Corinne's Kitchen: Stretching Fresh Herbs

I HATE throwing food in the garbage! It's a personal pet-peeve of mine! After a major grocery shopping trip, I pride myself on managing the perishables, as not to waste any. I make sure to first prepare meals using up fresh produce that has a short fridge life, before making meals that I can "put on the back-burner" until later... meals that require mostly canned goods, frozen ingredients, and other non-perishables.

Fresh herbs are my nemesis. It often seems that when I purchase fresh herbs, a recipe only calls for a small portion, allowing the remaining herbs to go bad in the crisper drawer. Large bunches of fresh cilantro and parsley are particularly challenging.

Recently, I purchased both a bunch of fresh cilantro, and a bunch of fresh parsley at once. My goal was to use up every last tidbit! I carefully chose three recipes in which to successfully utilize all of my herbs. I was generous with the herbs to make sure to use them all.

Green Chile Posole With Black Beans

serves 8

  posole; pozole
[poh-SOH-leh]
A thick, hearty soup usually eaten as a main course. It consists of pork (sometimes chicken) meat and broth, hominy, onion, garlic, dried chiles, and cilantro. It's usually served with chopped lettuce, radishes, onions, cheese and cilantro, which diners can add to the soup as they please. Posole originated in Jalisco, in the middle of Mexico's Pacific Coast region, and is traditionally served at Christmastime. (This particular recipe is from Everyday Food Magazine, and it swaps the meat for black beans, also a good source of protein .)

Ingredients:

• 1 poblano pepper
• 1/2 lb fresh tomatillos, husks removed
• 2 serrano chiles, stemmed, quartered, seeded
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 6 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 2 (15oz) cans hominy, drained, rinsed
• 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained, rinsed
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• sea salt to taste
• grated Monterey Jack cheese for serving

Directions:

1. Broil poblano until charred, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper sack or zip-top plastic bag, close it tightly, and let steam 20 minutes. Rub poblano with paper towels to remove skin. Stem, seed, and place in a blender.
2. In a large pot of boiling water, cook tomatillos until soft, about 5 minutes; drain. Add tomatillos to blender, along with serranos, onion, garlic, cilantro, parsley, spinach, cumin, oregano, allspice, and 2 cups broth. Blend until smooth.
3. Pour tomatillo mixture into a large pot; stir in 4 cups broth, hominy, and black beans. Bring to a boil over high; reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until slightly thickened, 45 minutes. To serve, stir in lime juice, season with salt, and sprinkle with cheese and cilantro.

Pasta And White Beans With Broccoli Pesto

serves 6

Another Everyday Food recipe. A magazine which I have been addicted to for years! I can never make all the recipes from the magazine I would like to, but I can't give up my subscription. I look forward to receiving it in my mailbox, curling up on the couch, paging through it, and folding down corners to mark the recipes I hope to one day try.

Ingredients: 

• 1 bunch of fresh broccoli, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
• 10 ounces of short pasta
• 5 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 oz Parmesan, finely grated (1/4 cup), plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon finely gratelemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 cup packed fresh parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 (15.5oz) can cannellini beans, drained, rinsed
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook broccoli until tender and bright green, about 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer broccoli to a food processor. Return water to a boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. Reserve 2 cups pasta water; drain pasta and return to pot.
2. To food processor, add oil, Parmesan, lemon zest and juice, parsley, and garlic. Puree until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping down side as needed. Transfer pesto to pot with pasta. Stir to coat, adding enough reserved pasta water to make a creamy sauce. Stir in beans and heat over medium until warmed through. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, sprinkle with Parmesan. 

Personal Note:

• I steamed my broccoli, it retains more nutrients than boiling. 

Chorizo Migas

serves 8

Migas, ("crumbs" in English), is a Spanish or Portuguese cuisine, in this case scrambled eggs with strips of tortillas.

Ingredients:

• 8oz chorizo, casings removed, chopped/crumbled
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 poblano peppers, chopped
• 1 T canola oil (optional)
• 6 (5-6 inch) corn tortillas, torn into bite size pieces
• 16 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• fresh salsa and natural sour cream for serving

Directions:

1. Cook chorizo, onion, and peppers in large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until chorizo is cooked and veggies are tender (6-9 minutes). Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
2. Discard all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan; if there is no fat in the pan, add 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add the tortillas and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until beginning to brown and lightly crisp, (4 to 6 minutes).
3.  Meanwhile, whisk eggs, oregano, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Once the tortillas are browned, add the egg mixture and the reserved chorizo mixture to the pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggs are set, (4 to 6 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro. Serve with salsa, sour cream and more cilantro, if desired.