Tomatican

Description
A Chilean stew. Serve over rice, polenta, or quinoa, or with warm tortillas or cornbread.
 * This recipe yields 4 servings.

Ingredients

 * 2 cups chopped onion (i just used 1 medium onion, chopped)
 * 1 fresh chile, minced or ¼ teaspoon cayenne (I used cayenne since I had it on hand)
 * 2 tbsp olive oil
 * 2 tsp ground cumin
 * 2 cups frozen lima beans (I used fresh)
 * 1 can (28 ounce) whole tomatoes
 * 2 cups fresh or frozen cut corn
 * ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Optional garnishes

 * avocado cubes or slices (we used since we had a ripe avocado, you could skip the avocado but I wouldn't skip the cheese)

Directions

 * 1) Drain the tomatoes, reserving the juice.
 * 2) In a heavy nonreactive soup pot or saucepan, saute the onions and chile or Cayenne in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onions begin to soften.
 * 3) Add the cumin and lima beans and saute, stirring, for a couple of minutes.
 * 4) Add the juice from the tomatoes, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.
 * 5) Chop the whole tomatoes right in the can.
 * 6) Stir the chopped tomatoes and corn into the pan.
 * 7) Cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender (recipe said this should only take about 10 minutes, but it took a lot longer.
 * 8) I don't know if it was because I was using fresh instead of frozen lima beans but it took more like 30 or 40 minutes).
 * 9) Stir in cilantro and add salt and black pepper to taste.
 * 10) Serve plain or topped with suggested garnishes.