Another variation of Chile Verde

I enjoy the weekends because I am able to spend some time preparing fabulous dishes. On Saturday I knew I was going to be gone for awhile watching my favorite 3 year old dance in a dance competition so I wanted to do something in the crock pot. We had tomatillos, lots of poblanos, jalapenos, clintro, etc. from the previous Saturday's bountiful baskets and Mexican Packs. I decided Chile Verde would be a great idea. I do it a bit different every time. When I got home from the dance competition all I had to do was thicken it a bit with cornstarch and put some refried beans in a dish, cover with taco sauce and a bit of cheese (that was our splurge, real cheese) and pop it in the oven. A few minutes later we had ourselves a Mexican feast!


Chile Verde Ingredients
6-8 Poblano Peppers
1-1/2 lbs of tomatillos (husks removed and tomatillos rinsed off)
6 cloves of garlic (still in skin)
Jalapenos (I used 3 with the seeds and it was very spicy so if you want less heat use 1 and possibly remove the seeds after roasting)
3/4 of a white onion chopped
2 boxes of broth (Chicken, vegetable- whatever you prefer)
Ground Cumin
Garlic Salt
Cilantro


Toppings:
Diced green onion
Diced avacado
Blue corn tortilla chips or whole wheat tortillas to dip in the chile verde


Instead of chicken or pork I added 1 can of black beans (rinsed and drained) and two cans of white beans (rinsed and drained). We didn't miss the meat at all but if you want to add it then it is yummy with it as well. :)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a baking sheet spray a little Pam and then put the poblano peppers on the sheet. On another baking sheet spray a little pam and put the garlic cloves, jalapeno peppers and tomatillos on the sheet. Put both baking sheets in the oven. After about 15 minutes flip everything. Keep an eye on the garlic cloves so they don't burn. Cook another 5-10 minutes then remove both of the sheets. Take the poblano peppers and put them in a paper bag to sweat for about 10minutes.  In the crock pot add the boxes of broth. In a food processor process the garlic, jalapenos and tomatillos.Add the mixture to the crock pot. Peel the outer papery skin off the poblano peppers, remove the stems and then process them as well. Add the pureed poblanos to the crockpot, season with cumin and garlic salt. Add in the diced onion and cook on high for about 3 hours. Then add the beans and change to low until you are ready to eat. About 20 minutes before you are ready to eat add a little cornstarch water to thicken the chile verde. While it is thickening you can make the beans.  

Refried Beans Ingredients
2 cans of fat free refried beans
Taco sauce
Garlic salt
Cumin
shredded cheese or vegan cheese (We used reduced fat shredded mixed blend)

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a baking dish spray with pam and then dump in the beans. Sprinkle with seasonings and stir and then spread around dish evenly. Top with taco sauce and spread to cover. Then sprinkle cheese. Bake about 20 minutes till bubbly. The last minute or two you can switch it to broil so that the cheese gets a little brown and crispier. Once it is done serve next to a bowl of the chile verde topped with the green onions, avocado, etc. Yummy!