Italian Chicken and Sausage Stew?

I made this Italian Chicken Stew?, when the Chicago Bears football game was on.  It was a rainy, dreary day, perfect for making a soup or a stew to chase away the chill in the air and fill the house with wonderful smells coming from a simmering pot on the stove. This is another recipe from Joy Bauer's cookbook,  Slim and Scrumptious.  As I was pulling ingredients out of the pantry, I was sure that I had a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes.  When I looked at the can it was 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. Now the quandary,  would I go to the store to buy a can of diced tomatoes now, go to the store tomorrow to get the diced tomatoes, or just go ahead and use the crushed tomatoes? WWBD, (What Would Becky Do?)  If you have read my blog for anytime at all, you knew that I would roll with what I had on hand at the moment. If Scott had been cooking, he would have waited to make the stew.  What would you have done?

As you can see in the picture, the stew is quite saucy, and my husband called it pasta sauce. He made linguine, and ate his "stew" over the linguine. To me, it has many more ingredients than pasta sauce.  I say it's Stew, and he says pasta Sauce.According to Wikipedia,  A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables (such as carrots, potatoes, beans, peppers and tomatoes, etc.), meat, especially tougher meats suitable for slow-cooking, such as beef. Poultry, sausages, and seafood are also used. Whatever you call it, it is very good and  healthy.  The stew is low in fat, sodium, and carbs, but full flavor, and bursting with vegetables. The stew has diced sauteed chicken breasts, chicken sausages, red pepper,celery, onion, garlic, oregano, diced or crushed tomatoes, okra, and fresh or frozen green beans, basil,  thyme, fennel seeds. I used fresh basil and thyme, TJ's Garlic Chicken Sausages, and NO OKRA.! I do not like okra. If you like okra, feel free to put it in your dish.

This is a wonderful one pot dish, what we like to cook for leftovers, and lunches, or it would feed a wonderful football crowd. Serve with brown rice or  whole wheat pasta (if you must),  and crunchy bread, (if you are not watching your carbs), and a green salad. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken and Sausage Stew  Serves 6

Adapted from Slim and Scrumptious by Joy Bauer

1  ½ lb (boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
1 medium onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cups (¾ lb/340g) okra, sliced-didn't use
3 sweet Italian chicken  or turkey sausages, fully cooked and sliced into rounds
2 tsp dried basil or 4 tsp. fresh, chopped basil
2 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh chopped thyme
¼ tsp fennel seeds, crushed
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

Preheat a large 4½ qt Dutch oven. Cook chicken with a tablespoon of oil until lightly browned. Transfer to a plate.

Sauté onion, garlic, celery, and red bell pepper with another tablespoon of oil until tender. Next, stir in basil, oregano, thyme, and fennel seeds, followed by tomatoes, okra, (If used) chicken, and sausages. Bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and allow stew to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if necessary. I certainly didn’t need water.