fiesta

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts. (You don't even need to thaw them)

2 cans Rotel brand or Pace brand tomatoes with chilies

1/2 cup of your favorite picante sauce.  (I use a local brand, Mateos, that isn't widely available but Pace original medium would also work fine.)

Combine in a slow cooker, crock pot if you are my age, and set the heat on low.  Ignore for about 6 to 8 hours.  Then shred the chicken and add about 1 teaspoon of dark chili powder.

Drop the heat to "warm".

Ignore until you are ready to serve.  This is delicious in tacos or in a taco salad or on baked potatoes or as a sandwich.  How much more versatile could it be? 

I like a good taco salad.  So here are the directions.

Using a pre-made salad shell is the easiest but you can purchase the largest size tortilla, either flour or corn and make your own.  To make your own, preheat the oven to 450 and then take a heat tempered bowl (Pyrex) that is slightly larger than the tortilla.  Spray both sides of the tortilla with a high quality cooking spray such as Pam and drape the tortilla over the outside of the inverted bowl.  Heat until nicely browned but not over cooked.  This will provide the stiffness that the shell needs.  It should take about five minutes, and can be done the day before.

Layer the following ingredients in the bowl.

Refried beans

Chicken taco meat

Diced onions

Shredded lettuce

Grated cheddar cheese or queso fresco crumbles

Diced avocados

Diced tomatoes

Top with a dollop of sour cream or

Mix your sour cream with an equal amount of picante sauce and top with that mixture.

It adds more flavor and much less calories.

Serve with your favorite beer and cheer your favorite college team to victory.

Boomer Sooner!