Spicy Tomato Chicken Stew

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 stalk celery, cut into small pieces
• 1 carrot, peeled, cut into small pieces
• 1 small onion, medium diced
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (14 oz) can low-salt chicken broth
• 1 (14.5 oz) can chopped tomatoes
• 3 boned chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
• 1 package (8 oz.) thawed frozen artichoke hearts, quartered if large**
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn into pieces**
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• 1 bay leaf
• Red chile flakes, to taste
• Crusty bread

Preparations:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add chicken in a single layer and cook, turning once, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer chicken to a plate.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add in about 2 tsp more of olive oil. Add garlic first, then onion, celery and carrot and stir just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, and thyme and simmer, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot, about 3 minutes. Add broth and chicken and return to a simmer. Lower heat slightly to maintain simmer, cover, and cook 25 minutes. Turn the chicken over half way and stir the mixture occasionally.

3. Take the chicken out after 25 minutes and let cool a bit. Discard bay leaf. Add in artichokes. Shred or cut the chicken into bite- size pieces. Return the chicken meat to the stew and stir in basil. Bring the stew to a simmer. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes, to taste.

Serve with some crusty hearty bread.

** Optional:
If you don't like artichokes, you can use 1 (15oz) can of organic kidney beans instead. If you don't have basil, substitute with 1/2 a cup of flat-leaf parsley chopped.