Chicken Confetti

Every year the deacons at New Hope AME hold a summer retreat at Brother Grover's property out on the county road — about twenty acres with a fishing pond and a covered pavilion that seats maybe sixty people with some creativity. This year Pastor Hendricks asked me to handle the food for the whole weekend, which meant cooking for thirty people across Friday evening and all of Saturday. I said yes before I thought it through, which is usually how I end up doing the important things.

I made a big pot of gumbo Friday night — chicken and andouille, the kind that takes most of the day to build properly — and sheet pans of jalapeño cornbread, and a cold watermelon salad with feta and mint that Sister Odalys suggested and that I was skeptical of until I tasted it. Saturday I did a full spread: smothered chicken, black-eyed peas, rice, collard greens, butter rolls, and three pecan pies that I baked Thursday night so they had time to set.

Somewhere around Saturday lunch, standing at the serving table watching people eat, I had a thought that was too clear to ignore: Bernice used to do this. Bernice used to be the one they called when there was a crowd to feed and it needed to be done right. And now they call me. I am not Bernice — I do not have her efficiency or her certainty or the fifty years of practice that made her look effortless — but I am her daughter, trained in her kitchen, carrying her methods and her cast iron and her way of tasting a pot and knowing what it needs without measuring anything.

I did not cry. I made a decision not to cry. But on the drive home Saturday evening with empty pans in my trunk, I said her name out loud once to the windshield and I think that was enough. Bernice. I see what you were doing. I see it now from the inside. Thank you for teaching me.

The Saturday spread I described — the smothered chicken, the peas, the rolls — takes a kind of confidence that builds slowly over years, and I know not everyone has a whole weekend and a deacon’s retreat to work with. So when people ask me for something that carries that same spirit of a generous, colorful, made-with-intention chicken dish but comes together on a weeknight, I point them to this Chicken Confetti. It’s the kind of recipe Mama would have approved of: honest ingredients, nothing wasted, bright enough to make people feel like someone thought of them. That’s all cooking ever really is.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 30 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
3 cups cooked white rice, for serving

Instructions

Season the chicken. In a large bowl, toss the chicken pieces with garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Brown the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook 5–6 minutes, turning once, until golden on the outside and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Sauté the vegetables. In the same pan, reduce heat to medium. Add the red onion and all three bell peppers. Cook 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Add corn and beans. Stir in the corn and black beans. Cook 2 minutes until heated through, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Build the sauce. Pour in the chicken broth and stir to combine. Return the chicken to the pan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 5 minutes until the broth reduces slightly and everything is well combined.
Finish with butter. Remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted and glossy. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Serve. Spoon generously over cooked white rice and garnish with fresh parsley.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Confetti — The Recipe I Reach For When I’m Cooking for a Crowd