Lemon Chicken Stew With Green Olives

Submitted by justcallmetoni

"A quick trip to the Mediterranean is offered in the flavors of this simple and succulent stew. The original recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks and presented here includes my adjustments. Accompanied by steamed green beans, this is a comforting fall meal."

 

• Ready In: 50mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1⁄4 cup flour
• 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 bone-in skinless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds total, if your pieces are smaller use additional pieces)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1⁄2 cup white onion, diced 1/4 inch pieces
• 8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1⁄2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2-3 lemons)
• 2 1⁄2 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1⁄2 cup water
• 1 1⁄4 lbs small red potatoes, quartered (look for potatoes about 2 inches in size)
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (canned rinsed and drained is fine)
• 16 small pimento stuffed olives, thinly sliced
• 1⁄3 cup chopped parsley

directions

1. Combine flour with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Dredge chicken pieces in flour, shaking of any excess. Reserve remaining flour.
2. Place 1/2 tablespoon oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Brown 1/2 the chicken for 2 minutes until a little golden; turning and cooking another 2 minutes. Remove chicken to plate Repeat with remaining chicken.
3. Cook onions in the Dutch oven for 2 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute until fragrant. Stir in the remaining flour, lemon juice, chicken broth and water. Bring liquids to a boil.
4. Add in the quartered potatoes, chickpeas and olives and stir. Nestle the chicken breasts bone side up into the stew. Reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
5. Taste the liquid and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Turn the chicken pieces and continue to cook 5 to 10 minutes until potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked through.
6. Stir in parsley and cook one minute.
7. Ladle into serving bowls.
8. (My nephews have asked me to note these are smaller "girly" portions so if you are serving teens or others with larger appetites, adjust the serving amounts accordingly).

Reviews

[NurseJaney]

3/11 -- made this again with bone in, skin on, "thunder" thighs ! Baked in the dutch oven instead of stove top -- 400* for 45 min., then 350* for 45 minutes. The aroma was awesome -- and all the flavors melded in a perfect stew. We ate most of the liquid, so for leftovers will likely serve with potatoes or couscous. <br/>9/10 This was tasty -- I was searching for a way to have the chicken almost "melt" -- and guess this will be as good as it gets when using sl/bl breasts. Made 1/2 recipe and let it simmer for almost 1 hour. Seemed like a more labor-intense effort for not spectacular results. Thanks for sharing, toni.

 

[FlyingCook]

This was a delicious, filling, easy to make stew. As one reviewer said, it definitely has a salty tang to it. Mine came out more stewlike than the picture so I served it in bowls with crusty bread to sop up the tasty broth. Will definitely make again.

 

[Susiecat too]

This was really good, easy to put together, and truly comforting for a cold night. My family didn't love it as much is I did, but I outrank them when posting reviews! :-) My 3-yr old gobbled up his chicken but didn't touch the chick peas, the 7-yr old did the opposite. I guess you can't please them all, eh? Thanks for this delicious dinner, Toni!

 

[Annacia]

Absolutely wonderful. The olives and lemon mix is inspired and they lend a wonderful salty tang to the stew. The chicken is cut it with a spoon tender. After I had it on the go I discovered that I'm out of chick peas and had to use white kidney beans in their place and tiny white potatoes instead of the red. They were one bite size so I left them whole. I have to say I enjoyed every bite right down to the last spoonful of the broth. I made a 1/2 recipe and the recipe still worked perfectly. Thank you Toni for a true treat . Made for Photo Tag.

 

[Merlot]

What can I say besides, "this is outstanding". The stuffed olives really make this stew "pop" in flavor. We also found the lemon juice enhanced the broth. I highly recommend this stick-to-your ribs comforting stew. Thanks for sharing, justcallmetoni !