Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel & Beans

This is one of my favorite chicken recipes, and I've been making it fairly regularly since discovering it a couple of years ago. It's diet-friendly, yet filling and delicious! I modified the original recipe (found in The Skinny Slow Cooker) to serve it as a stew. It makes a great leftover for lunch!

Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel and Cannellini

    

Italian Braised Chicken with Fennel and Cannellini

Ingredients

2

pounds chicken drumsticks and/or thighs, skin removed

3/4

teaspoon salt

1/4

teaspoon ground black pepper

1

15 ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

1

bulb fennel, cored and cut into thin wedges

1

medium yellow sweet pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

1

medium onion, cut into thin wedges

3

cloves garlic, minced

1

teaspoon snipped fresh rosemary

1

teaspoon snipped fresh oregano

1/4

teaspoon crushed red pepper

1

14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes

1/2

cup dry white wine or reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/4

cup tomato paste

1/4

cup shaved Parmesan cheese

1

tablespoon snipped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley

Directions

1. Sprinkle chicken pieces with 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper. Place chicken in a 3 1/2- to 4-quart slow cooker. Top with cannellini beans, fennel, sweet pepper, onion, garlic, rosemary, oregano, and crushed red pepper. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, white wine, tomato paste, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; pour over mixture in cooker.
2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 5 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The chicken will be so tender it will have mostly fallen off the bones. So here's where I just remove the bones and cartilage and stir it up. Voila, now it's stew!
3. Sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese and parsley.