recipe: chile verde

M is going through a growth spurt right now. It seems like she’s always hungry and ready to nurse. That means I’m always hungry, too—like, amazingly hungry. You know when pregnant women say all they want to do is eat? Well, I never really experienced that because I was so nauseated all the time. I wonder if it is anything like this. Nothing fills me up. I keep making my meals larger and keep adding on snacks and I’m still Always. Hungry.

So, since I’m already hungry, I might as well talk about food and make you hungry, too. Dairy-free experimentation in the kitchen continues, and I’m still in search of dairy-free recipes to fill the Mexican food void in my life right now. Last night I made Chile Verde. I wanted to use pork, because that’s what you usually get in a restaurant, but it was hard to find a recipe that didn’t have chicken. Also, there’s a gazillion different recipes using all kinds of different peppers. I chose this one, but modified it a bit.

Chile Verde

Toss in a roasting pan with a T of olive oil: 5 tomatillos quartered, 1 onion quartered, 3 serranos halved lengthwise and de-seeded, 4 smashed cloves of garlic. Roast at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until tomatillos are soft and the edges of the onions start to turn brown. Meanwhile, cube 1 lb of pork tenderloin and brown in a skillet. Once the veggies are done, transfer to a blender and puree with 1/3 bunch of cilantro. Pour over pork and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Serve with warm tortillas.

The surprising thing about this recipe is that it tasted sweet, but kind of left you feeling a little salty afterward, which is odd because I didn’t add anything else—no spices, no salt, no pepper. Maybe it was the roasted garlic that gave it the sweetness? Are tomatillos sweet?

I’m looking forward to the leftovers tonight and would like to experiment with other variations of this recipe. Anyone have a good one to share?