White Bean Posole Verde

We love this vegan posole verde!

We love almost all the food we’ve experienced while living here in New Mexico. One of our favorites is Posole Verde. It is made with chicken, tomatillos, hominy and peppers. However, I’ve been trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our diet so I decided to make a vegan version of our favorite posole. I am trying to incorporate more veggies and less meat, especially for my meat and potatoes hubby. I also make everything gluten and dairy free because of my diet restrictions.

I made the first batch a few days ago and when I had him taste it to see if I needed to add anything, he said “Just a bowl”. It was so good I thought I would share the recipe here.

Ingredients
1 pound dried white beans (such as Navy beans)
Water to cover beans by about 3 inches
1 pound tomatillos, husked and washed
1 large onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped (or keep the seeds if you like it spicy)
2 Poblano peppers, seeded and chopped
6 cups broth (for vegan version I used Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth or use chicken broth)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp white pepper
1.5 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1 large handful fresh cilantro, stems and leaves
1 28-ounce can white hominy, drained and rinsed or 4 c. Cooked hominy
to serve: limes, radishes, jalapeños, cilantro, oregano

Steps
No soak method to cook beans: Clean and rinse beans. I always ‘pick’ my beans by spreading them a few at a time on a clean cutting board and checking for anything that doesn’t look right—small gravel, sticks, discolored beans. I then put them in a colander and rinse thoroughly with warm water.

Place the beans in a large (I have a 7 quart) crock pot and cover with about 3-4 inches of water above the level of the beans. Set on low temperature and cook 6-8 hours or 4 hours on high. Check the water level and add boiling water if needed to keep the beans just below the surface of the liquid. You want most of the liquid to cook down but not enough to dry out the beans on top.

Soak method: clean and rinse beans as above. Place beans in a large bowl with a lid and add enough water to cover the beans plus about 3” above the surface of the beans. Let soak overnight or at least 8 hours. I just leave mine sitting on the counter. When soaking is complete, pour beans and water into the crock pot. The water should be about 2” above the beans. Add more if needed. Cover with the lid and cook as above. Cooking times should be shorter with soaked beans, but plan on at least three hours on high.

After beans are done, in a large soup pot or dutch oven, add tomatillos, onion, jalapeños, poblanos, garlic, cumin, vegetable broth, oregano, white pepper and sea salt. Do not add the beans at this point—you will add them later with the hominy. Place over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover partially until vegetables are tender-about 30 minutes.

Using a large slotted spoon, scoop out the cooked tomatillos, onions, poblanos and jalapenos and place in a large blender or food processor and leave the cooking liquid in the pot. Add a large handful of fresh cilantro and a cup or so of the cooking liquid to the blender and puree until completely smooth. A hand blender works well too.

Add the white beans, pureed veggies and hominy back into the cooking liquid in the pot. Stir and cook over medium-high heat for 15 minutes uncovered. Taste and season with salt as necessary.

Serve with fresh lime juice, radishes, jalapenos, cilantro, and/or shredded cabbage sprinkled on top and stirred in. We also like ours with a little cheese (vegan or dairy) on top and occasionally, a few corn chips. My husband’s favorite is Fritos, but any corn chip will do. We also like to put them in the bottom of the bowl and put the posole on top.

I’d like to try it with different varieties of beans, such as fava. Please let me know in the comments below if you try the recipe or have any questions.