Slow Cooked Verde Pasole

This hearty soup can be made in either a crockpot or what everyone seems to be using instead, an instant pot on the slow cooker setting.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 sweet onion quartered
• 6 cloves garlic skins on
• 7-8 tomatillos
• 3 poblano peppers
• 3 hatch or Anaheim chiles (You can be creative here. You may have to just choose what your grocer has available)
• 2 jalapeno chiles
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• 2 cups ears corn kernels removed from the cob (about 1 to 1 1/2 )
• 1 zucchini diced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans hominy drained
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon coriander​
• 6-8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh cilantro chopped
• 1 avocado sliced
• tortilla chips/strips + crumbled cotija cheese or a cheddar & monteray mix cheese + toasted pepita seeds + sliced radishes + sour cream + limes for topping

INSTRUCTIONS
​
​Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, garlic and tomatillos and cook, turning often until charred on all sides, about 10 minutes. You may need to remove the garlic cloves before the onion and tomatillo. Once cooked, remove everything from the skillet. When cool, remove the skins from the garlic. Return the skillet to medium high heat and add the poblano peppers and jalapenos and chiles. Cook, turning often until charred all over, about 10 minutes. Remove the peppers and chiles and place in a bowl, cover with a plate and allow the peppers to steam for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, peel or scrape off the charred skins and remove seeds. Add the peppers to a blender, along with the onion, garlic and tomatillos, puree until smooth.  

To the bowl of your crockpot or instant pot, add the puree, chicken, corn, zucchini, hominy, oregano, cumin, corinder and 6 cups chicken broth. Season generously with salt. Cover and cook on low for 5-7 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Once the chicken is falling apart, shred with two forks.  If desired, add more chicken broth to thin the soup. Taste and season the soup as desired with salt.


Ladle the into bowls and top with avocado, tortillas, cheese, pumpkin seeds, sour cream and lime juice. 

​* I like to toast the pepitas in just a tiny bit of butter and season with flakey salt.

 Adapted from Half Baked Harvest