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.
