Call it strategic eating. When one reaches a certain stage of life, and one’s metabolism is no longer that of a teenager, but one still enjoys the occasional indulgent meal, some strategizing comes into play.
One eats lightly for lunch, say, and not-so-lightly later. Or vice versa.
But, of course, the light meal must be delicious, or what’s the point?
That’s where the accompanying recipe for Chile Verde — pretty traditional except for lacking pork — comes in. I have it on good authority that it would qualify as a ZeroPoint meal under the Weight Watchers system. Meaning that having eaten this for one meal, you’d still have all your daily allotment of calories, fat grams and other good stuff available for another meal.
On the other hand, if you want to make this your splurge meal of the day, just toss in some cooked chicken or pork and serve it with corn chips, grated cheese and sour cream.
Chile Verde
Four poblano chiles, roasted (see directions and notes below) and chopped
Olive oil
1 cup onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
1 large russet potato, peeled and chopped
5 or six tomatillos, peeled and chopped
1/2 can Mexi corn, drained
1 teaspoon each: cumin and chile powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
To roast poblanos, set oven to broil. Place chiles under broiler, using tongs to turn as needed, until blistered all over. Remove from oven and place in paper sack for 10 minutes, then remove outer skin under running faucet. Discard stem and seeds. Chop chiles.
Heat oil in pot and saute onion until soft, adding garlic near end of sauteing time. Add broth, chopped chiles, potato, tomatillos, corn, cumin and chile power. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper, adding more cumin and/or chile powder if desired.
Notes: 1 cup prepared roasted green chiles (such as the 505 brand) can be substituted for the poblanos.
