Yes, eating healthily and exercising are classic clichés associated with the coming of the New Year. Eating right usually falls by the wayside because people pick the wrong types of “healthy” foods to eat: bland, boring and unsatisfying. This chicken stew recipe mitigates those resolution-breaking risks by delivering a meal that is delicious, healthy, filling, and easy to make.
- Prep time: 15 minutes
- Cook time: 40 to 45 minutes
- Makes four to six servings
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 stalks celery, cut into pieces
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (14 1/2 oz) can chopped tomatoes
- 1 (14 oz) can 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)
- 1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 3 red potatoes, cut into pieces
- Parmesan rind
Instructions
Heat the oil in a heavy sauce pan (5 1/2 quart) over medium heat. Add the celery, carrot and garlic to the oil once heated. Sauté the vegetables for about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. This part of the process is called making a sweat. Although its terminology may not sound appetizing, the sweat is extremely important to the recipe. It brings out the flavors in the oil, vegetables and aromatics (garlic—which can be replaced with onion), creating a flavorful base for the rest of the ingredients.
Look for tomato paste in a tube. Canned tomato paste is usually far too much for the recipe, leaving you with an open can of tomato paste and nothing to use it in.
Next, stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, and Parmesan rind. Add the chicken breast and press down to submerge. If you find that the chicken is not completely or almost totally submerged, add a little more chicken broth or water to cover. Uncovered chicken will require longer to cook because you will need to flip the breasts every so often to ensure even cooking.
Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 30 to 35 minutes. Use tongs to remove the chicken to a working surface and let cool for five minutes. Discard the bay leaf and Parmesan rind at this time. Add the kidney beans and potatoes to the pot. Simmer until the liquid has reduced into a stew consistency, about ten minutes.
While the stew is simmering with the kidney beans and potatoes, discard the skin and bones from the chicken once cool enough to handle. Shred or cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew. Bring the stew back to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Benefits to the Recipe
This recipe is quite healthy. You can make it even healthier by leaving out the Parmesan rind, but it certainly does detract from the taste achieved with the rind in it. I don’t exactly have a lab in my house to determine the exact nutritional facts of this stew. But we can get an estimation of the nutritional value, and it is pretty impressive. Based on a yield of six servings there are about 285 Calories, 10 grams of fat (7.5 g unsaturated), 24 grams of protein, 19 grams of total carbohydrates (3g of sugar and dietary fiber each). Based on a yield of four servings there are about 425 Calories, 15 grams of fat (11 g unsaturated), 36 grams of protein, and 29 grams of total carbohydrates (5 g of sugar and dietary fiber each). In addition to being good for you, this recipe is also good for your wallet. Making one batch costs about $12 to $15, meaning about $2 to $4 per serving. Add a nice loaf of bread and you have yourself a delicious, satisfying, healthy, and affordable meal for the whole family.
To give credit where credit is due, this is a modification of a recipe originally put forth by Giada De Laurentiis. The recipe has been modified (to the better, I think) by substituting garlic for onion, and adding potatoes and the Parmesan rind.
6 Comments
Perhaps a silly question, but you are starting out with raw chicken breasts correct?
Also, have you tried this stew the next day, after a period of refrigeration? The reason I ask is that soup is always one of those meals that test even better the next day.
Recipe looks good though. I need to eat.
Yes, you need to start with straight up raw, split chicken breasts. Not the ones that come like pre-sliced, but the ones with the ribs and stuff still attached. This adds flavor from the skin and fat. You can make it healthier by using the cut breasts but it will not taste as good.
This recipe has an excellent reheatability factor. Sometimes it tastes even better the next day. Makes a great lunch to take to work or for a nice, quick dinner the next evening.
Split breasts are they way to go. By removing the bones, skin, and fat from them yourself…you save decent money compared to buying the chicken breasts that are advertised as skinless and boneless. I agree with you that they taste better too. I am going to give this recipe the old college try…
I never realized you could use Parmesan rinds for anything! Sarah and I have been chucking them. I look forward to making this recipe.
It also reminded me of one of my favorite Arrested Development lines:
http://stew.ytmnd.com/
Claire just sort of thought of it one time we were about to make the stew. It was a great idea that paid off big time in terms of taste. And it feels good to use something you would have normally just thrown away. You throw it away eventually, but it least it had a purpose in the stew.
lol…..now I can’t stop thinking about Tobias in his cut off jean shorts. Thanks a lot Jake.