By the time March rolls around, we’ve all probably given up on our New Year’s resolutions, but if you are still trying to lose your extra ‘Covid 19 lbs’ like I am, here’s a low calorie (272 calories in two tacos), delicious recipe that pops with flavor. I made my own jerk seasoning, which is listed here, but you can purchase a jar of jerk spice as an alternative.

Slow Cooker Jerk Chicken Tacos with Caribbean Salsa

Serves 8

Ingredients for jerk seasoning:

• 2 T onion flakes

• ½ tsp each of Thyme, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, salt, nutmeg, sugar

• ¼ tsp black pepper

• 1 T dried parsley (this is the only ingredient that actually came from my garden – hey, it’s March)

Ingredients:

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed

• 2 T jerk seasoning

• Kosher salt

• 2 ½ lbs boneless chicken breasts

• 2 T lime juice

• ½ c orange juice

• 2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Ingredients for Caribbean Salsa :

• 2 large mangos, peeled, diced into ½ pieces

• 1 avocado, peeled, diced into ½ pieces

• 2 T chopped red onion

• 2 T chopped fresh cilantro

• 2 T lime juice

• ¼ tsp salt

• Black pepper

• 12 extra thin yellow corn tortillas

Process for the Chicken:

Combine the garlic, jerk seasoning, and ½ tsp salt and spread it over the chicken. Put the chicken, the lime and orange juices, and cilantro in the crock pot. Cover and cook on high for 2 hours. 

Process for the Salsa:

In a medium bowl, combine the mango, avocado, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, salt, and black pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. Pour any liquid left in the slow cooker into a bowl, then return the chicken to the slow cooker. Add 1 cup of the reserved liquid, just enough to moisten the chicken, and season with 1/8 tsp salt and black pepper to taste.

Heat the tortillas in a skillet set over medium-high for about 30 seconds. Fill each with 1/3 cup of the chicken and 2 T of salsa.

Photo credit: Joy Johnson (1,2,3,4)