White Chicken Chili with Hominy

It’s time for another Eating the Alphabet recipe link-up where each month we make a recipe featuring a fruit, vegetable, legume, or whole grain from a different set of letters of the alphabet.

So far I’ve done:

(A or B): Buttercup Squash and Artichoke Pasta
(C or D): Grenadian Oil Down with Cassava (Favourite)
(E or F): Homemade Fig Newtons (Favourite)

This month we look at G or H. I’m going with hominy.

WTF is Hominy?

I picked hominy because I didn’t really know what it was but I know that I’ve eaten it before. Chances are good that you’ve had it too.

Hominy is used primarily in Latin American cooking where it is, most commonly, ground up into masa harina, the flour that is the basis for corn tortillas. If it’s ground a little coarser then it becomes white hominy grits.

Hominy looks like mutant-sized corn kernels and that is essentially what it is.

Regular old corn is prepared using a process called nixtamalization where it is heated in lye and ash until the outer germ of the kernel falls off.

This process was crucial to the survival of the ancient Latin American people in a couple of ways. Nixtamalization is a method of preserving the corn beyond harvest time and, more importantly, the process exposes the inner kernel of corn making it is easier to digest and also releasing vitamin B3 which allowed the Latin Americans to avoid deficiency.

Hominy is the primary ingredient in a popular Mexican meat stew called pozole. It is also often used to make chili, which is what I decided to do with it.

Because of all the hominy in it, this chili tastes a lot like tortilla chips. I liked the taste of the hominy overall, but I found this chili to be just okay. Matt was a big fan of it though, but he loves anything with chicken in it.I wish I would have tried my hand at a traditional pozole instead.

White Chicken Chili with Hominy

From Ellie Krieger

Ingredients

1 T olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (~1 1/2 cups)
2 stalks celery, diced (~1/2 cup)
3 poblano peppers, seeded and diced (~1 1/2 cups)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1/4 t cayenne pepper, more to taste
1lb ground chicken
1 can white beans, drained and rinsed
3 c water
1 cube chicken bouillon
1 t dried oregano
1 dried bay leaf
1 (19-ounce) can hominy, drained and rinsed
Salt

1/4 c nonfat plain Greek-style yogurt
fresh cilantro leaves
1 Lime

Directions

Heat the oil in large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, poblanos, and cook for 8-10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until fragrant.

Add the ground chicken and break it up with a spoon. When it is no longer pink add in the white beans, water, bouillon, bay, and oregano. Cook, partially covered, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes.

Add the hominy and salt and more cayenne pepper, to taste, and continue cooking, partially covered, 10 minutes longer. Ladle into individual bowls and top each serving with 1 tablespoon of yogurt a sprinkle of cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice.

Related Posts:

• Zucchini Rösti
• Chicken Shawarma Nuggets Recipe
• Fattoush Salad