Middle Eastern Garlic Chicken

This was a recipe I found on my exploration into the world of crockpot cooking.  A recipe for Middle Eastern Garlic Chicken?  No brainer for me just because of the word 'garlic'.  This dish is fantastic!  I made soooo much, that my husband, mom, and I have had it in so many different ways: in a pita, on a salad, straight from the bowl (that would be me), in a tortilla, on bread, etc.  I took a gamble and made about 4 pounds which made at least five meals between my mom, husband, and myself.  So feel free to half it for a small family or just eat on this fabulous chicken for a week :o)

{I had mine on lettuce with some feta cheese!}

This recipe was not "in-your-face" garlic despite having roughly 14 cloves of garlic.  The spices really help to round this dish out and tone down the garlic.  In my house, this is definitely a repeat!  In fact, my husband has already asked for this again, and it's only been a week since I made it!

{The original recipe called for allspice which I missed on my grocery list.  Instead I substituted cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and black pepper which worked out just fine!}

{Getting the chicken ready for marination!}

{This is the amount of garlic I used for this dish}

{Mixing the marinade; I sliced half the garlic and mashed the other half}

{Chicken reveling in garlicky glory!}

{Dump everything in a crockpot and turn to warm/low}

{Shred chicken about 15 minutes before service}

{I invited my mom over for dinner; she had hers in a pita pocket}

Middle Eastern Garlic Chicken

Serves 8

4 pounds chicken breast, boneless and skinless

12-15 cloves garlic (depending on the potency), half sliced and the other half minced

2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 cup lemon juice

3/4 cup olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients together except chicken until well blended.
2. Place chicken in a container with lid; pour marinade over chicken and marinate overnight.
3. Place marinated chicken in a crockpot on warm/low for 6-8 hours.
4. Shred chicken.
5. Serve chicken over a Greek style salad or in a pita pocket.

Seriously easy dish to make.  Seriously versatile.  Seriously delicious (eyes might have rolled into back of heads and deities might have been blessed).  Seriously just go make it!