Corn and Chicken Dinner

Mid-May. Plea hearing is Monday May eighteenth. Tomorrow. The household has been on a small held-breath schedule across the past two weeks — Mama doing her shifts, me doing the small household tasks lockdown has filled the days with, Dustin coming over for dinner three nights a week. Mrs. Patel called Friday to confirm the plea deal terms had not shifted: simple possession, twelve months probation, eighty hours of community service, a five-hundred-dollar fine. She said the deal would be entered Monday morning and Cody would walk out of the courtroom a free man with a misdemeanor on his record and a probation officer named Marcus to check in with monthly.

Sunday I made corn and chicken dinner because Mama had asked Friday night at the kitchen table for a Sunday dinner that did not require us to make any decisions about anything. The dish is the kind of one-pan weeknight architecture that I have been making for two years now — bone-in chicken thighs seared deep brown skin-side-down, removed; onion and bell peppers sweated in the rendered chicken fat with garlic and cumin and paprika and oregano; rice toasted in the spice oil; chicken broth poured in; thighs returned skin-up; lid on, twenty-five minutes simmer; peas and corn folded in for the last three minutes; cilantro and lime to finish.

Mama had two plates. Dustin had two. I had one and most of a second. We did not talk about the hearing. We talked about the rain that had been on the kitchen window most of Saturday. We talked about whether Mrs. Henderson’s back was going to recover enough to walk the loop with Mama on Wednesday. We talked about everything else. The kitchen held what was coming Monday.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons fresh parsley or cilantro, chopped (optional)
Cooked rice or crusty bread, for serving

Instructions

Season the chicken. Toss the chicken pieces with paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
Brown the chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden on the outside. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Soften the aromatics. In the same pan, reduce heat to medium and add the diced onion. Cook for 3–4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add corn and broth. Stir in the corn kernels and pour in the chicken broth, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Simmer together. Return the chicken to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 15–18 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the broth has reduced slightly.
Finish with sour cream. Reduce heat to low and stir in the sour cream. Cook uncovered for 2–3 minutes, stirring gently, until the sauce is creamy and heated through. Do not boil.
Serve. Spoon over cooked rice or alongside crusty bread. Garnish with fresh parsley or cilantro if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Corn and Chicken Dinner — A Plate the Night Before Plea Day