Posole Verde Soup
I love Vegan Mexican food! For decades I have been making recipes by Terry Hope Romero of Viva Vegan! including her amazing garlic annatto rice, potato and kale enchiladas (from Veganomicon) and her handmade tortillas. Lately I have been loving Dora’s Table and her recipes for mole enchiladas, postrés, and soups. There are a couple of places here in the Bay Area that serve fantastic posolé verdé soup. I used to only seek out the red posolé, or rojo. But I have grown to crave the verdé!
This recipe is inspired by Dora, as I followed her lead on the sauce ingredients. It was absolutely delicious!
Posole Verde Soup
recipe from Lisa Rice's Kitchen Plantastic
Ingredients
Ingredients:
1 package Rancho Gordo hominy, cooked (or 1 28 oz can of Juanita’s)
12 oz trumpet mushrooms, shredded with a fork to resemble shredded chicken
1 medium onion, diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium zucchini, fat dice
1 potato, diced
1 can garbanzo beans
2 quarts chicken-less vegetable broth (I liked Edward & Son’s cubed, but Imagine makes an oil-free low sodium shelf-stable carton)
Sauce:
2 poblano peppers
3 serrano peppers
1 pint fresh green tomatillos
1/2 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
3 cups washed and de-stemmed kale
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried epazote
1/2 tsp dried Mexican oregano
Garnishes:
Baked tortilla chips
Diced avocado
Shredded cabbage
Julienned radishes
Shredded romaine lettuce
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Fresh lime
Instructions
Make your baked tortillas (see recipe), set aside.
Dry toast your pumpkin seeds in a non-stick pan over medium high heat until they pop, stirring frequently, until fragrant and slightly golden. Separate a tablespoon or two for garnishing later, and add the rest to the blender with the sauce ingredients.
Roast the peppers and tomatillos: Line a baking sheet with foil, spread the peppers and tomatillos out evenly and broil until char marks appear, flip and broil for more char marks. Do this one or two more times so that the peppers are mostly charred on all sides. Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers (*if you love and can stand the heat, leave the seeds!) and place them plus the tomatillos and remaining sauce ingredients in a blender with the toasted seeds and blend until smooth.
Pour the mixture in to the same pan you toasted the seeds in, and cook on medium, stirring frequently, until the mixture darkens a bit, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a soup pot on medium to medium high heat. Spritz with a little olive oil (or dry sauté using water or broth as needed to prevent sticking) and cook your shredded mushrooms, stirring frequently, until slightly golden, and remove to a bowl. Add your onion to the same pot and sauté until translucent, add the garlic, cook another minute. Add your zucchini and potato, and stir to combine, cooking another minute or two. Add your broth, bring to a boil, then turn to a simmer. Add the sauce, mushrooms, cooked hominy, and chickpeas, and simmer several minutes until the potatoes are fork tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed.
Ladle in to bowls, garnish with a spoonful or two of cabbage, radish, and lettuce, avocado, toasted pumpkin seeds, a generous squeeze of fresh lime and a crumbled baked tortilla.
