Chicken Stew

Ingredients (19)

• 1 ½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt plus additional to taste, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper plus additional to taste
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 6 medium carrots peeled and cut into 1/2-inch thick diagonal slices (halve the slices if your carrots are very large)
• 4 medium celery stalks cut diagonally into 1/4-inch-thick slices
• 1 medium yellow onion diced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
• 3 to 4 cups unsalted chicken stock if using salted, reduce the amount of salt in the recipe
• 2 cups lowfat milk plus additional as needed (I used 1%)
• 1 medium Yukon gold or russet potato peeled and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 medium sweet potato peeled and 1/2-inch diced
• 1 red bell pepper cored and ½-inch diced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme divided
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus additional for serving
• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice