Quinoa Chili Verde

Quinoa chili, with tomatillos and poblanos as the “verde” in this easy chili recipe!  

Ground pork and a unique blend of spices add depth and flavor!

My husband is on his first mission trip. While I am happy for him and incredibly proud of him, this is the longest (and farthest) we’ve been apart.  Because of distance and lack of Wi-Fi (gasp!) we haven’t been able to communicate as I had hoped. It all feels so surreal.

I have never felt such disconnect from “my other half”.  Granted, our kids keep us so busy we don’t really have time to have in-depth discussions each night.  And when we do have a moment, he has his iPad and I have my laptop.  While we may spend the evening occupied with the world around us, at least we are sitting side by side.  I’m so accustom to his presence and his voice.

When my husband isn’t around, I take a break from kitchen duties.  The kids and I eat cereal and pancakes for dinner and we are perfectly content with this.  But with my husband being gone a little over a week, I figured I should probably feed the kids something besides maple syrup covered carbs.

I made a batch of this Quinoa Chili Verde this week.  I figured it would be the perfect meal for this cold snap we are experiencing.

This recipe starts off with oven roasted poblano peppers, garlic and tomatillos  But once this step is compete the chili comes together rather quickly.  There is so much flavor in this chili between the smoky vegetables, the spices and the pork.  The quinoa keeps you full and so satisfied.   The kids and I were able to polish this off in no time!

I do miss my husband terribly, but now I just miss him with a happy, satiated belly!

Quinoa Chili Verde

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Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 40 min Total Time 0:55

Serves 8     adjust servings

Quinoa chili verde is hearty and satisfying with lots of smoky flavor!

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 large poblano pepper
• 3/4 pound medium tomatillos
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 t oregano
• salt to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 14 oz can corn, drained
• 2 cups cooked quinoa

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to broil. On a foil lined baking sheet, place poblano peppers, tomatillos, halved and skin side up, and 3 cloves of garlic (skins on). Broil for about 7-8 minutes, turning the pablano as you go. Pepper should be blistered and tomatoes and garlic should be blackened. Remove skins form garlic and pepper. Remove stem and seeds from pepper as well. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Add a pinch of salt and process until smooth.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or dutch oven, brown ground pork until no longer pink. Remove pork with a slotted spoon, set aside. Add onions and garlic to pan, sautéing for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to soften. Add pork back to pan along with oregano. Pour in the pepper, tomatillo mixture as well as the chicken broth and corn.. Bring to a boil.. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in quinoa.

by Tanya Schroeder