Jonathan's vegetarian bowl of green chil

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
6 Green chiles; about
Salt
Oregano
Marjoram (up to)
10 1-inch cubes extra-firm tofu
Red chile flakes; such as chile Arbol
1 Chopped large onion
Olive oil (up to)
3 Cloves garlic; chopped
1 can (small) black beans plus its juice
½ can (large) whole peeled tomatoes; to taste

Directions

Jonathan's Vegetarian Bowl of Southwest Green (Chile): This is an authentic tasting (i.e. addictive) recipe for New Mexico style green chile.

Start with roasted green chiles. I get mine from Las Cruces, New Mexico, but members of this list can use anything they damn well please. The chile is the heart of this dish, and the better the quality of your chile the better the result. Roast the chile by placing them whole under a broiler until they blacken, then turn over till they blacken on the other side.

Remove stems, veins and seeds. (The skin should come off easily if they're fully blackened. There is no need to steam the peppers in a paper bag as is sometimes suggested.) Try to keep as much of the juice as possible. I buy my chile once a year and freeze them in small baggies. You can also freeze them in their blackened skins.

Slice off enough of a frozen chile chunk to flavor the dish. You'll learn how much from experience; i use about six chile's worth. Put it in a bowl and add in some salt, lots of oregano, a bit of marjoram. Add five to ten 1-inch cubes of extra-firm tofu. (Press tofu before-hand if you have to; it should be "meaty" to the teeth.) You can, optionally, add a small amount of red chile flakes, such as Chile Arbol.

In a medium pan, saute 1 chopped large onion in olive oil until it turns translucent. Then add 2-3 chopped garlic cloves for a minute, stirring so it doesn't burn.

Add the chile/tofu/spice and saute some more for a couple minutes.

Add in a small can of black beans plus its juice, and some of a large can of whole peeled tomatoes, to taste, about half the can. There should be enough juice from the beans and tomatoes and chiles to create a stew. If necessary, you can cook this down.

Heat on warm for an hour, then reheat when ready to serve. It tastes even better if you let it sit overnight.

Jonathan Kandell, Tucson Arizona, <jkandell@...> CHILE-HEADS ARCHIVES

From the Chile-Heads recipe list. Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe Archive, .

Related recipes