Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Quinoa

I came down with my first cold of the season so I was in the mood for a good soup or stew and found this one on a blog called Cookin' Canuck. It was incredibly good! It was very filling and had good flavors. It makes about 6 hearty servings. I made some homemade wheat bread in the bread machine, which paired perfectly with this and a salad.

Chicken Stew with Butternut Squash and Quinoa

Ingredients:

• 1 large butternut squash (cubed)
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 3 boneless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 4 tbsp of minced garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp of oregano
• 1 can (14 oz) of diced tomatoes
• 2/3 cup quinoa (uncooked)
• 3/4 cup kalamata olives (pitted and quartered)
• Ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup of parsley

Directions:

1. Cube the butternut squash; if you've never done this before (like I hadn't), follow this handy guide. 
2. Steam the butternut squash for 10 minutes; after 10 minutes, remove half of the butternut squash (set aside in a bowl).
3. Steam the remaining half for another 4-6 minutes. Once this half is done steaming, mash it with a fork and set aside in a bowl.
4. While the butternut squash is steaming, bring a pot of chicken broth to a boil. Once boiling, add the chicken breasts and cook on medium-high heat covered for about 15 minutes (until thoroughly cooked). 
5. While chicken is cooking, chop the onion.
6. Once chicken is cooked, remove the chicken and set aside on a plate. Also put the chicken broth in a large measuring cup or bowl and set aside.
7. In the large pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat. Add onions and cook until onions are soft and slightly brown, about 8-10 minutes. 
8. Add the salt, minced garlic, and oregano and cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
9. Next stir in diced tomatoes (with sauce in can), cubed butternut squash, and mashed butternut squash. Cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
10. Stir in chicken broth that you had set aside and the quinoa. Bring the pot to a simmer, then cover and cook for 15 minutes until the quinoa is cooked. 
11. While quinoa is cooking, shred the chicken with a fork and quarter the kalamata olives. 
12. Once quinoa is cooked, add in the shredded chicken, kalamata olives, and pepper. Cook for another 2-3 minutes on medium. 
13. Stir in parsley last and serve in bowls. 

The ingredients

Steaming the butternut squash

Both  of the steamed squashes: the cubed bowl on the left and the mashed bowl on the right

The cooking in progress

Close-up

The final product!

Our delicious dinner... Stew, salad, and fresh bread

Here are the recipe cards... I needed two for this one because it was longer but you could copy and paste the second one to the back of the first one.