September in New York was probably my absolute favorite. I love sweater and boot weather, and I love crisp mornings. The south is a little different…it’s still in the upper 80s during the day time, but the last few nights have been cooling off. And once those temperatures drop, all I can think about is pumpkin spiced this or that and STEW. It’s so fragrant and filling, especially with a nice, crusty piece of bread and a loaded veggie salad.
I also really like adding French flavors to my stews…rosemary and thyme and other savory delights; it gives them that special je ne sais quoi.
Now to the stew. This recipe takes about 1.5-2 hours (including cooking time), but I’ve got a couple of tips if you’d like to cut it down to an hour or less. I’ve done it before and it comes out just as tasty when you’re feeling tired after a busy day.
Time crunch tips: Buy pre-cut mirepoix at the grocery store (most stores always have diced onions and celery and if you can’t find one with carrots, I use shredded carrots and just give them a quick once-over with my knife), pre-minced garlic, and a roasted chicken if you don’t feel like chopping and sautéing tonight.
Bonus tip for easy food prep all week: if you’re like me and don’t particularly care for the pre-minced garlic you can buy at the grocery store, then save a small jelly jar and mince your own. I usually take 10 minutes on Sunday (and one or two heads of garlic) to peel them and toss them in a food processor with some olive oil. Once the garlic is the size I want, I add it to the jelly jar and add more olive oil as needed. (You want the garlic to be covered in it, not dry in patches.) This helps me out all week long and shaves precious minutes off when cooking dinner every night.
Here’s what you’ll need to make your stew tonight:
Provençal Chicken and Mini Dumpling Stew (GF/DF!)
Ingredients
For the soup:
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 celery stalks, chopped
- 1/2 cup carrots, shredded or chopped
- 4 large chicken breasts
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 TBSP crushed rosemary
- 1 TBSP dried thyme
- 4 oz. white wine
- 1 TBSP soy-free butter (or regular butter if there are no dietary restrictions)
- 8 cups water
- 8 cups organic reduced sodium chicken broth
- 2 TBSP garlic powder
- 2 TBSP onion powder
- 1 TBSP ground sage
- 1/2 TBSP ground savory
- 1/2 TBSP ground thyme
- 1 TBSP sea salt
- 1.5 cups frozen peas
For the dumplings:
- 2 cups gf flour (or regular flour if you're not gluten free)
- 3/4 cup soy milk (or regular milk)
Instructions
- Prep all the veggies for the stew.
- Add carrots, onions, celery and butter to a large pot and saute until onions are clear then add garlic and white wine, simmer for two minutes.
- Add remaining spices to the mirepoix and stir until fragrant, then add water and broth.
- In a separate skillet, saute chicken. (I like adding a bit of garlic and onion powder, along with some salt and ground thyme to the chicken while it's cooking. Just enough to cover the top and bottom.)
- Once the chicken is mostly cooked, cut into bite-sized pieces and add to soup.
- Cook uncovered on a medium heat for 1 hour.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and milk for dumplings. (I take a spoon and lightly mix it together, not over stirring so they don't get too dense.)
- After the dumplings are mixed, grab quarter sized pieces and drop them into the soup. Cook covered on a low heat for 20-30 minutes.
- Serve with a nice veggie salad and enjoy!