Healthy one pot stew and not a carb in sight!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I can't believe we are already on day 2 of 2014..... 3.5 months now until we get married and time's going so quickly! We are both ridiculously excited, but as you can imagine the diet.is.ON. 

With that in mind I decided to make a hearty but healthy stew with what I had in the fridge and cupboards, with not a carb in sight (not a complex one anyway)! 

What you need: (enough for three hungry bears, with enough for seconds!)

5 medium/ large carrots

1 medium onion

1 large leek

1 large handful of fresh cranberries (please note, these are sour and not sweet!)

2 tsps paprika

1 tsp salt

2 tsps mixed herbs

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp dried sage 

5 chicken thighs

2 chicken stock cubes (in 800ml boiling water)

2 tsp coconut oil

Directions:

• Set oven to 180 degrees (fan assisted) 
• Chop up all veg and set aside  Keep cranberries separate to main veg

• Place a pan on high heat with coconut oil. Brown off your chicken thighs on each side (5-6 minutes)
• Take the chicken out and put on a plate to rest

• In the same pan, sweat off the vegetables until they begin to soften
• Add in your salt, pepper, paprika, mixed herbs and sage
• Add back in the chicken thighs and cranberries and mix together

• Sweat off for a little longer (1-2 minutes) 
• Add chicken stock in 800ml of boiling water and mix 

• Pour all pan ingredients into large casserole dish 
• Put in to oven and leave to simmer for 35-45 minutes

• Take out of the oven and add 2 inch cube of butter (allow to melt, stir in) and serve straight away

We had ours with some stir fried cabbage and peas but you could have it with anything, sweet potato, butternut squash, mashed potato, parsnips and other roasted veg or even just bread and butter- for those not needed to diet! 

 If you find that your sauce's still quite watery at about 20 minutes in to cooking then I recommend adding 1 TSP corn flour added in with some warm water. 

 Enjoy!