Tuesday, February 14, 2012

One Pot Chicken Stew

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We have really altered our diet recently and have cut way back on red meat.  (you'd be totally shocked if you knew my husband...every dish had to have meat in it when we were in the States.)
The meat here, well, it's different.  Not sure why...smells funny sometimes.  It doesn't taste bad, but well, I'm not overly excited to buy it.  We did find an awesome butcher shop (in Jeddah of course) so we plan to bring a cooler on the next trip and stock up on some nice pieces of meat.  (now to find a deep freezer)  
With all that said, it means that we have been eating a lot of vegetarian dishes, fish, and chicken.  I love vegetarian, but I know we have to find ways to make sure we are all getting our protein.  I'd love any suggestions for some great vegetarian main dishes!  (just keep in mind that we don't have all the fancy ingredients you can find in the States)
This little stew had it all.  Protein, veggies, and great taste.  A very simple dish to make, doesn't take long, and well, we had not a drop left.  Keep in mind that it's a stew...not soup.  Therefore, not much broth.  Fantastic meal...hats off to Giada again for another wonderful recipe!
Ingredients  (recipe from Giada De Laurentiis)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
  • 2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
  • 1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)
  • Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Directions

Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot, and onion. Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.
Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard the bay leaf. Add the kidney beans to the pot and simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about 10 minutes.
Discard the skin and bones from the chicken breasts. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew just to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.

2 comments:

michael said...

great recipe! i think you may like to know that pasta and beans have high protein level. with the two ingredients you get all the essentials aminoacids :) i'm sure you'll come up with great recipes to use this info!

Staci said...

Thank you! I appreciate the information! :)

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