Tag Archives: cilantro

Dec19

Posole, Pasole, Pozole

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IMG_2895There seem to be several ways to spell this traditional Mexican stew, and even more ways to cook it.  My Mom makes it often but without any specific recipe, and I don’t cook it regularly enough to ever remember what I put in it the last time — so this post is for the specific purpose of being able to recreate my posole next Christmas without searching the internet.  Posole is traditionally made with a base of onion, peppers (poblano, chipotle, and bell peppers), garlic, tomatillos, tomatoes, and hominy.  The hominy is what makes it special, in my opinion.  I like to add shrimp at the end, but chicken or beef would work too.  Make a huge batch, bake some cornbread, and you are ready to feed a crowd.

Shrimp Posole (serves 6)

1 tbsp oil

1 large onion, diced

1-2 poblano peppers, diced

2 large bell peppers, diced

2 tomatillos, diced

6 cloves (or more) garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chipotle chile powder (or to taste – optional)

1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce (remove the seeds if you don’t want it too spicy)

1 28 oz can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes

2-3 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 large can hominy, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 lb raw shrimp, tails off and deveined

2 ripe avocados, diced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the oil over medium in a large dutch oven.  Add the onion, peppers, and tomatillos and cook 5-10 minutes, until softened.  Add the garlic, seasonings, and chipotles in adobo sauce and cook another minute, then add canned tomatoes, broth, and hominy.  Bring to a boil and then cover and reduce to a simmer, allowing to cook for at least 20 minutes, but up to a couple of hours if you have the time.  Add the black beans and cook another 5 minutes.  Right before serving, add the shrimp, cooking just 1-2 minutes until the shrimp turn pink.  Garnish with avocado and cilantro (sour cream is good too).

Apr2

Red Lentil Pancakes

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Red Lentil Pancakes

I like how virtuous and healthy I feel when purchasing something like lentils.  Until now, every package of lentils I have bought has sat in my pantry until I threw it away — not healthy and certainly not virtuous!  I came across this really simple recipe for red lentil pancakes from Wendy Van Wagner and finally decided to give dried lentils a try.  You soak the lentils overnight and then buzz them in the food processor with a few other ingredients before pan-frying.  They were really tasty with the turmeric and cilantro, but a bit dry, so take her advice to use them for dunking — I served mine with plain greek yogurt and a big salad…perfect.

Red Lentil Pancakes (Adapted from Wendy Van Wagner):

1 cup red lentils

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground pepper

2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro, or to taste (I used twice this amount)

2 tbsp coconut oil for frying

Rinse the lentils well and place in a large bowl.  Cover with 2 cups warm water and soak for least 8 hours, or overnight.

Drain the water and place lentils in food processor.  Blend until smooth, adding 1 tbsp of water at a time to make a smooth batter (I used 3 tbsp in total).  Blend the salt, turmeric, pepper, and cilantro into the batter.

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat, and add 1 tbsp oil.  Drop spoonfuls of batter to make 4 pancakes, about 3-4 inches wide and 1 inch thick.  Cook about 2 minutes, until set.  Drizzle a little oil over the top and sides before flipping (I struggled with this and just sprayed a bit of olive oil spray before flipping) and cook another minute or 2 or the other side.  Repeat with 2nd batch of pancakes, adding more oil as needed.

Serve warm with a big helping of greek yogurt, sour cream, guacamole, applesauce, chutney, or creme fraiche.  Makes about 8 pancakes.

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