I was in the produce section at the grocery store and saw some beautiful butternut squash on sale.  I grabbed two, put them in my cart, and couldn’t wait to get them home and make them into something delicious.  

The next day I went out into my garden and saw this:

Two perfect, beautiful butternut squash.

This is how neglected my garden was this year.  I FORGOT I planted butternut squash until I went out and saw that they were ready to be picked!  

Needless to say, our summer was a little busy.

And by a little busy, I mean so absolutely insane that I’m still recovering emotionally with the help of apple crisp and ice cream. 

Anyway.

After neglecting Pinterest all summer, just like my poor garden, I finally got on and found this recipe from Cookin Canuck. I thought Wow, this looks really good.  But it isn’t Paleo, which means Hubs can’t have any because he’s doing a Crossfit Paleo challenge.  If I just change a few things, this will be perfect!

And so our Paleo butternut squash chicken stew was born.

Hubs told me he loves the leftovers almost as much as he loves me. 

1 butternut squash (about 2 lbs) peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

4 cups chicken broth

2 lbs boneless skinless chicken (thighs or breast), cooked and shredded

1 Tbsp avocado oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

1/2 tsp kosher salt

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 can (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes with green chiles

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

Steam the squash pieces until just tender, about 10 minutes.  Remove half of the squash, set aside, and continue steaming the remaining half until very tender, about 5 more minutes.  Mash the very tender squash (with a fork or potato masher) and set aside.

Add oil to a large pan or stock pot over medium heat.  Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown.  Add the salt, garlic & oregano.  Cook and stir for another minute.  Add tomatoes, butternut squash pieces & mashed butternut squash and stir.

Add the chicken broth & shredded chicken, stir to combine.  Add pepper to taste.  Bring to a simmer.  Stir in parsley and serve.  

*When I need shredded chicken, I like to cook it the crock pot.  Boiling chicken is fine, but if you’re not careful, it can leave it tough and chewy.  I don’t usually use an extra dish/pot/appliance if I don’t have to, but this is one exception.

*I peeled my squash with a vegetable peeler.  I had to do a couple of layers to get it all, but it was fast and easy.

*I also found parsley in my garden when I was trying to collect all my goodies before the frost, so I just grabbed a handful of that for the stew.  

*Avocado oil is my new favorite cooking buddy.  Costco now sells it for less than $10 for 1 liter.  It’s a high heat cooking oil (up to 500 degrees), so it’s great for stir-fying, searing, broiling, etc.  It’s also non GMO and is better for you than most other oils (vegetable, canola, etc).