Chicken and Lima Beans

One of my favorite, but possibly not aptly celebrated, Cajun dishes is chicken and lima beans.

The roux is key. If you don’t know how to conquer a roux, you best come spend the afternoon with me, pay a Cajun to show you how, or place your bets on the Internet how-to’s. My first roux was a big tasteless ball of flour after my dad tried to teach me over the phone. I’ve since dominated such roux.

I work with the trinity (again, find a Cajun) and boneless skinless chicken thighs.

Ingredients

• 1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs (any other chicken pieces can do just fine)
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 large sweet onion, finely diced
• 4 stalks celery, finely diced
• For roux: 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1/2 cup canola oil
• 6 cups chicken stock (I used Better Than Bouillon)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot (I used a 5 qt Dutch oven), heat oil over medium high heat. Here’s the roux: you want that oil hot. Like, hot. Let it heat for about 7-8 minutes.
2. Sprinkle in the flour and begin stirring. You’re gonna want to stir pretty frequently for 15 minutes until the roux is a golden brown. Seriously. Don’t NOT stir for longer than 15 seconds. Pull up a chair and a glass of wine. You’ll be occupied for a minute.
3. Add the trinity (diced onion, bell pepper, and celery). Stir frequently for about 5 minutes. You’ll have a drier mixture but it’s okay. The veggies will put out some sweat. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
4. Add chicken stock and stir well to combine. Raise heat to boiling. Once boiling, reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Add 32 oz frozen lima beans. Continue to cook on simmer for another 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Trim excess fat off of chicken thighs, season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper, add to pan, and cook on each side for about 6-7 minutes until a light brown color.
7. Add chicken thighs to lima beans. Simmer for another 30 minutes.
8. Serve over jasmine rice.