Chicken and Pepper Stew With Olives & Cranberries

I know, this sounds like a strange combination of flavors. That's exactly why I wanted to try it. I thought to myself, "That sounds weird, but I like all those things so let's try it out!" V came over for some pre-halloween crafting and I made us a feast.

The original recipe arrived in my email from Real Simple. I realize that I post a lot of recipes from them, but its just so convenient to have recipes that are delicious randomly emailed to you daily! I cannot keep up with all the amazing recipes out there on the internet!

In any case, to get back on track, Here is the recipe as I made it, only a few substitutions. (dried cranberries instead of raisins, chicken breast tenders instead of thighs, and just less of everything because I didn't want to feed 8 people.)

Chicken and Pepper Stew With Olives & Cranberries
Makes about 4 to 6 servings, depending how hungry you are!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (but regular would work too)
kosher salt and black pepper
10 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders (about 2 to 3 pounds)
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 each of red, yellow and green bell peppers, sliced.
4 cloves garlic, sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 cup pitted olives (I used kalamata)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 cups long-grain white rice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, paprika, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. In batches, brown the chicken, turning, 6 to 8 minutes; transfer to a plate as it browns and add more oil as necessary.
3. Add the bell peppers, garlic, 1/4 cup of the broth, 1 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper to the pot. Cook, stirring and scraping up any browned bits, until the peppers begin to soften, 4 to 6 minutes.
4. Add the olives, cranberries, and the remaining 1 cup of broth and bring to a boil. Nestle the chicken in the vegetables and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
5. Uncover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. (Maybe longer, I might have also used too much liquid)
6. Twenty minutes before the stew is done, cook the rice according to the package directions. Serve with the stew.



I thought this would have been pretty tasty with some feta cheese on top but I didn't think of it when I was at the store. It was kind of a salty sweet combo with the olives and cranberries. The chicken was falling apart and would have been extra delicious if I had used thighs, but the chicken tenders are what I had on hand. This also heated up nicely for lunch the next day!

I always forget to take pictures of the process, but seriously, this was delicious!