Vegan Pozole Verde

I feel like I’ve been posting only soup recipes. I’m pretty much the new found soup queen of Raleigh! But I guess pozole has more substance than just a soup. It is filling, easy to make yet full of complex flavors. It’s definitely one of those foods that I dont think about making but when I do I’m like “why dont I make this more often??” 

Pozole, at least to my knowledge, comes in two different flavor combinations. There is a pozole rojo which is typically made with red peppers, like guajillo, pasilla, arbol, or ancho. Depending on the region of Mexico they may vary in flavor profiles but overall the appearance is the same, red. Then there is pozole verde, which for those of you that dont speak Spanish it means “green.” Pozole verde gets its green color from the green ingredients used in it, you have tomatillos, cilantro, and green chiles. I would say the overall flavor is a bit milder than pozole rojo and it has some earthy notes. Either way, you should give both a try! 

For this recipe I decided to venture into pozole verde. I love the look and taste of fresh ingredients and I love the earthy flavor coming from the tomatillos and cilantro. My fiancé, Chase, thinks I’m weird because I like “the taste of dirt.” I said “no, I like the taste of Earth!” So what is nice about this recipe is that because it is vegan it is not as time consuming as the one with meat because we dont have to wait for the pork or chicken to cook, cool down and shred apart. That in itself is a workout and being the busy housewife that I am, I certainly do not have time for that. 

The instructions are pretty simple y’all. The recipe pretty much consists of throwing everything a blender and stir and done! 

But for those of you that may be culinarily challenged I’ll give you the run down. 

Peel about a pound, half a kilo, or roughly about 12 tomatillos. One thing I’ve noticed when peeling tomatillos is that they naturally have this sappy feeling on the outside that make the skin stick to them. The best thing I learned is to get them a little wet or to rinse them with the skin still on and you’ll see that the skins slide right off! I suppose the same can be said about my panties. 

Then what you’ll do is half them and put them in a blender. Along with your tomatillos you’re going to add oregano, a small bunch of cilantro, a couple of garlic cloves and half an onion cut into quarters. Next up take two poblano peppers and remove the seeds. Rough chop them and add them to the blender. Depending on your heat tolerance you can add one or two jalapeños with seeds. I used two and thought the subtle heat was plenty. To this mixture of veggies add about one cup of vegetable broth and blend it until smooth. 

While everything is blending over medium heat get a medium to large pot nice and hot then add about one tablespoon of oil. Once everything in the blender looks nice and smooth pour it into the pot. Be careful because things will probably start splattering. Cook it over medium heat while stirring occasionally until it gets to a deep green color, about 10 to 12 minutes. 

At this point it is ready for the last bit of good stuff. This protein is completely optional, but personally I like a little extra something in my pozole so I decided to use Gardein chick’n strips. They are convenient, delicious and best of all vegan! They come in a pack with teriyaki sauce, you can either save the sauce or throw it out. I chose the latter because I’m the bourgeois bitch that makes her own sauce. Anyway, you can rough chop the chick’n and add it to the pot or you could easily sub any other protein you think would be good in it. I’ve seen tempeh in it, seitan or a nice meaty mushroom. Again, all completely up to you. After you add your protein to the pot pour in your remaining broth. Bring it to a gentle simmer and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes. At the last 5 minutes you’ll add two cans of white hominy. Once it is done season it with some salt and black pepper. 

For this go round the only brand I could find was Busch’s Best. Y’all can judge me if you want because no real Mexican would be caught using such brand but I was searching all over the wrong supermarkets apparently because none of the ones I visited had “real” hominy. 

While the pozole is finishing cooking you can do some fun things and slice up all the garnishing toppings you want. The many times I have had pozole it is served with thinly sliced cabbage. I thought that this was a bit too green already so I chose red cabbage to give it a nice color pop. I also got some red radishes, avocado and of course fresh cilantro. The easiest thing to do is use a mandolin to thinly slice everything. If you guys dont have one you need to drop everything, go to Amazon and get you one. They make slicing things so easy and you always end up with those perfectly equal sized veggies. I have lost many of fingertips to it but regardless I am in love with mine. 

One of the other things I like to serve with my pozole verde is a chili oil in case you want to add a bit more heat. I ran across this brand on Instagram called Cascabel Salsa based out of Houston, Texas. Y’all! This salsa is everything! it came in the cutest little jar and I wondered “why is it so tiny?” well because a little goes A LONG way. It has so much heat you’d be a fool to think you could handle more than a few drops. The nice thing about it is that even though it is spicy it’s not one of those burn your face off you can’t breath spices. It starts out with a smooth smoky taste which then builds up as you eat it and gradually warms your heart. I’m definitely excited to try out some more recipes with it. If you can go check them out and give some some support, they are still a small company but have the flavor and potential to go worldwide. They are that good! 

But alas, back to the pozole. By this time the pozole should be ready to serve. Be sure to get a deep bowl because you will probably want to pile it high with toppings. Serve with a squeeze of lime and it’s going to knock your socks off how good and easy it was to make it. 

Bon appetit! 

Pozole Verde

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth 

1 pound tomatillos, husked and halved 

1/2 small onion, quartered 

2 poblano chiles, seeded

1-2 jalapeños

3 large garlic cloves 

1/2 cup chopped cilantro 

1 tablespoon mexican dried oregano 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil 

2 15-ounce cans of hominy, drained

Optional: 1 16oz pack of Gardein chick’n strips

Salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Garnish: thinly sliced red cabbage, radishes, cilantro, limes, avocado, chili oil 

Remove the husk of 1lb of tomatillos and half them. 

Quarter 1/2 small onion.

Remove the seeds and stems from 2 poblano peppers and rough chop them. Depending on spice tolerance chop 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers. 

Chop 1/2 cup of cilantro. 

In a blender, combine tomatillos, onion, garlic, peppers, cilantro and oregano. Add 1 cup of vegetable broth and blend until smooth. 

Heat large pot over medium heat. Add 1tbsp of oil. 

Once hot add the blended liquid to pot and cook for 10 to 12 minutes until deep green color develops. 

Add remaining broth and bring to a simmer. 

If using protein add now and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Add 2 cans of drained hominy and cook for another 5 minutes. 

Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Garnish with choice of toppings and a squeeze of lime.