Maple Dijon Chicken & Broccoli

I thought the sauce smelled kind of crazy... but in the end it tasted pretty good to me!

From the kitchen of:  Internet (Katie) 

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 Tbs brown sugar

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (I just did some cubed chicken breast since that's what I had)

• Salt & Pepper to taste

• 2 heads of broccoli cut into florets

• 2 Tbs fresh parsley (I forgot this)

• Sauce Ingredients:

  • 1/3 C pure maple syrup (I used sugar free... seemed fine to me - maybe the other stuff has more flavor though).

  • 3 Tbs Dijon mustard

  • 1 Tbs whole grain mustard (I didn't know what this was, so I just did some yellow mustard).

  • 1 Tbs red wine vinegar

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano

  • Zest of 1 orange (this seemed pretty imperative to me - definitely tasted it!)

  • Most salt and pepper to taste

1. INSTRUCTIONS:Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. Work the brown sugar, about 1 Tbs per thigh onto both sides of the chicken and season with salt and pepper (I just threw it into a bag and mushed it around until the chicken cubes were coated)

3. Melt butter in skillet over medium high heat, add chicken, and sear on both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 min. per side (I did this using the saute button on my Instant Pot! It just browned my chicken a bit so it might taste different with the thighs and with this higher heat method...)

4. Place chicken in slow cooker, stir in maple syrup mixture. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 2-3 hours (I did mine about 2 hours on high in the Instant Pot, but it was small cubes of chicken, so it cooked pretty quickly). 

5. Add broccoli during last 30 min. of cooking time.

6. Garnish with parsley if desired.

MAKES: 4 servings