Smoky chicken and bean stew

On Saturday night we had the smoky chicken and bean stew from the September 2008 issue of Olive magazine.  I found the recipe on the GoodFood website and was attracted by the image (see below) of the stew.  After reading the list of ingredients I decided to make it for dinner. 

It was delicious!!  Especially the chunks of pepper - they were bursting with flavour.  Before he had even finished his my husband was asking me make it again sometime!  The recipe suggests serving the stew with wholemeal pittas, so I did.  We had two each.  I heated them in the toaster before serving them and we cut them into strips to use to soak up the juices.  It was really filling and we didn't need any more than the couple of pittas.

Alterations
I had difficulty getting the chicken thighs required for the recipe.  One of the bigger Marks and Spencers that I was in a few weeks ago had them, but when I went to my local Marks and Spencers there were none.  My local butcher doesn't sell them and I didn't see them anywhere else, so I ended up using two chicken breasts instead.

Instead of using borlotti beans I used kidney beans.  I already had kidney beans in the cupboard, so using them meant I didn't have to buy a can of borlotti beans. 

When I did my grocery shop in Dunnes they didn't have any coriander in stock, so I just left it out.  I only own hot chilli powder in my cupboard so I used it instead of the mild chilli powder and I added a little smoked paprika as well.

The recipe called for half a red pepper, but I used a whole red pepper instead.  Instead of using 1/2 a pack of chorizo I used 1/3.  This is because I need the rest for the recipe I am I making on Thursday night.  Plus, I felt there was enough meat in the recipe with the two chicken breasts.

Cost - The chicken breasts cost €2, the chorizo was 76 cent, the red pepper cost 50 cent, the red onion was 15 cent, kidney beans €1, the tomatoes cost 46 cent, the wholemeal pittas cost 47 cent and I have allowed another 30 cent for the olive oil, garlic cloves, stock cube and spices.  The total cost for this meal was €5.64.

My smoky chicken and bean stew - looking at this is making me hungry!