I was wanting to do something different in the kitchen and I saw some great corn. It is summer after all and corn is everywhere. Going to the grocery store after having an amazing massage, I took my time and looked at the produce section. I thought of doing something simple yet with lots of flavors. Knowing I just came in the day before and got chickpeas and tomatoes, I went with a succotash. I could not find fava beans, so I substituted for the chickpeas. Sorry hummus, I will make you later this week.

Other than maybe some shallots, everything should be a pantry staple (I am trying to get more fresh parsley in the house, that would be a different one). This went PERFECTLY with my pan seared chicken. And knowing it would give the succotash another layer of flavor, I cooked the chicken first and then cooked the succotash in its juices. In all, this can be an easy weeknight meal that can be done in under an hour!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons Bacon Fat (if not, some Olive Oil works)
• 2 tablespoons of the remaining chicken fat (if this is a stand alone, use more Olive Oil)
• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 package of mushrooms (around 16 ounces) – I used baby bellas
• 1 can of chickpeas, drained
• The kernels of 2 ears of corn
• 2 shallots, sliced
• 5 super tiny garlic cloves (3 big ones would work), minced
• 1 tomato diced
• Parsley
• Salt, pepper to taste
• Zest of 1 lemon, juice of half.

Serves: 4

Cook time: 20 minutes (stand alone), with chicken (60 mins)

How to:

• Pan fry some chicken thighs in a 12 inch cast iron skillet. You can find my recipe here. (Start them in the stove, finish in the oven).

After you cook the chicken, set aside. Leave about 2 tablespoons of the grease in the pan. Because you are using cast iron, you will begin cooking with the heat it retains from the oven, but keep the skillet on in medium high heat.

• In the medium high heat cast iron, add the onions and mushroom and cook for 5 minutes or until they are sweating.

• Add shallots and garlic to the mix. Season with salt and pepper and keep them sweating for about 5 -6 minutes

• Once they start to caramelize push everything to the sides and add the bacon fat and the sweet corn to the onion/garlic mixture. If you do not have bacon fat, you can just add another 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil. Cook for about 3 minutes.
• Push everything to the sides again, add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper. Add parsley.

• Add this time, add the juices of the chicken you had resting to the mix. If you are doing this as a stand alone, use a splash of vegetable or chicken stock. If not, just use a splash of water! Add the zest of 1 lemon and half of its juice.

Check the seasoning right before you serve! You might want some more lemon juice or S & P!

This tastes AMAZING. It had so many layers of flavors and honestly it felt like this was cooking for hours on end!

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