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Corn and Lima Bean Stew

A hearty stew of lima beans, corn, and vegetables simmered with spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 25 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

Corn and Lima Bean Stew

Oven375°F
Timeabout 25 minutes baking

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Heat oil in a large pan or Dutch oven.

  2. Add onion, cumin, and thyme and sauté over moderately high heat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions color a bit.

  3. Add lima beans and continue cooking over high heat for a few minutes; add garlic, celery, bell pepper, cilantro stems, and chili powder.

  4. Cook 3 minutes, then add tomatoes and water; season with salt and pepper.

  5. Lower heat, cover pan, and simmer 15 minutes.

  6. When beans are tender, add corn and stir in pureed chipotle.

  7. Turn off heat.

Make the crust

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

  2. Bring water to a boil.

  3. Add salt and pour in cornmeal in a steady stream, whisking constantly.

  4. Cook, stirring frequently at first, until cornmeal is cooked, about 30 minutes. Stir in ground chile or chili powder.

  5. If cornmeal is too thick to pour, thin with warm water.

Assemble and bake

  1. Lightly oil a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and pour in about 2/3 of the cornmeal mixture. Let it set about 5 minutes to firm.

  2. Spoon vegetables over the cornmeal mixture.

  3. Set casserole on a tray and bake until bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

438Calories
15 gProtein
17 gFat
64 gCarbs

Counts 14 of 15 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lima Bean1/2 cup (85g) cooked108
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Cilantro1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Cumin + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,082 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Thyme + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Cumin + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together349 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lima beans
Hold their shape and add body and starch to the stew as they cook tender.
Cornmeal
Cooks into a thick base that sets firm enough to hold the vegetable topping.
Tomatoes
Add liquid and acidity that give the filling its savory, saucy body.
Onion
Softens and browns slightly, building sweetness and a flavor base for the stew.
Corn
Adds sweetness and a tender texture to the vegetable layer.
Chipotle pepper
Adds smoky heat that deepens the flavor of the filling.

The step that matters

Cook the cornmeal until fully tender. Coarse cornmeal stays gritty if undercooked, and it needs steady stirring so it does not scorch or lump. Cooking it fully lets it thicken and set so the filling can sit on top without sinking.

Swap the lima beans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, cumin, thyme, garlic, clove, celery, pepper):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Lentilsfits better
  3. Black-eyed peafits better
  4. Lima beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, cumin, thyme, garlic, clove, celery, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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