A Warm and Nourishing Postpartum Meal: Chicken, Spinach, and Kidney Beans

Recipe lovingly shared by Postpartum Doula Katrina Kiapos

Warm, nutritious food during the postpartum period helps the body heal after birth, provides comfort, and is an easy way to show your support and love to a new family. Postpartum Doula Katrina loves to make this recipe for new parents because the combination of the legume and the leafy green and protein make this dish easily digestible for new parents. This the perfect meal to make as a freezer meal in advance or to bring someone else during the postpartum time.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds frozen spinach

• 2 yellow onions

• 4 garlic cloves 

• 2 cups dried, or 2 cans Kidney beans 

• 2 chicken breasts

• 1 tbsp. dried fenugreek leaves (may substitute dried celery flakes)

• 2 tsp. salt

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon turmeric

• 2 tbsp. lime juice

• Fresh cilantro to taste

• 1-cup basmati rice

• Optional Cashew Cream:

  • 1 cup raw, soaked cashews

  • ¼ nutritional yeast

  • ½ lemon, or 2 tbsp. lemon juice

  • Salt to taste

Optional Preparation

1. Before this dish becomes dinner you may brine your chicken overnight with 1 tbsp. salt and 2 cups water.

2. If you’re making your beans from dried kidney beans, they will have to be soaked overnight with a little bit of baking soda to take the edge off. 

3. If you have an instant pot, the beans can be cooked at high pressure for 45 minutes, and for some extra minerals, you can opt to add seaweed/Kombu. Katrina promises the beans will not taste like seaweed!

4.  The raw cashews can be soaked using boiling water about an hour before you want to process them, or you can soak them overnight.

Instructions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in some olive oil until they look translucent. 

2. Add the fenugreek leaves, turmeric, salt, and cinnamon. When you can smell the spices you’ll know it’s time to add the chicken, which you will sear until both sides turn opaque white. 

3. Add the cooked beans and stir into the mixture. Add the lime juice and top the pot off with your frozen spinach.

4. Turn the burner down to simmer and let the spinach cook down. The juice from the spinach is what we are depending on to keep everything moist by letting it cook down slowly, but if in doubt, or if it’s your preference, add a little broth in the pot, no more than ½ cup. 

5. Once the spinach looks thawed and has reduced in volume size in the pot, stir into the mixture. (If you’re looking for lower maintenance you can put the entire pot into the oven at 350 and let it cook for 1 hour on the top shelf, but you can just as well let the pot simmer for 30 to 40 minutes too.)

6. When everything in the pot is cooked, shred the chicken with two forks and stir to distribute.

Cook the Rice

1. For the rice, rinse the rice 2 to 3 times until the water becomes less milky. If this is too daunting, you can cheat and soak the rice for about an hour before you want to cook it, rinse it, and that’s good enough. For rice, Katrina uses the 2-to-1 ratio, which is 2 cups liquid to 1 cup rice. Broth is nice for more nutrition for the body, and you can even add ½ tsp. of turmeric or some saffron if you have any to add additional flavors.

2. Once the rice comes to a boil, tilt the lid and let simmer until you see holes develop on the top layer of rice. This usually indicates that it’s done. Add a little olive oil (or butter) and some salt to taste. 

(Optional) Cashew Cream

1. Strain cashews and save the water for something else if you’d like. Place all contents in the blender and let process until it all looks like a smooth paste. Add salt to taste. If you want to add cilantro and lime, or even some garlic, that’s good too. 

2. The rest is self-explanatory from there, just don’t forget the cilantro topping!  You can cut the chicken breasts right before serving right in the pot. Chopped scallions can be nice as a topping if your stomach can handle it. Some postpartum folks enjoy milder flavors. Finally, if you made the cashew cream, add a dollop of that to your meal and enjoy!

Notes

• Normal pot cooking for dried beans is usually 1 hour after they’ve soaked. 

• If you opt to use the oven to finish the chicken and beans, or if you don’t care for rice, you can use this as an excuse to roast some butternut or acorn squash pieces with a little bit of olive oil and salt. They will cook for an hour and be a perfect addition to this meal!