As much as I love chicken noodle soup, I’m not always in the mood to slurp my dinner with a spoon. Recently I came upon a solution from PreppyKitchen.com: Chicken stew. Boneless, skinless chicken thighs cook together with baby potatoes and sliced carrots to make the equivalent of beef stew, hold the beef!
John, proprietor of Preppy Kitchen, sautés his chicken thighs in a Dutch oven, removes them and then adds them back in with the other ingredients. I added my chicken thighs to the Dutch oven after I sautéed them in a nonstick skillet so that I didn’t have to use as much olive oil (John uses 1/4 cup). Chicken is notorious for sticking to a pot without a lot of oil, and I wanted to keep this light.
Baby potatoes vary in size. I left the tiny ones whole and sliced the bigger ones in half. I also added 1 cup of frozen, thawed peas just before the stew was cooked. What a simple, delicious, comforting, cold-weather dinner. As always, it’s low in calories, fat and WW Points.
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken thighs
3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2" slices
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 lb. baby potatoes (cut larger ones in half)
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Optional addition: 1 cup frozen, thawed baby peas
In a nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Add chicken pieces and lightly brown on each side. Set chicken aside.
Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. olive oil to a large Dutch oven and add carrot, onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and flour. Cook stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Slowly stir in broth.
Cut the chicken into 1" cubes. Add to the pot with the potatoes, bay leaves, thyme, salt and pepper, stirring to combine.
Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and the stew is thickened, about 35-40 minutes. Add optional peas and heat for 2 minutes. Remove bay leaves. Stir in parsley before serving.
Serves 6
WW Points per serving: 2