It is pouring rain here today - a very welcome sight let me tell you, and the kind of day where you would like to curl up with a good book, a cup of tea and let the world go by. And now that it's fall and the days are getting shorter and the night air arrives with a certain crispness, I was inspired this past week to cook up two gluten-free dishes that brought a lot of warmth and nutrition to my tummy!
I cook a lot at my house and I have realized the joy and ease of cooking a healthy meal in one dish or one pot - it's easy and there is so much variety to cooking this way. Usually, all that needs to accompany a one-dish meal is a simple salad with good olive oil, some fig vinegar and a few gluten-free crackers...oh...and a nice glass of wine.
The other night I only had 10 minutes for meal prep between running home from work and racing off to a Pilates class. I had a ton of veggies in my fridge and wanted to use them all up while they were still fresh, so I had the idea to throw them all in my Emile Henry stew pot, add some GF chicken broth, a few other flavorful ingredients, chop everything up and let them simmer away while I was at my class. I wasn't quite sure what I was creating, but it turned out to be really yummy and provided four healthy meals throughout the week. Cooking this way is really economical, as well.
Gluten-free Chicken/Veggie stew-
Ingredients: Serves four (Ten minutes prep time)
- 1 8 Oz. box/container of gluten free chicken broth
- 1/4 Pc. of fresh butter
- 1.5 Tbsp. of organic garlic pepper
- 1/4 Cup of red cooking wine
- 1 Tbsp. Olive oil
- 1/2 Cup of water
- 4 Large, red organic potatoes
- 1/2 Yellow onion (chopped in quarters)
- 3 Green onions (chopped)
- 3 Roma tomatoes (quartered)
- 3 Zucchini (sliced)
- 2 Celery stalks (chopped)
- 1/2 Cup baby carrots (whole)
- 1 Roasted chicken (Pre-cooked and pulled from bones and sliced)
- Grated Parmigiana cheese as topping on stew (to your liking)
I simply chopped up all of my veggies and threw then in the pot, then added the chicken broth, water, wine, olive oil, butter, garlic pepper, salt and pepper (to taste). I made sure that everything was covered with a 1/2 inch of broth knowing it would cook down. I simmered the pot on medium heat for an hour and 20 minutes.
When I returned home the veggies were the perfect texture and simmering with robust taste and flavor. I then added the sliced up, roasted chicken to the pot and allowed to cook for an additional 10 minutes. Voila! Ready to eat.
It was super-simple and delicious - a great meal for a family or to have leftovers to nosh on all week.
Next up - Homemade Shallot-leek cream gluten-free pasta
Eat well!
