Vegetarian Green Pozole

 This weekend, we were finally able to have a few friends over for dinner at our new house, but my husband came down with a cold.  I was a little torn because I wanted to make something soothing for him, but filling enough for our friends.  My favorite soup ever is Pozole and I have been dying to make the green kind so I thought may as well try it.  I made guacamole to have with chips as an appetizer and we shared a growler of Black Rye IPA (thanks Haven!), then made a simple chopped Kale and Radicchio salad with pepitas, dried cranberries and blue cheese tossed in a blush wine vinaigrette as a starter while moving on to drinking a Rangeland Syrah.

For the green sauce: Roast peeled Tomatillos, a Jalapeño, Serrano Chiles and
Garlic cloves.  While roasting, blend 1/2 cup of pepitas in a food processor.
Add the roasted veggies (remove all seeds from peppers) and blend until almost
smooth while adding a little olive oil.

On to the main event, my friend sent me her family recipe for a Green Chicken Pozole, which I used for the green sauce, but for the broth I ended up using the Trader Joe's Vegetable Broth. I don't think I completely nailed the green pozole as I wanted to roast the veggies for the tomatillo sauce before blending them, but instead simmered them in water.  Also, next time I am going to make it with chicken for more flavor than the vegetarian broth.  However, it was still very good and we had a great time!!

Once the green sauce is made, put it in a small pot and let it simmer on very low while you take the large pot and toss in diced onions, red bell peppers and garlic with a little olive oil.  Cook on medium heat for 4 minutes, then add rinsed Hominy (maize) and add cumin and cayenne pepper.  After 5 more minutes of stirring, add in vegetable broth.  Bring to a boil, then add green sauce and simmer for 20-30 minutes to let the flavors combine and settle.  Right before serving, add oregano, salt and pepper and lime juice.  

The best thing about pozole is adding all the condiments after! We used
chopped onions, radishes, cabbage, avocado, lime and tostadas!

Caprese Pasta

I love cooking at home, but sometimes it is difficult when you have a busy schedule and a lot of recipes can be quite complicated to fit in your time schedule.  This recipe is super simple yet delicious! This caprese pasta was incredibly flavorful yet light and was so easy to make even my husband could have done it (hehe-sorry Jon).  I used this recipe but I served it warm and added marinated artichoke hearts in order to give it a little extra flavor. YUM!

Penne with Spinach Sauce

Last week I had one free night of not working and had time to run to the store (our fridge was basically empty) and make this delicious recipe here.  The sauce had just enough flavor without being overbearing and it was pretty healthy as well.  I used whole 100% whole wheat penne with flax instead of enriched pasta and added fresh diced tomatoes to give that extra flavor and freshness.

After cutting up fresh spinach, add the hot pasta directly over it to slightly wilt it.
Use a little leftover pasta water to add to the sauce to thin it out
just a bit (Not too much)

Stir it all together, serve and top with fresh diced tomatoes
and fresh grated pecorino.