Southwestern Winter Squash & Chicken Stew

Winter is almost here, and with it comes a variety of plump and delicious varieties of squash. Here’s a quick and easy stew you can whip up for well under $5.00. There’s only a couple ingredients - mostly pantry items. You can use just about any kind of winter squash or even pumpkin for this recipe. We chose ambercup squash. It looks kind of like a pumpkin and we picked it up at the store for under $1.00. The taste is sweet - almost like a sweet potato, and we’ll definitely be trying this recipe again. You could also use pumpkin, acorn squash, butternut squash, other winter squash varieties and sweet potatoes. Here’s how you make it:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups winter squash cubed (we just used a whole one, could have been over 2 cups).
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 1 package boneless chicken breasts
• 3 tbsp flour
• canola oil
• 1 large onion chopped
• minced garlic
• cumin & chili powder to taste (we like a LOT)
• Salt & Pepper
• Fresh Cilantro (optional)
• Tortilla Chips

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven, dredge cubed chicken breast in flour until fully coated
2. Cook chicken in hot oil until browned
3. Pour in 1/2 cup broth and scrape all browned bits off the bottom of the pan
4. slowly add in the remaining broth and then the rest of the ingredients except chips and cilantro
5. Mix everything well, bring to a boil
6. Simmer 20 minutes or until squash is tender - just like a potato would be.
7. Stir in cilantro and serve immediately
8. Crumble tortilla chips over the top of each bowl for added flavor

Tips:

• Use Chicken Bullion instead of chicken broth
• Try this recipe with different meats, or for vegetarian use black beans and pinto beans instead of chicken