Chicken Stew

[VickiLynn]

I have made this recipe once before and made it again yesterday.  I forgot how good it was the first time I made it so I am sharing this yummy stew with all of you.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
1 large carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
1 (14-1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (14-1/2 oz) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces OR 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breasts with ribs (about 1-1/2 lbs total)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained

Heat oil in 4-1/2 qt saucepan over medium heat.  Add celery, carrot, and onion. Saute until onion is translucent. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir in tomatoes with their juice, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add chicken breasts; press to submerge.

Bring cooking liquid to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until chicken is almost cooked through (about 25 minutes), turning the breasts over once and stirring the mixture occasionally.  Transfer chicken to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Add 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 chicken into bite-size pieces. Return chicken meat to the stew. Bring to just a simmer and season with salt and pepper to taste.

[VickiLynn]

Roger,

I warmed up the last of the stew yesterday and it was just as good warmed up as when I first made it.

[Joyful Friend]

Earmaked it.  Thanks, JF

[jopaul]

Thanks for the recipe. I love to make soups or stews.
Tina

[mrsj]

Thanks for the recipe VickiLynn and thank you too Tina for bringing it back up.
I'm going to be trying this one soon.
Just to make sure, the 2 large stalks of celery....that is 2 stalks and not 2 ribs of celery?

Thanks again!
mrsj

[VickiLynn]

MrsJ,

You call them ribs and I call them stalks -- same thing.  I always love hearing what words are different in different parts of our country.  For example, in Wisconsin where I lived for over 50 years, we call a drinking fountain a bubbler, Coke or an other soda is pop, Danish is sweet roll, ya is used for than you, and many more than I can remember.  I have lived in New Hampshire for 15 years and find that my language somewhat reflects living in New England.  Still, when I speak, more than once has a New Englander noticed my Midwestern speech!

[mrsj]

A bubbler!  How cute VickiLynn!  Haven't heard that one before.

Maybe I need to clarify my question about the celery.  I have a stalk of celery that has about 9, what I call, ribs.  So my question was really do you pull off 2 ribs (or 2 stalks?) from the bunch of celery?  Or do you use 2 whole bunches of celery which I tend to refer to as 2 stalks of celery.  Lol, clear as mud?
Because of the different ways we call foods maybe a clearer picture for me is do you know how many cups of celery you used?......Or a close guess as to how much you used?
I do realize in the long run I can put the amount of celery I want in there but I was just curious as to how much the recipe was really calling for.

Thanks for putting up with my nonsense!   
mrsj

[VickiLynn]

Mrsj,

Your nonsense is welcome  . The recipe is one of Giada De Laurentiis that I printed.  She calls for 2 stalks celery.  To you that would mean two ribs.  However, I had celery that didn't have large ribs so I used four of them.  I also used more carrots and onions because I love them.