This Mexican-spiced stew is a tasty and comforting one-pot wonder, packed full of colour with peppers and tomatoes, plus a punchy protein kick from the chicken and kidney beans! It’s a speedy one to make too, so a great call for those mid-week meals! Let’s get cooking!

Recipe (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 2 bell peppers, de-seeded/core removed and diced into small pieces
• 6 chicken breasts, diced into bite size pieces
• 200g of red kidney beans
• 1 small tin of sweet corn
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml of water
• Homemade Chipotle: 2 tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 tsp mild chili powder, 1/2 tsp ground coriander, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Brown rice, to serve (you could also serve it with quinoa!)

Method

1. Prepare your homemade chipotle sauce first, and then set aside.
2. Prepare your veggies and set aside in two small bowls (garlic and onions in one, and peppers in the other).
3. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat, then add the onions, garlic and peppers, and cook for about 5 minutes to sweat the onions a little.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, chipotle and water, and stir to mix in.
5. Add the kidney beans and sweetcorn, then season with a twist of black pepper and stir again.
6. Finally, add the chicken breast and stir to mix the stew. Add a little extra water if it needs!
7. Bring to the boil, then stir again and turn down the heat to the lowest setting, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. The chicken breast pieces will cook in the sauce during this time. Stir every few minutes while the stew is simmering.
8. If you’re serving rice or an alternative grain with your stew, pop a pot of water on to boil and cook your side dish while the stew simmers!
9. At 30 minutes, check a piece of chicken to ensure it’s fully cooked (remove from the stew and just slice into the centre so you can see it’s ready to eat i.e. not pink!).
10. Serve with your side of choice, and tuck in!

Enjoy guys! I hope you like the recipe – tag me if you try it out, @theirishbalance on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook!

Ciara 🙂 x