Chicken with Apricots and Dates

1 1/2 pounds chicken meat (boneless, skinless thighs are the best. If you're going to use chicken with bones, fish them out about halfway through cooking)
1 large yellow onion, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried pitted dates, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup orange juice

1. Put the chicken into the bottom of a 4 to 6-quart slow cooker. If you are using fresh (instead of frozen) chicken, shave off about 90 minutes or so of cooking time.
2. Add diced onion, and spices. Sprinkle on the apricots and dates. Pour the broth and orange juice evenly over the top. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or on high for 3-5. The chicken should be quite tender and shred easily with a fork. If your chicken isn't tender enough, stir well and cook for a bit longer on low.

Serve with quinoa or brown rice with the juices----the broth is delicious!

Source: A Year of Slow Cooking

Try #1 - December 8, 2010
I made this for small group, so I had to stretch it to serve 12... but it worked great! I doubled the recipe (actually quadrupled the chicken broth, but it still could have used more), and added 3 cans of garbanzo beans, as well as 3 chopped carrots. I used golden raisins instead of dates. With the extra beans, and served over rice, the recipe was more than enough for our group. We actually took home leftovers! The chicken cooked perfectly - I used thighs, and it fell apart on it's own when I stirred everything together, after several hours of cooking. I will definitely make this again!

Try #? - January 23, 2013
I've made this a couple times now (although not in a while), but I made it again for small group last night, and it was just as good as I remembered!  I used dates this time, which didn't seem to make much of a difference... they basically dissolved into the sauce.  I'm sure they made the sauce extra yummy, though, right?  I added carrots and garbanzo beans again, doubled the chicken and tripled the spices and liquids, used water instead of chicken broth (because I had none), and accidentally added 1/4 cup extra orange juice.  No matter; this recipe seems to be pretty forgiving.  Still a hit!

October 31, 2017
I hadn't made this for a while, but I had all of the ingredients (except orange juice) in the house, so I tried it again today.  The lack of orange juice wasn't a problem - there was definitely enough sweetness with the apricots and dates.  Still a great (and easy) recipe!