Chili Verde

So today for my MoFo post I would like to share with you a Mexican recipe. Anyone that likes salsa verde will love this chili. The taste is very similar because both rely heavily on tomatillos for its main ingredient and flavor. This stew is really light but makes for a really comforting dinner on those cold fall nights.

If you would like to make this dish a little heavier, you can add 2 russet potatoes, boiled and chopped. And they can be added the same time as the beans. If the flavor of the stew is too bitter, trying adding one tablespoon of sugar, one at a time until the desired taste is reached.

Serves 4 to 6

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Ingredients

* 1 Tb canola oil

* 1 ( 15 ounce ) Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

* 2 poblano peppers, seeded and diced into 1 inch pieces ( roasted if preferred )

* 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced finely ( roasted if preferred, directions below )

* 1 yellow onion, diced finely

* 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped finely

* 3 cloves of garlic, minced

* 2 tsp ground cumin

* 1 tsp ground coriander

* 1 tsp dried oregano

* 1 lb tomatillos, husked and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces

* 2 1/3 cups vegetable broth

* 3/4 tsp salt

* 1 cup cilantro, chopped

* 1/2 cup chopped scallions

* juice of half a lime

Directions

1. Preheat a medium sized skillet, over medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion, and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.

2. Add the bell pepper and cook another 5 minutes. ( If you did not roast the peppers, add them now as well )

3. Add roasted jalapeno and poblano peppers and heat through.

4. Add the cumin, coriander, oregano and salt. Saute one minute more, stirring until everything is mixed well.

5. Add 1/3 cup of vegetable broth and the tomatillos and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. Add the rest of the vegetable broth ( 2 cups), scallions. Simmer covered for 45 minutes.

7. Add 1/2 cup of cilantro, stir and simmer for another 15 minutes.

8. Use an immersion blender to partially puree everything or pulse using a blender. ( If using an immersion blender in a shallow pot, as I did, please be careful and do little pulses. It did tend to splash a little when I blended for too long ).

9. Add beans and simmer until everything is heated through.

10. Turn off heat and stir in the remaining cilantro and lime juice.

How To Roast Peppers

1. On a gas stove, over high heat, place one pepper per burner. Making sure they are as close to the flame as possible.

2. Leave them over the flame, constantly monitoring. The cracking noise you will hear is a good sign, it means the peppers are roasting.

3. Rotate the peppers using tongs, once that one side has blackened.

4. Remove from the stove once they have blackened competely and place in a plastic or paper bag. The steam from the peppers will allow the skin to be removed easier.

5. Once they have cooled down, rub off the skin with your fingers. If the peppers are still too hot to handle, I like to remove the skin in a bowl of cold water.

You have now roasted peppers! : ]