By June 2020. Summer semester started. I am taking two classes online and doing research remotely and working at the daycare with protocols. I am tired in a different way than I have been tired before, a kind of tired that is not from overwork exactly but from sustained uncertainty and the effort of staying steady when things are not steady.
The blog has been getting a lot of attention this summer, partly from the pantry cooking posts and partly from a post I wrote in May about what it is like to be a foster care alum during a pandemic, the particular terror of economic precarity when you have no family safety net, no one to call if the money runs out except yourself. The post traveled far. I have been responding to emails every evening, which takes time, but I cannot not respond. Every person who writes to say this is exactly what I felt deserves to be seen.
Cooked a big pot of summer stew this week: zucchini, corn, tomatoes, black beans, and chicken thighs, seasoned with cumin and chili powder, finished with lime juice and cilantro. It uses the summer vegetables that are cheap and abundant right now and it produces a meal that feeds four people for two days. This is what summer cooking is: abundance made practical. I put a portion on Edna door every Tuesday and she left me a note this week that said: you remind me of my daughter. She is in California. I sent her the stew recipe by email.
This is the stew I keep coming back to when life asks more of me than I have — when I need something that will stretch across two days, feed people I love, and still have enough left over to carry down the hall to Edna. The southwestern flavors, the warm spice of cumin and chili, the hearty beans — it’s practical the way summer cooking at its best is practical: it takes what’s cheap and abundant and turns it into something worth writing a neighbor’s daughter about in California. Here’s the recipe I emailed her.
Southwestern Chicken & Lima Bean Stew
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 40 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium zucchini, chopped
- 1 cup frozen or fresh corn kernels
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (15 oz) lima beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Brown the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken pieces in a single layer and cook, undisturbed, for 3–4 minutes until golden on the bottom. Stir and cook another 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Soften the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to the same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, for 4–5 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
- Add vegetables and spices. Stir in zucchini, corn, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring to coat everything in the spices.
- Build the stew. Add diced tomatoes with their juices, lima beans, black beans, and chicken broth. Return the browned chicken and any accumulated juices to the pot. Stir to combine.
- Simmer. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium-low. Simmer uncovered for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through and the stew has thickened slightly.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and fresh cilantro. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Ladle into bowls and serve with crusty bread or rice.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 340 | Protein: 32g | Fat: 9g | Carbs: 31g | Fiber: 8g | Sodium: 480mg