Try this wholesome hearty chicken stew! The chicken is deliciously succulent from cooking it in stock & cider & this dish ticks all the boxes for flavour: sweet from the carrots & cider, comforting from the potatoes, fruity from the cider & savoury from the leeks & onions. It is thickened with milled chia seeds to add a fibre & an omega boost. This stew is ideal to warm you up after a cold winter’s day. It also freezes beautifully, so you can make a big batch & defrost in portion sizes.

Serves 4

Preparation:  35-40 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour 35 mins

Ingredients:

4 tbsp wholemeal plain flour

2.5 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

4-5 chicken breasts, cut into large chunks or a mixture of drumsticks & thighs to feed 4 people

2 tbsp coconut oil

100g bacon lardons (or 4 rashers of smokey bacon sliced into strips)

2 onions, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, finely chopped

200g mushrooms

500ml bottle of dry cider

250ml stock (I use bouillon powder)

3 bay leaves

350g carrots

2 leeks, sliced

250g potatoes (Marie Pipers work well), cut into large chunks (You can use sweet potatoes if you wish).

Salt & pepper

4.5 tbsp Milled chia seeds

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Cut chicken breasts into large chunks

Make a seasoned flour mix by combining thyme, salt & pepper with wholemeal flour in a big freezer bag. Toss the chicken breasts in the seasoned flour.

Melt a little coconut oil in a deep frying pan & brown the chicken pieces in batches on a medium heat for about 5 mins. Transfer chicken into a casserole dish.

Add chopped red onions, leeks, bacon lardons, celery into the same pan which was used to brown the chicken and fry for 5 mins on a medium heat to lightly brown. Then add sliced mushrooms and fry for a further 2 mins. Transfer contents into the casserole dish.

Add some cider into the frying pan & stir to remove any remaining traces of flavour & pour all contents into the casserole dish. Add the remaining cider, carrots, potatoes (you can use sweet potato if you wish) & bay leaves into the frying pan & simmer. Add to the casserole.

Put the lid on the casserole pot & cook in the oven for 1 hour at 180°C. Then add the sliced leeks. Cook for a further 35 mins, then take out of the oven & stir in milled chia seeds. Place the lid back on & leave for the chia seeds to thicken the sauce for 5 mins before serving.

A dusting of ground flaxseed just before serving supplements the Omega boost.

Don’t forget you can find my favourite recipes in my FREE eBook here.