Damlyama-inspired chicken and vegetable stew

Chicken stew with vegetables

I mentioned in some of my previous post that I joined a CSA this year and all the benefits associated with it.  The “downside” is having a ton of veggies and finding creative ways to use them up.  This time, I turned to one of my recipes and totally re-did it.  Well, as much as one can re-make a meat and veggie dish.  The original, Damlyama, is a traditional Uzbek dish, using lamb and a pretty specific set of veggies and a specific method.  For this dish, I took the basic elements of Damlyama, meat and veggies, and built a new recipe based on that.  I sorta think of this as a deconstructed chicken damlyama. 

But don’t think of this as a “recipe”, think of this as a way to use up veggies languishing in your fridge; that’s how I think of this dish.  The veggies I used are simply the ones I had on hand.  If you have others, use what you have, no reason to go out and get what’s on my list.  But here’s what I had:

Vegetable Stew with Chicken

Peppers sauteing for vegetable stew with chicken

Veggies sauteing

More Veggies for Veggie and Chicken stew

Veggies sauteing for chicken stew with veggies

Ingredients:
Onions (one huge one, or 2-3 regular ones)
Bell Peppers (I had a red and a green one)
Patty Pan Squash (yes, they lasted about 4-6 weeks in my fridge, some of them)
Carrots (I used 2)
Cabbage (I had a small head of red cabbage and I cut it thinly)
2 15oz cans of diced tomatoes (I have to use them up, before I use my own; but you can use about 4-5 larger fresh tomatoes)
Eggplant (I had a white one, it was mild, so didn’t require salting to remove bitterness; diced)
Beet (I had a one yellow beet; peeled and diced)
Chicken (I had a whole chicken which I dismembered, but I think using chicken legs/thighs would be better)
Oil
Garlic
Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic powder, Spanish smoked paprika, and Chile Con Carne seasoning blend from Penzeys, or any seasoning you like, all to taste)
Herbs (optional, for garnishing; I used parsley, or was it cilantro)

Steps:
1. Chop/dice the veggies as finely or as large as you like. I see no reason for precision here, so I kept it “rustic” by chopping veggies about bite-sized, but so not loosing sleep over larger pieces of carrot.
2. Brown the chicken and set aside.
3. Saute the onion first, until it gets a little soft, on medium heat. Then add garlic and saute for about 5 more minutes.
4. Add peppers, carrots, and other veggies, in no particular order, and cook on medium-low heat. Typically, I add the harder veggies like carrots earlier in the cooking process, and the softer ones like tomatoes later. If you see that veggies are drying out or getting stuck to the bottom of the pan, add a little water. I found that the two cans of tomatoes had enough liquid. This is a very forgiving dish given that it’s cooked on low heat.
5. Add the chicken back in and simmer on low for a few hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
6. Seasoning. Add seasoning as you go along, and taste and adjust. Typically, I’ll add a bunch of veggies, let them cook for a bit, add seasoning and taste.