Improvising...

...is my favorite way to cook. Take whatever is at hand, and turn it into something delicious (or at least edible!). I had fun improvising with a lot of must-be-used vegetables tonight.

I seasoned and floured a cut-up chicken, and browned it in a little oil. Then I removed it from the pan, and threw in half an onion (all I had),  a couple of stalks of celery, and a green pepper, all diced. I seasoned these with a little of Emeril's Essence, since I have it and rarely remember to use it.  I then added a diced zucchini and a minced garlic clove, and when it was finally sliced, about two cups of okra.

After all of this had cooked a bit, I put the chicken back in the pot, along with a can of low-sodium chicken broth. Half a can would have been fine, but I wasn't sure whether I intended to make stew or soup. I peeled a couple of large tomatoes, cut them up, and threw them in as well. Once the chicken was done (about half an hour) I added about a cup of cut-up green beans and the kernels from a cooked ear of corn. When the beans were about done, I added salt and pepper, a handful of chopped parsley, and what was edible from an aging bunch of scallions.

At this point it was done and still somewhat stew-like. However, I had forgotten to put my son's fish sticks in the oven, so we had to wait a bit. By then, it was more of a soup than a stew. I ate as a soup with a little rice, but I served it to my husband as a spoonful of veggies over rice with chicken pieces on the side. We both enjoyed it. If I hadn't had the okra, I would have used the eggplant that's crying out to be cooked. Not sure what I'll do with that.

Well, that was my most boring post to date. To anyone who reads this to the end: you have my gratitude, but you need to get a life. :-)