Apricot chicken-An old classic that l was missing eating. It was a cold day and l walked past some apricots in the fruit section of the shop and the smell was enticing. They were so juicy, ripe and delicious that l bought some with the idea of eating them but then decided to experiment with the hot pot and see what happened. The result was a most sweet and delicious apricot chicken dish that l enjoyed over the next few days.

Firstly, l chopped up about 6 free range chicken thighs and coated them in a generous amount of coconut flour.  I browned them in a pan with some coconut oil and then placed them in the hot pot. To the hot pot l added just over 1.5 litres of chicken broth that l had in the freezer, four apricots finely sliced, the green tops of a couple of spring onions, about 1/4 of a small pumpkin chopped up, 1/2 a cup of organic shredded coconut, ground black pepper, sea salt, some herbs from the garden such as mint and parsley, half a red capsicum chopped up and a few small radishes sliced finely. I let the hot pot work its magic for quite a few hours and then added 1/4 cup black chia seeds, 1/2 cup white quinoa and some green beans. Another thirty minutes or so and it was ready to serve. My casserole had quite a lot of liquid in it so l served it in a bowl but if l had cooked it longer it would have thickened a bit. I started cooking it around lunchtime so ideally you will start a bit earlier in the day, but over the next few days it thickened a bit and was so delicious as the flavours developed. There was a real sweetness to this dish from the apricots, pumpkin and coconut.

I hope you enjoy this casserole as l did.