Keeping it fast and loose this week, as I’m a guest editor for the lovely Lunch Hour Links newsletter this upcoming Monday.
Please subscribe if you haven’t! I always find new things to read and learn from Helen, Miranda, and Vic; a truly international newsletter, very cosmopolitan, truly In Good Taste; it’s an honor to be nominated and especially pleasing to be in the mix :)
LIGHT LINKS, HEAVY READING
The last glimpses of California's vanishing hippie utopias
I mentioned last week that I’m BACK INTO BOOKS! If you are too, here’s a fun flowchart for finding your next fall read
The fight to save women’s colleges from extinction. Obviously, I’m biased. And trying to bite my tongue about the WSJ headline I keep seeing about boohoo young men “feeling lost” and giving up on 4-year colleges wah wah. (Ugh.)
Related, no less enraging: while men are falling behind in college enrollment; women are definitely still playing catch-up at work. I don’t know. Donate to your local innovation institute.
CALM DOWN AND COZY UP WITH SOME TINGA DE POLLO
This one-pot chicken tinga dish is not a spicy dish, per se (and certainly will not be for those whose hands have fused to bottles of hot sauce), but the use of chipotle chiles gives it a really pleasant warming kick, one that’s great on tacos (with avocado and red onion), and great on rice the next day. I’m going to try it with a pork shoulder next time.
INGREDIENTS
4 chicken thighs, bone-in
1 can of crushed or petite diced tomatoes (or 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped)
5 garlic cloves, diced
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, halved and sliced (1 half you’ll cook with, 1 half you’ll serve with)
1-2 whole chipotle chiles and ½ tbsp. of adobo sauce (I use this kind -- add more chiles/pulse them in a food processor if you prefer more heat)
2-3 whole bay leaves
2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. onion powder
Salt & pepper
1 cup, chicken broth
1 small can of corn, no salt added; drained
Juice of 1 lime
1 avocado, sliced (for serving)
Lime wedges, for serving
WHAT TO DO
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large Dutch oven, brown both sides of the chicken thighs in a bit of vegetable oil over medium-high heat, about 6-7 minutes on each side. When they’re done, set aside on a plate to rest. In the Dutch oven, add tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste, oil, half the onion, chiles & sauce, oregano, cumin, onion powder, dash of salt & pepper to the pot. Stir to combine everything, add the chicken & its juices back in, and cover. Cook in the oven for 2 hours covered -- at the first 30 minute mark, add a cup of chicken broth and stir ingredients around to keep them from sticking.
At the 2 hour point, remove the chicken from the sauce and shred it off the bone (it should slip off easily). Add the shredded chicken, drained corn, and lime juice to the ingredients in the pot, and heat over low-medium until the corn is warmed through. This should make more than enough for dinner and lunch -- it’s incredibly versatile and tastes even better as leftovers.