Japanese Chicken and Spinach Rice Bowls

Place the chicken in a medium slow cooker. Add the celery pieces, onion wedges, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and hot pepper flakes. Add the water and chicken stock. Cover and cook on low for 3 to 5 hours, or until the chicken is fully cooked and the chicken reaches a temperature of 165 F.

About an hour before serving, prepare the rice using the package directions, omitting the salt and margarine.

Using a slotted spoon, lift the chicken out of the slow cooker and place on a cutting board. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a deep bowl. Pour the hot broth back into the slow cooker. Turn the slow cooker to High.

Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and stir back into the hot broth in the slow cooker. Stir in the spinach. Cover and cook on High for 15 minutes.

Spoon 1/2 cup cooked brown rice into each serving bowl. Ladle 1 1/2 cups chicken, spinach, and broth mixture over the rice. Top with sliced radishes and green onions. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Pressure Cooker Variation: Place the chicken, celery, onion, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and hot pepper flakes in the pressure cooker. Add the water and chicken stock. Secure the lid. Cook on High pressure for 6 minutes. Quickly release the pressure. Remove the chicken and set on a cutting board. Strain the broth and return it to the pressure cooker. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and stir it into the broth. Set the pressure cooker on the sauté setting. Stir in the spinach and cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 5 minutes or until the spinach is cooked. Proceed as the recipe direct, ladling the chicken and spinach over the cooked brown rice and top with radishes, green onions, and sesame seeds.