The Mediterranean Diet is synonymous with soups and stews.
Whenever we feel like having something healthy and different, we try variations of stews, they are easy to put together, we just use one pot and the possibilities are endless. This Anatolian Chicken Stew comes from the Turkish part of the Mediterranean and it’s full of tasty and familiar ingredients that come together beautifully.
Chicken Stew in 30 Minutes
It can be hard to make a really good stew in a short period of time, but we did this one in 30 minutes. The trick is to cut the chicken into small enough pieces so they cook quickly. It is good to check the temperature of the chicken to make sure it has reached at least 165 degrees F., but as long as you spend the time to cook them well in the olive oil at the beginning and you bring it to a boil and them a simmer in the tomatoes you should be eating in no time at all!
How To Get A Cut Up Chicken For The Same Price As A Whole Chicken Without Cutting It Yourself
If you are buying your chicken at a supermarket that has a butcher, then you can simply ask them to cut up your whole chicken for you. They shouldn’t charge a higher price for this and generally are happy to do it.
How to Cut up a Whole Chicken
For the sake of convenience, most of buy chicken pieces separately (drumsticks, wings, thighs, breast). There are some really beneficial reasons to buy a chicken whole and cut it up yourself:
- It is less expensive: As always you pay for convenience. You can buy a higher quality, organic chicken, cut it yourself and still save money as compared to purchasing a lower quality chicken already cut into pieces. Take the skin off yourself and you save even more money.
- You get what you need to make stock: When you buy pieces separately you don’t get the backbone. The backbone is the best part for making your own bone broth.
- You will have more variety: It is simply amazing the variety of chicken recipes there are. The traditional Mediterranean Diet has recipes for every part of the chicken. Cutting up a whole chicken gives you the opportunity to try recipes for parts of the chicken you might not normally try.
What To Serve With Chicken Stew
This chicken stew is plenty filling on its own, especially if served with some whole grain bread or crackers, but here a few more suggestions:
- Anatolian Chicken Stew plus Sautéed Chicory Greens.
- Anatolian Chicken Stew plus Quinoa Tabbouleh.
- Anatolian Chicken Stew plus Cucumber-Tomato Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint.
- Anatolian Chicken Stew plus Pita Bread and Muhammara.
- Anatolian Chicken Stew plus plus Lebanese Fattoush Salad
Making enough to freeze
I love, love making extra food. Why? Because, I tend to be a lazy cook. I am also a parent, so sometimes other things can take precedent over cooking. When I make this recipe I always use a whole chicken and double the rest of the ingredients. It can take a few minutes longer to cook, but it is worth it. I freeze leftovers in Ziploc freezer bags or in Tupperware. Then, when life gets super busy, I can just pull the stew out of the freezer, thaw, heat and eat! I can’t tell you how many times this has saved me from needing to resort to making a frozen pizza.
Don’t Over Salt!
The final step of making this hearty stew is adding a topping of olives, capers and parsley. Because olives and capers are created in a salt brine, it is important not to over salt the stew before you add these tasty little salt filled morsels. Just a light salting of the chicken before cooking is the best. You can always add salt to the stew at the dinner table, but it is super hard to un-salt something!
Spanish Chicken Stew
Ingredients
- 1/2 Chicken (1/2 of a 4 pound chicken), cut into 2” pieces or 1.5 pounds boneless chicken thighs, cut into 2” pieces
- salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 cup green olives, pitted
- 2 tbsp capers, chopped if too big
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
Instructions
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Heat a Dutch oven or a deep pot and add the olive oil.
- Add the chicken and cook on every side until golden brown. Remove the chicken and reserve.
- To the Dutch oven, add the red onion, red bell pepper, and garlic clove. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until soft.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, water, bay leaves and oregano. Turn heat too high.
- Add chicken back to the pot, making sure chicken is covered with liquid. Bring to a boil.
- Simmer for 15 more minutes or until chicken is done and serve with capers, green olives and fresh parsley.
Nutrition
About the Author: Mediterranean Living
I used rotisserie chicken and served with instant brown rice and quinoa for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
Delicious.