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Hominy, Bean and Green Chili Stew

Hominy, Bean and Green Chili Stew

Corn, beans and chilis, three of the Magic 8 appear in this welcoming bowl. Summer corn season is past, so break out the hominy, that gift from Native Americans. Hominy is dried corn that’s been nixtamilized, or soaked in lye or lime to strip its tough outer hull. The result is plump, pillowy kernels that will further plump in cooking and taste like the essence of toasted corn tortilla. Hominy and creamy beans stud this stew which has just the right amount of chili. For extra oomph and authenticity, try it with heirloom beans and white hominy, available from the lord of legumes, Rancho Gordo . Mitsitam! (Dakota term meaning let’s eat!).
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Ingredients
  

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • 1 onion chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 stalks celery chopped (about 3/4 cup)
  • 4 cups cooked hominy drained or 2 15-ounce can prepared hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 2 cups cooked white pink or pinto beans or 1 15-ounce can of white, pink or pinto beans, rinsed and drained
  • 2 poblano peppers roasted, cooled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 mild green pepper roasted, cooled, seeded and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds toasted
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 2 to 3 cups vegetable broth
  • sea salt to taste
  • 4 cups of spinach watercress or chard, chopped
  • 1/2 cup cilantro chopped

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped garlic, onion and celery. Sauté for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are translucent and softened. Add drained hominy and beans, poblano and green pepper, cumin and coriander. Stir well to coat.
  • When it reaches boiling point, pour in 2 cups of broth and stir. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Hominy and beans will have swelled and soaked up much of the broth by this point and will be deliciously tender. Season with sea salt to taste.
  • If the stew is all beans and hominy and not enough broth, slowly stir in some or all of the remaining cup of broth until it’s of a consistency that pleases you. May be kept covered and chilled up to this point.
  • To serve, heat stew over medium-high heat. Stir in chopped spinach, watercress or chard and cilantro. It should take only a minute or so in the heated mixture for the greens to wilt them right into the stew. Taste again for salt.