Salsa Verde

This is a great sauce to make at the end of the summer as fall comes around. I like to make a large patch and then save individual meal packets in the freezer:

Ingredients:

2 lbs Tomatillos. Peel the outter skin off and rinse under cold water to removed the sticky film. Cut all in half.
2 Large Green Tomatoes (conventional red can be used, but the color of the final sauce becomes brown if red and green are mixed) Cut in half
1 Large Green Bellpepper Chopped into about 1 inch squares.
3 Cloves of Garlic.
1 Sweet Onion Chopped
2 Jalapeños (if you're a fire-breather you can mix in 4-5 serrano peppers. Poblano will work if you'd don't like the spicy!) Remove the seeds and chop the same size as the onion
2 Quarts Vegetable Stock (See Veg Stock Recipes if you don't want to buy packaged stock)
1/2 Bunch of Cilantro
1 Strip of Bacon (wait...WHAT? bacon and health? I'll explain: The sauce should be started with the onions, garlic and bellpepper being sweat in oil. And if you have to use fat, why not make it tasty fat? It works out to be the equivelant of one tablespoon of Canola or Veg Oil. This recipe is for 4-6 meals, or 8-12 servings. Not so bad in the grand scheme of things!)

(0 points)

The size and shape of the veggies isn't too important since the sauce will be pureed when it's done.

Chop the bacon and place in a large pot over med heat. You want to render all of the fat out of the bacon, without burning or toasting the bacon. Once all the fat is rendered out, scoop out the remaining meat and discard.

Add the Onion, Garlic, jalapeño and Bell Pepper. Sweat the veggies over med-high heat until the onions are translucent. You don't want any carmelization or browning, as it will give the sauce an off-color and result in a less 'fresh' flavor.

Add the tomatoes, tomatillos and cilantro. Once the tomatoes and cilantro start to wilt, cover everthing with veg stock. Once it comes to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook until tomatillos are completely soft, about 30-45 minutes.

Remove from heat and puree in blender with immersion blender. Consistency should equivelant of soup.

FOR SALSA VERDE WITH PORK for 2;

Cut two pork loin chops (12-14 ozs total) into one inch squares.
Brown pork in large skillet on sauce pot.
Add 2 Cups of Salsa Verde sauce with 1 cup of water or veg stock.
Simmer over low heat for about one hour, until pork is tender and falling apart.
Serve over steamed white rice. Garnish with a little chopped red onion and cilantro!

with 1 cup rice (4 pts), 1/3 can black beans (1 point), 6 oz lean pork (6 points), 12 tortilla chips (3 points)=14pts total. A little high, but it's a treat! To cut points you could have less meat, more beans and skip the tortilla chips



Also good with Black Beans:

In a sauce pot, warm up a little prepared sofrito or roasted salsa. Add one can of black beans, one bay leaf and 1/2 cup of water. Heat over med heat until hot. Season with a little salt and black pepper.

All together this meal is relatively low in fat, as long as you're using a nice lean pork. It will also work with chicken or even fish, although the cooking times will vary. A half cup of black bean, one cup of white rice with 6 ounces of cooked pork is 13.5 points with WW. You can even add a hand full of tortilla chips for another couple points. Today we used some left over corn tortillas from another deal and fried them in canola oil. The are super-flavorful and you can cut them into any size and shape you want. Use make sure to sprinkle a little salt after you pull them out of the oil.