Photo by Bethany Fehlinger
I hate to waste the food in my kitchen. I try to use up everything I have, and if not, I freeze it.
I love trying new recipes, but that also leaves me with ingredients I will only partially use and then let them get moldy.
And there are some nights I don’t feel like pulling out the pots and pans to cook dinner after work for just me. (My fiance is not vegan and usually is at work when I get home. I also am childless.)
Sometimes the same, old thing over and over gets boring for my tastebuds, and I don’t feel like looking at all the dishes in the sink — we are sans dishwasher in our York city apartment.
When I discovered the glory of my crock pot, where I can make dinner while sleeping, it was glorious. And now, in the summer heat, I don’t have to slave over a hot stove in our ventless kitchen; I can just pop it in the microwave when I get home, and store the leftovers right in the crock.
This chick’n verde recipe by Kathy Hester in “The Vegan Slow Cooker” was the best solution for my situation: The crock pot produced a yummy dinner as I slept and I subbed out certain ingredients for what I had on hand.
Photo by Bethany Fehlinger
The chiles and jalapenos went hand-in-hand for my chile con queso, so instead of a whole can of chiles, I used the leftover chiles and jalapenos sitting in the fridge at a 1/2 of a cup each. I took out the chile powder, because I figured this would be spicy enough. I didn’t have apple cider vinegar, so I just used the red wine variety since it would burn off. My fiance hates cilantro, so I used parsley — still green and curly without the cilantro taste.
I did splurge on tomatillos, which cost about $2.50 for the pound. These beauties will be in season soon so grab them from your garden instead when the time is right.
While chick’n verde is great for rice or burritos, try it in a sub or maybe on salad greens.
Chick’n verde
Serves 10
Ingredients
- 1 pound of tomatillos, husks removed
- 1 tablespoon of garlic
- 1/2 cup of canned green chiles
- 1/2 cup of canned jalapenos
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Juice of 1 lime
- 3 to 4 cups of chicken-flavored seitan or fake meat, cut into cubes or strips
Recipe
- Beforehand, coarsely chip the tomatillos into chunks. Place all the ingredients, except the seitan, into a food processor or blender. Mix until combine.
- Place sauce and seitan in an airtight container and store in the fridge until ready to cook, letting the seitan marinade.
- Oil the crock of your slow cooker with a little vegetable oil. Place seitan and sauce in crock, and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
- Serve over rice or use as filling for a burrito or sub.
Have a recipe to share? Email bfehlinger@ydr.com.
