Mexican Cabbage Pozole
When Jory and I first moved in together 4 score and what feels like 100 years ago, I had a very limited repertoire of food I felt confident preparing for us both. He wound up grilling chicken and vegetables from our garden every night and my contribution was uncorking the wine and drinking most of it myself while he cooked.
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I did, however, have one go-to dinner in my back pocket and that was a damn good Turkey Chili. Now, the only problem with chili (aside from the most obvious problem with chili 💨) is that once you add two varieties of beans, peppers, onions and a pound or so of ground meat it becomes pretty hard to scale it down from a serving size that feeds an entire NFL defensive line. And when you’re only cooking for two, a Sunday batch can last you WEEKS. I can still remember giggling together, both confident that the smell of chili was emanating from our pores for days after eating it too many meals in a row - but we were full and happy and in it together so who cared if the eau de cumin stench followed us both around town.
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Fast forward to 2021. Still in love, not so into eating heavy Turkey Chili every day for a week. Enter this lighter and healthier Cabbage Pozole: similar spices and flavors to chili but instead boasting a brothy base that’s chock full of vegetables, and a buffet of fun topping like crunchy tortilla chips and toasted pepitas or creamy avocado, shredded chicken and chopped cilantro. Made quickly in the instant pot this is a “similar but different” option that we can easily eat every day for a week without concern. And trust me: we are.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS:
Mexican Cabbage Pozole
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 carrots, diced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (use less if your broth is not low sodium)
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon minced chile in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon of the sauce
- 8 cups low sodium chicken stock (Pacific Foods has the lowest sodium on the market)
- 15oz jar of mild salsa verde (green tomatillo salsa)
- ½ head savoy cabbage, shredded ¼” thin
- ½ head cauliflower, cut into florets
- 1 cup water
- Juice of ½ lime
- 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (you an buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken)
- Crushed tortilla chips
- Diced avocado
- Chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Turn the instant pot to saute mode and add olive oil to the pot. Saute the carrots, celery, onion, poblano pepper & garlic until just softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in cumin, coriander, tomato paste & chopped chiles in adobo and cook another minute before switching to pressure cook mode. Pour in 8 cups of chicken stock and the shredded cabbage and seal. Pressure cook on low for 15 minutes before manually releasing when it is done. Squeeze the juice of ½ lime in the finished soup broth and mix.
- Meanwhile, place cauliflower florets and water in a saucepan on the stove with a lid and cook on medium until cauliflower is completely softened and water has nearly evaporated, about 12 minutes. Puree in a food processor. If needed, add a little more water to loosen up if the mixture is too thick. Add the puree to the finished soup stock and mix in well.
- To serve, mix in cooked shredded chicken breast and top with a handful of crushed tortilla chips, diced avocado and chopped cilantro.
Equipment:
- Instant pot
- Medium pot with lid
- Food processor