Harvest Stew

Buying local y'all---even in NYC

Happy October Everyone!

Its finally changed into Fall here in New York City. Fall is absolutely my favorite time to be living in this city. You’re finally past all the hot mess that is a sticky summer in Manhattan. The Leaves start changing, starbucks gets pumpkin spice lattes, farmers markets start to get tasty seasonal offerings, and you can finally go for a bike ride around the neighborhood without sweating through your shirt. Really- Fall has so much to offer culinary wise with season transitions into Winter Squashes and hearty stews.

This past week I went on an adventure down to the Union Square Greenmarket where I visited local vendors and collected almost all of the ingredients for this Harvest Stew recipe courtesy of A Year Of Slow Cooking.. Crockpot cooking was MADE for the fall. With all of the beautiful weather outside who wants to stay inside when you can frolic carefree through crunchy leafs and come home to the smells of a home cooked meal?

Harvest Stew

1 pound ground chicken 

1 yellow onion, chopped
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 can kidney beans, rinsed
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 acorn squash, peeled and chopped
1 whole can Rotel Tomatoes(with the juice)
4 cups chicken broth
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp all spice
salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients into a crock pot. Stir to break up the ground meat and incorporate all of the spices. Put the cover on, turn it on low, and check back in 7-9 hours

This stew has almost a sweet undertone that was so lovely on a crisp night.  I was so thankful to have my mini prep food processor(-seriously only $25 at target and worth every penny-) to help chop up everything. The prep time was the worst part of this recipe. And that pesky acorn squash: let me just make a note that its way easier if you poke it a few times with a knife, microwave for a minute or two, and THEN try to cut it open. Me and The Squash were having a battle in the kitchen and it ended with seeds everywhere!

The Stew makes enough to serve 4-5 people so i ended up having it for lunch the next day and freezing the rest for another day.  I served it with some cheddar cheese on top and some Cornbread muffins..(You can spruce up the Jiffy Boxed mix by adding 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese to the batter before cooking and they turn out so crisp and delicious)

It maybe cost $15 to make this stew— Defiantly glad to have saved some money and supported local farmers 🙂