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| New niece, Nikki. Isn't she a doll? AND she's a good eater. I'm sure she'd love this stew! |
All that said, this is NOT the European Trip post. No, it’s
a quick post about getting back on the wagon after vacation which flowed
seamlessly into the holidays. Believe it or not, I lost 7 pounds on my
vacation. Hard to believe that I did that whilst feasting on sausages,
potatoes, pastries, beer, wine and whisky, but I did. I apparently was so excited about losing the
weight while denying myself nothing that I unconsciously decided to continue
the trend throughout the holidays.
Jump to last week when I’m at the doctor’s office for an
upper respiratory infection and what do I find??? I find the missing 7 lbs.
Yeup. It sucked. Or rather I sucked in a TON of air very quickly. So quickly
(and apparently loudly) that the nurse asked if I was okay. I assured her I was…but that I’d just found a
missing 7 lbs that I hoped would stay away forever. She simply laughed and stated the
obvious…”time to start on that new year’s resolution I guess eh?”
Errgh. I hate being naughty and having to get back on the
wagon. Let me rephrase that…I LOVE being naughty (let’s be honest I lived on
fudge and booze during the holidays)…it’s the getting on the wagon of healthy
eating that I loathe.
So this weekend I went to the grocery and stocked up on all
sorts of HEALTHY foods. My cart looked like I was buying veggies for a small
herd of goats. Out of the depths of my despair was born a delightful concoction
that I will call “Chicken Stew”.
I’m not even kidding…I’m salivating right now just thinking
about it it was THAT good. And SO easy.
It can be adapted to a vegan diet and still taste amazing I’m sure. I just
prefer mine to have some animal protein in it.
What you’ll need:
A giant pot or dutch oven. This makes a TON.
½ red onion
1 green bell pepper
2 handfuls of fresh green beans (let’s say 2 cups for those of you who
need actual measurements)
4 cups fresh baby spinach
6 stalks of celery
6 medium carrots
3 medium chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of pesto sauce
2 bay leaves
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
2 cans lite chicken broth
1 giant can of diced tomatoes
In your giant pot, add a little veggie oil (or
olive oil) to the bottom and heat it up to a medium high (7 on my stove).
Roughly dice your chicken breasts. You want big-ish pieces since this is a STEW not a soup. And add them in.
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| This is what it should look like before adding the tomatoes and stock. |
Next roughly dice up the onion, carrots, bell pepper and celery and add them once the chicken is beginning to brown.
I would also add a tablespoon of minced garlic, but since I didn’t have garlic I used pesto. I highly suggest this. I feel like it gave it a whole other layer of flavor. But if you don’t have pesto, the garlic will work.
Let all this saute and the chicken finish browning.
Salt and pepper everything really good. This makes a lot so don’t be scared to go a little heavy on the S&P shakers.
Next add the broth, tomatoes and bay leaves.
Turn it down to simmer and then GO AWAY. This is not a dish that needs your constant eye. Just let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes and then come and check on the flavor. If the spices all seem right to you…then it’s almost ready to go.
After you taste for spice, roughly cut the green beans and add them. Let it simmer for about 10 more minutes and then just before you scoop it up, add the spinach. Give it a good stir, allow the spinach to wilt and then serve it up.
Behold!
For vegetarians you could simply cut out the chicken (and use vegetable stock) but add some nice red beans or even some quinoa for protein.
I’m trying to keep to my gluten free diet as much as possible but if I weren’t…tossing in a couple of cups of egg noodles would also make this extra tasty.
