Mexican Chicken Stew

This was a little bit of an experiment this evening, I wanted something fairly healthy and I needed to try use up some ingredients in the fridge. This recipe requires only 1 pan, so little washing up – winner! This recipe makes 3 good portions.

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion, halved and sliced
• 2 peppers, cut into chunks (I used red, half a yellow and half an orange pepper)
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1 red chilli, finely sliced
• 1/4 chorizo, cut into half moons (optional – this was one of the things I threw in because it needed to be used up!)
• 3 tbsp tinga paste (or chipotle paste)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2x 400g tin plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Knorr chicken Stock Pot
• 4 chicken thigh fillets
• 160g quick cook grains (I used Tesco’s Wholefoods Quick Cook 7 Grains)
• 150g tin sweetcorn, drained
• 1/2 bunch coriander, chopped

Heat the oil in a large frying or sauté pan over a medium-high heat and add the onion. After 5 minutes (the onion should be starting to soften) add the peppers and cook for a further 3 minutes until both onions and peppers have softened. Add the garlic, chilli and chorizo (if using) and cook for a couple more minutes.

Add the tinga paste and tomato paste to the pan and stir in to the veg. Add the plum tomatoes to the pan, half-fill one of the empty tins with cold water and add this to the pan. Add in the sugar and Stock Pot and stir well. Bring up to the boil and reduce to a simmer.

Add the chicken thigh fillets to the pan, ensuring they’re covered in the stew mixture, and loosely cover the pan. After 10 minutes, turn the chicken thigh fillets over in the sauce and add the grains and sweetcorn. After another 10 minutes, the thigh fillets should be cooked, so remove from the pan and shred or chop into small pieces before returning to the pan. The plum tomatoes should have broken up whilst cooking, but you may need to give them a bit of a hand and break them up with a wooden spoon!

Continue to cook the stew until the grains are ready. The grains I used would have taken 10 minutes in boiling water, but took around 30 minutes in this stew. When the grains are ready, stir in some coriander, but keep some aside for garnishing. Serve and sprinkle over the remaining coriander.