Yes, you read that right! After last week's post about easy vacation cooking with our handy Greek pantry staples, we thought we'd share another creative recipe for you to try. Let's face it, you can never have enough ideas for how to cook chicken and this one came to me when I saw I had a tin of Sparoza's Avaris tea and realized it would make a great flavor enhancer.

I suspect Sparoza founder Effie Ekmetzoglou is rolling her eyes right now, since she also makes amazing cooking blends and would probably tell me to just use those, but honestly, I wanted something new for dinner and I thought I'd try this....and it worked! The familiar flavors of rosemary and sage were complemented by the Avaris blend's basil, mint, helichrysum, lemon verbena, peppercorns, rosehip, and liquorice. Don't frown at the thought of liquorice in your sauce - a classic Greek secret is to add a splash of liquorice-flavored ouzo liqueur to any tomato sauce!

Let us know if you've been doing any creative cooking while on vacation or if you've found any new uses for old favorites from your cupboard - we could all use an easy new recipe! 

Easy herbal tea-flavored chicken stew

Ingredients for the chicken stew

1 lb chicken thighs, with the fat trimmed

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 cups fresh summer tomatoes, blended (if you're stuck, you can also use a 14-oz can of crushed tomatoes or add a jar of Elli & Manos' tomato-based Greek Flavor Bursts and add some warm water)

2 tbsp Sparoza Avaris tea

salt and pepper to taste

Make the easy herbal tea flavored chicken stew

Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a deep skillet, preferably one with a cover.

Salt and pepper the chicken thighs and sauté for a couple of minutes on each side, until they're brown.

Add the chopped onion and the Avaris tea and continue to sauté until the onion is translucent, about 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Taste and if needed add more salt and pepper. Lower the heat to low and simmer for about 25-30 minutes, being careful not to let the sauce dry out. This is a delicious dish to enjoy with some Agrozimi bronze-drawn orzo/kritharaki or handmade pearl couscous, especially if you're feeding a large crowd of hungry swimmers!

Buy the Zelos products to make the herbal tea flavored chicken stew