Spicy Chicken and Pumpkin Stew

Submitted by chelseas

"Originally from a Cooking Light magazine. An unexpected combo of flavors makes one tasty stew."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 15mins
• Ingredients: 15
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 4 cups sliced onions
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeno pepper
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups cubed fresh pumpkin or 6 cups other winter squash, peeled
• 1 cup water
• 1 (14 ounce) can light coconut milk
• 1⁄4 cup chopped cilantro
• 5 cups hot cooked rice

directions

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add half of the chicken and sauté for 8 minutes or until browned. Remove chicken from pot and repeat procedure with 1 teaspoon oil and remaining chicken; set aside.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and next 5 ingredients; sauté for 2 minutes. Stir in pumpkin, water, and coconut milk; bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes or until pumpkin is tender.
4. Return chicken to pan; cook 10 minutes.
5. Stir in cilantro.
6. Serve over rice.

Reviews

[SarahG.]

I've made this once and LOVED it! But I'm wondering if I could substitute sweet potatoes for the squash? Hm...I would think it would work. I'll try it and let you all know!

 

[Chef SJ 2]

Has wonderful flavor. Great for a winter meal. I didn't have chicken so I left it out. Added 8oz of sliced mushrooms and about 4 more cups of squash - I had 2 winter squashes that I needed to cook. I couldn't find the light coconut milk so I used regular - loved the flavor it added. We ate it without the rice. Could be pureed for soup. Overall an excellent recipe.

 

[yogiclarebear]

This was very very good. I thought the flavors would be overly powerful, but it was very light. I did not use the jalapenos, so it wasn't very spicy. I used a pie pumpkin, and it softened quite a bit faster than 30 minutes, and it mushed a little, but we liked that. Thanks for posting this recipe, it is very different and interesting, and I'm so glad I tried it!