Food is Cheap

The wife and I often have busy weeks — midterms, work, and other mitigating conflicts make it impossible to spend much time in the kitchen, but eating out too often makes us weary, and microwaving stuff every night isn’t ideal.

There are cheap food staples that are (or should be) in every kitchen: chicken, carrots, potatoes, and chicken stock. With these things (and a few other things) we can make a pretty damn good stew, with minimal fuss. 

This recipe requires a crock pot or slow cooker, and has three steps: prep, slow-cook I, and slow-cook II. It requires almost no supervision and is delicious. This is stewed chicken… or chicken stew?

     INGREDIENTS I USE:

• 3 lbs bone-in chicken
• 3-4 stalks celery
• 2-3 carrots
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 potatoes (red is ideal, russets suffice)
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1 can (16oz) chicken stock
• 1 can (16oz) tomato sauce
• 1/4 head of cabbage
• 2 bay leaves

STEP ONE: PREP

Remove the skins from the chickens.

Quarter the onion.

Crush the garlic cloves.

Turn the celery, potatoes, and carrots into 1-inch chunks.

Chop the cabbage into pieces.

 

STEP TWO: SLOW-COOK I

 

Into the crock pot goes everything but the cabbage and potatoes.

Cover and cook on high for about 3 hours.

 

 

 

 

STEP THREE: SLOW-COOK II

 

 

Remove the chicken from the stew.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using a fork or some other sharp instrument, remove the bones from the chicken.

 

 

 

 

 

Add the cabbage and potatoes to the stew. Cook on high for another hour.

 

 

 

Add the chicken back into the stew when ready to serve.

 

 

 

 

 

This recipe serves 8-12 people.

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