Calabaza Con Pollo
Calabaza (squash or zucchini) con pollo is another dish that was a staple from my childhood. Prep is minimum and it can simmer on the stove for an extended period while you finish errands (child-wrangling, workouts, binge-watching, what-have-you). Omit the chicken to make the dish vegan or as a side. The dish worked as either a soup or hash-like product. My mother used to boil the chicken, whole or dissected, and then add the chicken and the resulting broth to the dish. The other way she’d prepare it, the hash, was how I reconstructed it and currently prepare it.
WATCH US MAKE IT!
A couple of quirks to consider when preparing this recipe include the dreaded bitter squash. If you cook with calabaza enough times, you’ll find that sometimes it will come out slightly bitter. I’ve attributed this to overcooking my squash, but I haven’t been able to find any evidence that this is a true. After some quick research, I found an article by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln that actually shed some light on this. Mild bitterness is apparently not uncommon in zucchini and cucumbers and tends to happen when they’re exposed to environmental stress like high temperatures or drought. Vine crops produce chemicals called cucurbitacins, that are normally is low concentrations in mass-cultivated varieties. Wild cucumber and zucchini can have the chemical in such high concentrations as to make it inedible. So, sometimes you’ll run into a bitter zucchini and your dish will be a little bitter. So it goes.
As for choosing zucchini, you’ll want to choose those that hold their shape against gravity in your hands. Too many times I’ve reached for zucchini only to find that it went limp in my hand. (Censor warning, there was no way to describe the lack of rigidity in a phallic vegetable without coming off as a veggie pervert. This is the world we live in and I’m sorry. Now back to the blog.) All I’m saying is select a good group of gourds.
Chew on. — Chris
INGREDIENTS.
4-8 chicken legs or thighs
2 tbsp. canola oil
1 onion
1-2 garlic cloves
4-5 medium-sized tomatoes
4-5 green zucchini or Mexican calabaza
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
Salt & Pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
Place Dutch oven (or medium-sized, high-walled pot) on the stove over medium heat. Add cooking oil to the pot.’
Add the chicken to the pot and brown on all sides or about 3 minutes per side and set aside in a clean container or plate. Work in batches if using a lot of chicken.
Dice onion and garlic and add to hot oil. Cook 2-3 minutes or until just softened. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Roughly chop tomatoes and add to the pot.
Cut the ends off the zucchini and cut in half length-wise. Cut each half, again, length-wise and finally chop into 1” pieces and add to the pot.
Add the corn to the pot, lightly season with salt and pepper, and stir to combine.
Add the chicken to the pot with any liquid that has collected in the container or plate.
Cover the pot and cook over medium-heat for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes start to break down into a liquid. Stir then cover.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow to simmer another 25 minutes or until tomatoes have broken down, zucchini is soft, and chicken is fully cooked.
Season to taste, remove from heat, and serve.
COOKING NOTES
Preparing for a smaller group? Use the smaller amount of the suggested ingredient.
Mexican calabaza appear striped in green, as if wearing camouflage. Google states they have a thinner skin than green zucchini and have a slightly sweeter flavor. I’ve never noticed a difference and feel they are interchangeable.
I’ve only ever used green zucchini or Mexican calabaza, but I suppose you could use yellow zucchini as well.
The dish can be made as a side dish or vegan (vegetable succotash) with the omission of animal protein. I think the dish would go well with tofu, though I’ve never tried it.
Feel free to use a quartered whole chicken in lieu of thighs or legs. We’re not a white-meat family otherwise we would.
Cooked rice is a great addition if you’re trying to make the dish last a few more days or when serving especially voracious eaters.
Adding the chicken early to the pot ensures it cooks through. If you’re squeamish about uncooked chicken added to your veggies then I’d cook the chicken in a separate pan and combine with the cooked vegetables.