Tuscan Chicken Stew + Our “Mary’s Secret Ingredient” Box!

First of all, I want to thank Mary’s Secret Ingredient for sending me their delicious fall box filled with amazing ingredients and kitchen gadgets!! I loved working with them, and their box was packed full of some amazing items!

A few of those items included Sarah’s Tuscan Sea Salt ? and All Natural Ultragrain Blend All Purpose flour – both featured in this yummy stew :).

Ah, this stew. It is seriously comforting and packs a punch ? of flavor!

The flavor largely comes from the amazing Tuscan Sea Salt included in the box. Man, that stuff is good. It is used in three different layers of this stew.

Layer #1: The juicy, succulent chicken is seasoned with it.

Layer #2: The vegetables/broth are seasoned with it.

Layer #3: The most addictive crostinis are seasoned with it.

And it makes everything taste like HEAVEN.

Fo reals.

Bask in the glory.

The glory of the most delicious sea salt ever.

The entire box is worth this jar of flavor right here.

This sea salt + the other yummy Tuscan flavors happening in this soup = happiness.

Pure, pure happiness ?.

And the other magic box ingredient used in this soup is the flour.

Whole grain nutrition – look, function, and flavor of white flour. Score. Win. Yaassssss.

This flour stirred in with a little bit of melted butter to make a roux brings this soup to a whole new level.

A level of thick, silky richness.

Reasons this soup will make your  day  week  month  year  LIFE:

Because apparently I’m in a listing mood again tonight…

1. Layers and layers and layers and layers of flavor. By browning the (Tuscan seasoned) chicken in the bottom of your soup pot before removing it to cook the vegetables, you leave delicious little brown bits (pure flavor) stuck to the bottom of the pan that will be pulled away by the vegetables as they release their natural moisture. These little brown bits are one of my favorite parts of soups and one pot meals. Flavor, people. FLAVOR!
2. The combination of juicy, tender chicken and perfectly cooked vegetables. So much flavor. So much texture. So much comfort.
3. The orzo. The orzo might be one of my favorite parts of this soup…or the crostini…or the chicken…never mind I don’t know what my favorite part is…but the orzo is the BOMB.COM. Perfectly tender and comforting, the orzo cooks in the soup, infusing it with wonderful, chicken-y, Tuscan-y flavor.
4. The crostini. Oh, the crostini. Drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with Tuscan sea salt, and baked to crispy perfection. Don’t skip the crostini…it makes this soup SO MUCH BETTER. So…much…better. It is quite necessary to eat approximately 36 crostinis with each serving of soup. Please and thank you.

Alright…on a less-happy-Tuscan-soup-note and more-sad-life-related-note: Seth deployed this past weekend.

I couldn’t tell you his exact deployment date before, but now that he is gone I can talk about it.

WHEW this weekend was rough. So rough. He left at about four am on Sunday morning. Saturday was super emotional, going to bed on Saturday night was horrible, and dropping him off on Sunday morning was just torture.

The rest of Sunday was pretty rough too, just adjusting to the fact that he was really gone. For NINE months.

Ladies, go hug and kiss your husbands right now and take a moment to be thankful they are there with you, because it is an easy thing to take for granted, and it is SO hard when they leave.

The good news is that I woke up on Monday morning feeling much better, and I woke up today feeling 100% fine. It took me far less time to adjust than I thought it would, and that was a relief! Honestly, now that I am used to him being gone, I am super relieved that we are getting this deployment over with and can stop dreading it. Now the count down can start, and I can look forward to him coming home again! I need my taste tester back ?.

And that’s all I’m going to say about that! I’ll keep you updated on how the rest of the deployment goes!

In the meantime, make this soup and transport your taste buds to Italy ?. You will love, love, love it!

4.7 from 3 reviews

Tuscan Chicken Stew + Our "Mary's Secret Ingredient" Box!

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

1 hour

 

Author: Annie Chesson

Serves: 5 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs - fat trimmed off
• 5 stalks celery, diced
• 5 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1.5 teaspoons Sara's Tuscan Sea Salt plus extra for seasoning the chicken and crostinis (from the "fall" Mary's Secret Ingredient Box)
• ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 5 cups chicken stock
• ½ cup orzo
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons All Natural Ultragrain Blend All Purpose Flour (from the "fall" Mary's Secret Ingredient Box)
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 loaf of nice bread - French or Italian will work

Instructions

1. Heat a soup pot over medium-high heat with enough olive oil to lightly coat the surface
2. Season your chicken thighs on both sides with the Tuscan Sea Salt
3. Brown the chicken in the pot and remove to a plate (it doesn't need to be cooked through, just browned)
4. Add your vegges into the pot that the chicken browned in
5. Add a splash of chicken stock to deglaze the pot and scrape the brown bits off the bottom from the chicken
6. Cook the veggies until the onions have softened
7. Add in your tuscan seasoning, your Italian seasoning and your broth
8. Stir everything together and add the chicken thighs back in
9. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook - stirring periodically - for 30 minutes
10. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees
11. Slice your bread into pieces about 1 inch thick
12. Place them onto a baking sheet and drizzle/brush olive oil evenly over both sides
13. Season one side with the Tuscan Sea Salt
14. Place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes
15. When your soup has been simmering for 30 minutes, remove the chicken and set aside
16. Bring the soup back to a boil and add in your orzo
17. Cook until the orzo is tender - about 8 minutes or so
18. Meanwhile, shred your chicken thighs using two forks
19. Melt your butter in the microwave and stir in the flour to form a roux
20. When your orzo is cooked, turn the heat back down and add the shredded chicken back into the pot
21. Stir in your roux and let the soup thicken for a few minutes
22. Stir in your lemon juice and you are all done! Serve with the crostinis

3.4.3177

If you make this or any of my other recipes, be sure to Instagram it and hashtag #thegarlicdiaries!

In the mood for more yummy soup recipes? Check these out:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Crock-Pot Lasagna Soup

30 Minute Stuffed Pepper Soup