Ever since I started my Food Diaries over on YouTube I’ve been meaning to share some of my favourite recipes on my blog so I thought what better time to start than right now. I love stew but it can be a bit to heavy for the summer months in it’s normal form. This recipe is a variation of a Weight Watchers recipe I found on their website. I’ve tweeked it slightly to make it easier and have added a couple more ingredients to really bulk up the taste. It makes the perfect summer recipe, light but bursting with flavour.
Ingredients (for 3-4 servings)
4-6 Chicken Drumsticks or Chicken Thighs – with or without skin (I personally like the skin on while cooking and remove it while eating)
1 Large Onion
3 Cloves of Garlic
2 Teaspoon of Paprika
400g Cannellini Beans
400g Tinned Tomatoes (cartons are my preference)
200g Brown Rice
150g Spinach
1 Tablespoon of Parsley, Thyme and Rosemary
A few bay leaves
Salt and Petter
Light Cooking Spray
Spray a large saucepan or flameproof casserole with the cooking spray. Add the drumsticks and/or thighs and cook over a high heat, turning until browned all over. Remove the chicken and place into an over proof casserole bowl with lid.
Reduce the heat to medium, add the onion to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until softened and starting to brown. Add the garlic and stir. Add the smoked paprika and stir for a further minute.
Add the beans and tomatoes and stir well to mix. Half fill the tomato can with water and add this to the pan, stirring well. Leave to simmer for five minutes.
Pour the contents of the saucepan over the chicken in the oven proof dish. Add the parsley, thyme and rosemary (or just one of them) and a few bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Add the lid and place in the oven for 45 minutes at gas mark 6/190 degrees C.
With 30 minutes to go cook the rice as per the packet instructions. If you’re using brown rice make sure you leave it enough time to get tender. Remove the pot from the oven and add carefully stir the spinach in. Put the lid back on and return to the oven for another 15 – 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
Drain the rice, remove the pot from the oven and serve together. Sometimes I like to serve it on a bed of rocket salad to give it some more greenery. I guess you could also serve it with potatoes instead of rice if that’s your preference.
So that’s my tweeked summer stew. You can add in other ingredients if you’d like – I usually throw in any extra veg I have in the fridge that needs to be used up (my favourite is mushrooms). You can also swap the beans for another bean of preference such as kidney. i’m not a super awesome chef so when it comes to seasoning and herbs I totally wing it – you may not want to mix all the ones I did but it does taste good and flavoursome. Let me know if you try this recipe, I’d love to know how it goes.
