Staples from pantry, freezer, fridge make for easy skillet supper
I know a lot of cooks are using this time at home to create new recipes and make all the things they never have time for during the normal hustle of life.
I am not one of those cooks.
Sure, I’m trying the occasional new recipe — but only if it calls for ingredients already in my kitchen or items easily added to my grocery delivery order. Anything that requires a special trip to the store is off the table for the foreseeable future.
And for me, weekdays are still workdays, so when dinner time comes, I want something fast and easy. Life right now is stressful enough, dinner shouldn’t be another stressor.
So I find myself sticking with familiar favorites, but I am updating or tweaking those favorites just a bit so it doesn’t feel like we’re eating the same handful of recipes week after week.
Here I combined staples from the freezer (corn and chicken breasts) with staples from the fridge (bell peppers, hot peppers, limes and cheese) with some pantry favorites (rice, garlic, hot sauce) for a dinner that comes together in the time it takes to steam a pot of rice.
This is a slightly modified version of a recipe I wrote about last summer. This version includes coriander and red bell pepper, making it more colorful on the plate and brighter on the palate.
Cheesy Chicken, Peppers and Corn Skillet
1 teaspoon chile powder (I used ancho)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon crushed or ground coriander seed
Salt and ground black pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into
¼ inch thick strips
¼ cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter, divided use
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 to 2 jalapeno or Fresno peppers,
seeded if desired and thinly
sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 lime, cut into wedges
½ teaspoons dried Mexican oregano, optional
4 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
Hot sauce or salsa, optional garnish
1 ½ to 2 cups hot cooked rice, for serving
Position a rack about 4 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler to high.
In a small bowl, combine the chile powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.
Sprinkle about half of the spice mixture over the chicken pieces, then lightly dredge the chicken pieces in flour and shake off any excess.
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add the remaining butter, the corn, peppers, garlic and remaining spice mixture. Cook, stirring, until the corn begins to brown lightly, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the chicken, the juice from 1 or 2 lime wedges and the oregano, if using. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and transfer the skillet to the broiler. Broil until the cheese melts and browns on top, about 3 minutes. Serve over rice with hot sauce and remaining lime wedges.
Makes 2 to 4 servings.