Chicken Chili Verde

If you've been following me over the course of this blog, you already know I have a soft spot for anything tex-mex. When I came across this recipe on TPOX's blog, Proceed With Caution, I knew I had to try it. I'd never made anything with tomatillo's before, but this looked pretty simple. I wrote down all the ingredients and headed to my local grocery store to search them out. Lucky for me, I snagged the last 10 tomatillos the store had. Unlucky for me, when I got them home and unhusked them, one was moldy. Ew! Needless to say, I threw that one out and used the remaining nine. It still came out great, though.

Chicken Chili Verde
courtesy TPOX at Proceed with Caution

Ingredients
5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 jalapenos, stem removed (and seeded if necessary to reduce the heat)
10 tomatillos, husks removed and rinsed
1/2 of a large white onion, quartered
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, rinsed (Grocery store was all out)
4 tablespoons vegetable olive oil
5-6 small 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes

Directions
1. Place garlic, jalapenos, tomatillos, and onion in a large stock pot with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil (see step 3) over medium heat, and cook, uncovered, for about 25 minutes.

2. Add contents of the pot to a blender along with 1/2 cup water and cilantro. Puree until smooth, being careful to allow steam to escape while blending or you will end up with a newly decorated kitchen in a wonderful shade of green!

3. When tomatillo mixture reaches a boil, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown chicken until no longer pink, then drain skillet. Add pureed tomatillo mixture to skillet, then add salt, to taste. With the lid cracked, simmer over medium low heat for 30 minutes. Serve with mexican rice and tortillas, garnished with lime for juicing.



Servings:6

Chef's Notes
Even though my recipe was minus one tomatillo, it was still delicious. For the jalapenos, I seeded one and left the seeds in the other. I didn't think it was that spicy, though, so next time I think I will leave all of the seeds in. I served it with black beans and mexican yellow rice. We also used whole wheat tortillas for dipping in the sauce.