Growing up in the Southwest, I feel that I had a great introduction to authentic Mexican and Navajo cuisine. Much like I grew to love the desert heat and the smell of an oncoming rainstorm, I grew to love spicy foods with complex flavors from Navajo tacos to street tacos, to sopapillas and chimicangas. My family never missed an opportunity to visit local, small restaurants that had great flavors.
As I grew up and grew into clean eating, I noticed that many of these restaurants began taking shortcuts to make their food cheaper, and, in the process, lost the authenticity and complexity that I grew up loving. So I stopped going when all I could order was a side of black beans on lettuce. I learned to make my own satisfying meals with simple flavorings, but I still missed the complexity until about a year ago, when I tried a new restaurant that launched me into discovering the complexity in my clean eating.
Just a few miles from my house I discovered a local restaurant that blends the spicy Southwest with Native American traditional foods. I fell in love with their artisan dishes, not just for the beautiful aesthetics, but for the way each dish is layered in flavor. The chef is an artist of taste and presentation and takes special care to offer dishes that are made with real ingredients and whole foods, but that can also be made as gluten-free or vegan. Every time I finish a meal there, I wish I could eat there every meal.
But, who has the money for that?
I wish I could say that this dish tastes exactly like the Green Chili stew that I love so much, but it is close enough to keep me from going out to eat every weekend, and it makes a fantastic crock pot meal. And I still get great satisfaction from tasting this!
Creamed tomatillos and roasted Anaheim peppers act as a the base for this savory dish, with healthy chunks of organic potatoes, organic carrots, and pork loin as the heart of the meal. Served with or without a cilantro garnish, this dish is sure to wow your palate!
Paleo Green Chili Stew
Ingredients
- 2 Anaheim Chili Peppers
- 2 Yellow Banana Peppers
- 1 Jalapeno Pepper
- 8-10 Tomatillos
- 1 Bunch of Cilantro
- 6 cups of Vegetable Broth
- 2 cups Water
- 1/4 lb Organic and Humanely Raised Pork Loin (Vegans: omit OR substitute tofu)
- 1 large Organic Potato
- 2 large organic carrots
- Pinch of Mexican Oregano
Takes ,
serves 2 people.
- Begin by placing pork loin into a crockpot, filling with two cups of water, and cooking on high for about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and roast all of the peppers for about 10-15 minutes. They should be softened, but not browned.
- While the peppers are roasting, place a medium sized cooking pot on the stovetop, and begin to make the base for the green chili. Pour vegetable stock in the pot, and turn the heat on to medium. Pull the tomatillos out of their leaves, rinse, and dice, placing into the pot. Rinse and shred the cilantro bunch and place that into the pot as well.
- When the peppers are done roasted, pull them out onto your cutting board and let them cool before slicing open to remove the seeds. You can cut the seeds out before roasting, but I think it’s easier to remove seeds after they have been roasted.
- After removing the seeds, dice the peppers and put them into the pot as well. I never use the whole jalapeno, so adjust according your taste buds (heat of 1 jalapeno=MOLTEN LAVA; heat of 1/2 jalapeno=FIRE; heat of 1/4 jalapeno=SPICY)
- Let boil for approximately 30 minutes then carefully pour into a large blender and pulse on high until totally liquefied. Be careful not to fill the blender more than half full with the hot liquid!
- Place back on stove and let simmer while you slice the potatoes, carrots, and pork (which should be done or close to done at this point). Don’t worry if your meat is a little undercooked as you will be boiling it for another 30 minutes. Add these to the pot, and the Mexican oregano, and turn up the heat to medium high.
- Boil for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are softened.
- Serve with a garnish of cilantro and diced tomatoes!
Note: When I want to save myself some time, I’ll take a couple of hours on the weekend and cook up just the base for the green chili (vegetable broth, tomatillos, peppers, and cilantro) and freeze it. I’ll make up to ten batches at a time in my stock pot and it saves so much time and energy!