Chicken Thigh and Veggie Stew

It was definitely a chilly morning today, and i had a huge pack of chicken thighs thawing in the fridge. A nice bowl of warm stew was the only thing coming to my mind. Looked thru my veggie crisper and found a few things, added another few veggies from the freezer and some canned tomatoes, made a roux to thicken it up and "voilà"! It was delicious! Served with buttered toast and hot sauce made this chilly day nice and warm!

Ingredients for 8-10 servings:
10 bone in chicken thighs, cleaned of excess fat and skin( you need some skin for the broth) and washed
1 large onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
1 cup of corn, frozen, fresh or canned
2 cups okra, sliced frozen
1 can whole peeled tomatoes(64oz)
2 slices bacon, whole
3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
ROUX:
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour

Place chicken thighs in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, and with a spoon skim off the fat on the surface and discard. Simmer for about 30 minutes, until thighs are fully cooked. Remove thighs from broth and set aside to cool down.
Add all ingredients but the parsley to the broth. Remove skin and bones off the thighs and add the shredded meat to the veggies. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove bacon and bay leaves and discard.
In a small frying pan cook the butter until light brown. Add flour and whisk it for about 2 minutes. Add the butter/flour(ROUX) mixture to the stew and stir until thickened. Season if needed. Add fresh parsley, stir it in and serve it hot with lots of buttered toast and hot sauce.