My taste buds have been in a Latin mood lately, and this week my cravings culminated into a vegan posole verde. Posole is a traditional Mexican stew, generally of pork and hominy (a dried corn product). I adapted this vegan version from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian cookbook. This dish just happens to be vegan—that doesn’t mean it lacks any substance or flavor—so don’t be turned off by the moniker.
This dish is a labor of love. It stretched across my Sunday, starting with a morning trip to Redland Market Village and Bargain Town in Homestead (at SW 244th St. and Dixie Hwy.). This Mexican-centric marketplace has a huge produce section with inexpensive cheap fruits, vegetables, spices, dried chiles, etc. Publix would have had everything on my list, but my bill would have been doubly expensive and the trip not nearly as exciting. Bargain Town is one of the many spots in Miami where you feel like you’ve wondered into a foreign country (especially as a redhead), and it was a refreshing break from the suburban sprawl I inhabit.
Back at home, I cooked the beans. Watched some HGTV. Roasted the poblanos. Vacuumed. Chopped the remaining veggies. Went to Mass. Came home and got serious about making dinner.
Twelve hours after I first woke and started my culinary adventure, my posole was ready, torillas fried, and fresh Key lime margarita waiting for me on the rocks. It’s never a day wasted that’s devoted to posole.
Vegan Posole Verde
1 cup dried, or 3 cups cooked, hominy
1 cup dried, or 3 cups cooked, navy beans or other white bean variety
4 large poblano peppers
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 medium tomatillos, husked, washed, and diced
3 medium spring onions or 6 scallions, with tender green shoots
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
12 medium cremini mushrooms, quartered
3 cups vegetable stock, preferably homemade
1 tablepoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
5 teaspoons salt, divided
Accompaniments
2 avocados, diced
1 medium cucumber, diced
5 small radishes, peeled and diced
Lime wedges
Fried corn tortilla wedges
Instructions
For hominy and beans*: Soak each overnight in separate bowls, and rinse each in a colander. In one pot, add hominy and 5 cups water; bring to a boil and add a teaspoon salt. Cover and simmer for an hour and a half. Hominy will be tender and the liquid with be starchy and gummy. Drain hominy, reserving liquid (if any). Set hominy aside. Meanwhile, add beans and 3 cups water to another pot; bring to a boil and add a teaspoon salt. Cover and simmer for 40 minutes. Drain beans, reserving liquid. Set beans aside.
For poblanos: Preheat oven to a 500º broil with the top oven rack 5 inches from the heat source. Wash and place poblanos on a baking sheet in a single layer. Slide baking sheet into oven, and turn poblanos every few minutes, until their skin has bubbled and begins to brown on all sides. Place poblanos in a bowl, and cover with a clean kitchen towel, until cool. Pull skin off peppers (with gloves if your skin is sensitive like mine). Split poblanos; remove seeds, and chop into 1/4-inch pieces.
For posole: Heat oil in a large pot over medium high, and add garlic. When garlic begins to turn golden, add tomatillos, spring onions, and jalapeno. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in cumin and mushrooms, and cook 2 minutes more. Add poblanos, and cook 1 minute. Add hominy, beans, herbs, vegetable stock and 2 cups reserved bean/hominy cooking liquid. Bring to a boil and taste for salt (if you’re using canned stock, you may need less than called for). Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
Serve with garnishes. Lime wedges and avocado are a must!
Serves 6 hearty portions
*Following the common sense of Mark Bittman’s New York Times article from last week, I went ahead and prepared a full pound of hominy and navy beans to freeze and reserve for another use.