Mediterranean Chicken Stew

I made this last night and it was a great hit. Like most recipes, I will end up tweaking this one just a little bit, but like always, I will reflect those changes in my directions. This recipe came from my Everyday Food cookbook and was very fun to make, and since I had the time while my 18 month old was sleeping, I prepped it way ahead of time which cut down on actually cooking time by a bit. This is served over Polenta and was oh so yummy!

Mediterranean Chicken Stew

• 4 chicken breasts - cut into 3/4 inch chunks
• olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves - minced (I just used a heaping tablespoon of the pre-minced stuff and it was fine)
• 1 can chickpeas - rinsed and drained
• 4 plum tomatoes - cored and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (2 cups) I was heavy handed with these babies
• Kalamata olives - chopped The original recipe says 2 T worth (about 5), I doubled it last night and still found it wanting. Next time, I'm using about 20 olives I think. :)
• 1 t white wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley. I used the dried kind and it was, again, just fine.

--Season chicken with salt and pepper and then using olive oil, brown in a large skillet until done. Set chicken aside.
--With some more oil in the skillet, add the garlic and stir until fragrant. If your nose is plugged, this takes about 30-45 seconds. Add in the chickpeas and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid has been reduced by half. This takes about 2-3 minutes.
--Add the tomatoes and cook until they start to break down.
--Add the olives, vinegar, and chicken. Heat through. Stir in the parsley.
--Serve over polenta. (I found that I put too much polenta on the plates for the portion of stew I had. The polenta serving should be equal to or just a little less than the stew amount.)

As a note - the polenta is so quick, I started my water to boil when I was waiting for the liquid of the chickpeas to reduce and it was perfect timing! I served this with a salad and it was all very filling. Enjoy.