The Greenest Chili

    This chili features shredded beef and pork, and uses tomatillos, poblano peppers, collard greens, broccoli, and cilantro to really amp up the green.

    Ingredients

    • 2 Pounds Beef Chuck (stewing meat)
    • 1 Pound Pork Tenderloin (sliced against the grain in 2 inch chunks)
    • 1 Quart Chicken Stock
    • 10 Tomatillos
    • 6 Poblano Chiles
    • 1 Large Onion (diced)
    • 1 Green Bell Pepper (diced)
    • 7 Serrano Peppers (diced, seeds removed if you are a baby)
    • 5 Cloves Garlic (minced)
    • 1 Head Broccoli (chopped)
    • 1 Bunch Collard Greens (stems removed, chopped)
    • 1 Tablespoon Cumin
    • 2 Tablespoons Cider Vinegar
    • 1 Bunch Cilantro (chopped very small)
    • Sour Cream for garnish

    Instructions

    1. Remove the papery shell from the tomatillos and rinse well. Quarter them. Chop the poblanos into large chunks. Place the tomatillos and poblanos onto a baking sheet with lots of olive oil and salt and roast at 450 for about 15-20 minutes until soft and slightly charred. Place into a large bowl with 1 quart of water and blend until smooth.
    2. Sear the beef on all sides in a hot pan wit some oil. Brown really well. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 1 hour.
    3. Meanwhile, saute the onion and both peppers in some oil in another pan. About 7-10 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add in the cumin and cook 1 minute. Add the tomatillo puree. Add the beef and liquids to the pot. Also add in the collard greens and the pork. Simmer for 1 hour and 45 minutes.
    4. Add in the broccoli along with the vinegar and cook another half hour. Taste the broth for seasoning and add more salt or cumin if needed. By now the meats should be very tender. Use a potato masher to shred all the meats right into the soup. Remove from heat and stir in the cilantro. Serve with sour cream.

    Notes

    My friend recently told me that there is too much green in my photos and on my blog in general so I made this recipe to spite her. But COME ON! Green is the best color to eat. Fact. There are arguments for red and brown but green wins everytime. I wanted to make a green chili but just really go for it in the color department. I put tomatillos, poblano peppers, green bell peppers, serrano chiles, collard greens, broccoli, and even some chopped cilantro at the last minute to make this the greenest chili I have ever seen.


    Tomatillos and poblano peppers are roasted to form the base for this soup.

    Blend up the tomatillos and poblanos with some water and set it aside for later.

    Sear off the meat on all sides, then cook it for an hour in chicken stock. This step is required because the beef takes about an hour longer than the collard greens and pork to get really tender.

    When about an hour has passed, start to build the soup. Peppers and onion in first, then garlic.

    Then the tomatillo mixture followed by the beef and stock it was cooked in.

    Pull the stems off the greens and chop them up really well.

    Add them to the soup and let it simmer a while. The broccoli goes in a bit later.

    Once the meats are tender and everything is cooked, mash up the meats with a potato masher to get them nice and shredded.

    Finally, kill the heat and stir in some cilantro.

    This chili is loaded with soo much good stuff. And soo much green stuff!

    Top it with a little sour cream and dig in!

    This chili has so much flavor and just enough kick from the serrano peppers. The green color also becomes a green flavor from all those green ingredients melding together.

    A great hearty meal for these cold october nights!