Ok, so technically it’s not white, but it has no tomatoes, or a sauce made with dried chiles, so it’s a lot lighter in colour, and this one has white beans. I suggest using chicken thigh meat because if, like me, you make a big pot of this, it stands up far better to slow simmering and then reheating than breast meat does. You can make this with ready cooked chicken too for a fast dinner, but I didn’t have any. The recipe I read had cream cheese added too, but I didn’t opt for that. I really wanted this to be a lighter option.

I had a kilo of thigh fillets to use up, so yes, there was a lot of dinner! You can of course halve this. You don’t have to use chicken, you can use Quorn or soy protein chunks, TVP, whatever you like to use to give the main protein body to a stew. I will say, though, that the stock should be a good, full flavoured one. This stuff isn’t made from chicken, but it tastes like it is.

1 kilo/2.2 lb of skinned and boned chicken thigh meat cut into rough bit size pieces
1 medium white onion, diced
4 -5 spring onions, chopped fine (green and white bits)
2 or 3 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
2 heaped tsp ground cumin
2 heaped tsp oregano (I used Mexican oregano, which has a more floral hit than our usual, but either will work.)
2 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chile powder of your choice (or not, it’s up to you)
1 small can of poblano strips and their juice, chopped (they are not hot)*
1 400g can white beans of your choice, butter beans work very well
1 small can of sweetcorn
Enough well flavoured stock to cover the chicken (I used a stock pot because it’s perfectly fine to do so.)
Chopped fresh coriander
2 tbs Lime juice (the original recipe called for fresh but use what you have)

Sauté the onions off in a little olive oil to soften, then add your garlic and your can of chiles.
Add the chicken, your dry spices and the salt, and mix it all in well.
Cover with the stock up to about an inch over the contents, and leave it to simmer until the chicken is cooked through.
Add in the beans and the sweetcorn, then simmer together for another half hour.
taste it to see if the seasoning is as you like it.

You can thicken this in a few ways:
Puree half the beans and mix that back in.
Sprinkle in 1-2 tbs fine cornmeal and mix well.
Mix in half a package of cream cheese and simmer until it’s all incorporated.
Stir in the lime juice (and fresh coriander if using.)

Serve over rice, or with tortilla chips, avocado slices, chopped fresh coriander or however you want to!

I ‘smoked’ the leftovers, by dropping a hot coal into a small pot of oil placed in the centre of the pot, then slamming a lid on. It adds a lovely extra depth, and it’s fun to do because swirly smoke.

How To here: https://youtu.be/gC0JAwW2Kgk

*You could always grill a green pepper unit the skin is black and blistered, pop it in a plastic bag to sweat, then peel the bitter outer skin off. Chop that up finely and use it in place of the poblano strips.)