Making a chicken and vegetable stew

Making a stew is not really as difficult as it seems

So sometimes, when I feel like having an alternative to having a salad for lunch, or when I have excess leftover vegetables, I would make a vegetable stew. The stew is not difficult to make; and at times, a savory home-cooked stew of vegetables and chicken warms the heart on a rainy weekend (especially if you have the air-conditioning on). 

I would use whatever vegetables that I have had left in the fridge. For this case, I chopped up all the celery and carrots, as well as the broccoli. This time round, I decided to add some baby potatoes for the carbohydrates. Rather than to add the potatoes whole into the stew, I decided to slice them into quarters, so that they will cook more easily. Instead of adding oil, I added some butter as well as a vegetable stock cube to give the stew the necessary flavour. 

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For a natural sweetness to the stew, I added a whole onion. As the onion would disintegrate in the simmering waters, you wouldn't find much of it whole in the stew. For onion varieties, yellow onions have a complex flavor, and a firm texture that can survive long cooking. Red onions are good for raw salads, but you could also add them to the stew if there are no other options available. In this case, white onions are especially good with stews and soups. 

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To add some colour to the stew, I added a few red chillies to the pot. Prior to cooking, the colours of the vegetables are bright and cheery, but usually their colours would fade away, from the continuous cooking and boiling, However, the redness of the chilli stays, and hence provides not only a nice colour but also the spiciness to the stew.  

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The diced chicken would be microwaved separately first to cook them a bit longer, and then I would add the half-cooked chicken cubes together with some oregano, nutmeg and black pepper, and 3 cups of water with a dissolved vegetable stock cube. Then it is simmer and simmer away before the stew is ready. If you have a bay leaf, you could try adding it for an enhanced flavour. 

The stew could be eaten on its own (this is probably enough for a full main course, or shared with two to three persons), or as an accompaniment to a main dish with rice. Enjoy! 

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