HEALTHY VEGAN MEXICAN 🇲🇽GREEN POZOLE SOUP "POZOLE VERDE"

“Pozole Verde”, is a typical dish of 🇲🇽Mexican cuisine, traditional delicious comfort food that is served as one of the most popular stews, mainly with the arrival of September and the 🎉celebration of the Mexican national holidays, for other special occasions or every week for many people 🙌.

🍲 Pozole is between a soup and a stew, if you prefer it a little soupier, add more broth.

"Pozole" means Hominy.

Hominy is a whole nixtamalized 🌽 corn kernel soaked in an alkali solution.

This process breaks down the corn, causing it to become more digestible and nutritious for humans.

It provides nutrients such as:

• Vitamin A,
• Iron,
• Magnesium
• Potassium, helps oxygenation of different organs of the human body 🫀🫁, in addition to transporting nutrients to cells and preventing diseases such as anemia.

🌱This Vegan Healthy Green Pozole is an extraordinary variant of this famous recipe.

Green Pozole is traditionally made with chicken, I created a vegan version using chickpeas instead of chicken. The chickpeas work really nicely with the hominy 🤲.

The recipe is really simple and made of super fresh ingredients.

🤍It is so simple, hearty, and delicious.🤍

There are three main components:

1. It starts like "Aromatic Veggie Broth", Ingredients:

• 2-3 Zucchini.
• 1/2 Lb Cooked Chickpeas.
• 1 Lb Cooked Hominy
• 1-2 Quarts Water
• 3 Tbsp finely chopped Cilantro
• 1 Tbsp Cumin dried
• 1 Tbsp Oregano ground
• Sea salt

2. Then a fresh blended "Green Salsa" Ingredients:

• 5-6 Tomatillos, sliced into quarters
• 1/2 Bunch cilantro, stems and all, washed
• 1/4 Red onion, sliced into manageable wedges
• 2-3 Jalapeno chilies
• 1-2 Serrano chilies
• 2 Tbsp Pumpkin seeds + 2-3 Cashews
• 5 ounces Water
• Sea salt

3. It's finished Garnished with Accompaniments of your choosing:

• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Cilantro
• Radishes
• Tortillas or Tostadas.
• Squeeze of Lime.

It's very Helpfull ⭐:

+ Having all your ingredients washed, measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start with the recipe.

+ You can group ingredients or place them in the order used to assure all recipe steps are included.

• In a large pot, sauté with a little water (I don’t use oil) the cilantro, oregano, cumin, and cook until fragrant, about 1-minute heat to medium-low.

That makes your kitchen smell amazing 🤩

• Pour the water.
• Add the zucchini, hominy, and chickpeas.

The water isn't really a measured amount, add as much as you need to cover your chickpeas and hominy by 1-2 inches.

• Give a good stir, bring to boil, then reduce heat, and simmer while we prepare the "Green Salsa"

• Check on the soup from time to time to skim off the foam accumulating on your broth.

⭐ Tip: Next, we will add the "Green Sauce" to this broth. If you want, you can reserve veggie stock and use it as a base in future sauces and soups, to provide body to them.

Is time to...

• Add your fresh tomatillos, onion, chilies, cilantro, pumpkin seeds + cashews, water, and a pinch of sea salt to your blender and blend on high until ⭐nice and smooth. 

• If you have a lot of salsa stuck in your blender, add a bit of water, swirl it around and pour it into your soup. 

If necessary, pour the Salsa Verde Mix through a strainer.

• Add the salsa to your soup.

• Bring it to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes. 

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

Pozole is traditionally served with a variety of condiments and garnishes🤩, such as:

• Sliced avocado
• Radish slices
• Squeeze of lime
• Fresh oregano or cilantro leaves
• Shredded lettuce or cabbage
• Sliced chili peppers
• Tortilla chips or warmed corn tortillas

This vegan recipe is an absolute 🤍cozy, 😋delicious and a ✨vibrant meal.

You can serve it as a perfect main dish at dinner or lunch, on a 🇲🇽 Mexican night, or any occasion with the family, and it would be a great addition to your 🎄 Christmas or Thanksgiving menus.

📌Pozole is between a soup and a stew, add more broth if you prefer it a little more soupier.

📌Dried Oregano is a very important ingredient.

📌You can increase or decrease the amount of Serrano and Jalapeño chilies according to your heat tolerance.

📌The addition of pumpkin seeds + cashews adds a touch of creaminess to the broth without using oil or cream.

📌Change up the chickpeas, using your favorite beans: Cannellini, pinto, great northern, black, etc.

📌One addition for future versions of this soup would be to play around with jack fruit or mushrooms.

📌Tomatillos and Hominy might be tricky to find in your average American grocery store. However, if you have access to a Latin market, they should be available. 

📌Tomatillos look like unripe tomatoes. You may see them with their outer skins attached, or they may be sold already peeled, as shown in the photos. While they look unripe, they are actually fully ripe in their green state. They are sourer than tomatoes and have slightly less water.  They blend up beautifully in this soup, and if you have leftovers, you can whip up a lovely "Green Salsa" in about 5 minutes.

📌This vegan pozole recipe is super easy to make on the stovetop, Instant Pot, or slow cooker.