Chicken & Mushroom Stew with Herbed Quinoa

The other night rob opened the freezer and said "wow, it really makes me feel like an adult to have lots of meat stashed in the freezer with no immediate purpose." My reaction was...oh geez, I guess I should make something with that chicken I've had in the freezer for awhile. So...an easy stew! This is also a bit of an advertisement for Penzey's Sunny Paris blend, which has shallots, chives, green peppercorn, dill, basil, tarragon, chervil and bay leaf. Feel free to sub whatever dried herbs you like!

Chicken & Mushroom Stew
- 4 boneless/skinless chicken thighs
- 1/2 Tbl Penzey's Sunny Paris or other dried herbs
- Olive oil
- 1 package cremini or button mushrooms, quartered
- 1 onion, roughly chopped (keep pieces large)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 4 carrots, peeled & cut into ~1-inch chunks
- 2 Tbl flour
- 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 Tbl dijon or whole grain mustard
- dash Worcestershire sauce

Cut the chicken thighs into about 3 pieces each. Season with Sunny Paris, salt & pepper. Brown chicken pieces in a Dutch oven or large pot in oil (they don't need to cook all the way through). Remove chicken to a bowl and saute mushrooms in same pan in some additional oil. If bottom of pot is getting really dark, splash in some chicken stock. Remove mushrooms (put in bowl with chicken). Add onion to pot and saute until just starting to turn translucent, then add garlic. Add flour and stir for a few seconds, then add chicken stock and thyme. Scrape up brown bits and stir. Add carrots, chicken and mushrooms back to pan, bring to a simmer. Cover pot and cook for about 15 minutes, until carrots are softened and chicken is cooked through. Add mustard and Worchestershire & taste for salt. Serve over quinoa.

Herbed Quinoa
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 Tbl Penzey's dried shallots (optional)
- 1 tsp Sunny Paris
- 2 cups chicken stock

Combine ingredients in pot, bring to boil, cover and simmer 15 minutes or until quinoa is cooked through.