Chicken Stew

I REALLY REALLY wanted to post about the most delicious dinner I made tonight BUT I got it from the newest issue of the Rachel Ray Magazine and they don't put them online for 2 weeks and I really don't feel like typing it all out....HOW lazy have I become. So I will take this chance to post a recipe I made over the weekend and wasn't going to blog about because I didn't take a picture of it. I am using their lame-O picture because quite frankly I don't think you would have all that impressed with my picture either. I found this recipe in my "to make" file when I had about a 1/2 hour to get dinner on the table and 3 small chicken breasts.


Chicken Stew
borrowed from Giada with a few small changes of my own

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 stalks celery, cut into bite-size pieces
1 carrot, peeled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 small onion, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 (14-ounce) can low-salt chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces **I didn't have fresh I used a tsp. dried**
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 chicken breast with ribs (about 1 1/2 pounds total) **I used boneless**
1 (15-ounce) can organic kidney beans, drained (rinsed if not organic)
Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Directions
Heat the oil in a heavy 5 1/2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
Add the celery, carrot, and onion.
Saute the vegetables until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir in the tomatoes with their juices, chicken broth, basil, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme. Add the chicken breasts; press to submerge.
Bring the cooking liquid to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently uncovered until the chicken is almost cooked through, turning the chicken breasts over and stirring the mixture occasionally, about 25 minutes.
Using tongs, transfer the chicken breasts to a work surface and cool for 5 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf.
Add the 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 or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces.
Return the chicken meat to the stew.
Bring the stew just to a simmer.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Ladle the stew into serving bowls and serve with the bread.

VERDICT
BRAVO for the quick, healthy and yummy meals. It took hardly anytime at all, was really filling, and it got the job done. This is going to stay in my recipe circulation because it used so many things I keep in the pantry and always have hanging around in the fridge. The leftovers were very tasty also. It wasn't a 5 star all out gourmet meal but it was awesome for the effort involved and had a lot of really nice flavor to it.