(From Martha Stewart’s Healthy Quick Cook Menus)
Serves 4
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 medium-size garlic cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 16-oz can hominy, drained
1 small jalapeño pepper
1 pound tomatillos, diced (about 3 cups)
2 bunches Swiss Chard, coarsely chopped (about 26 oz)
4 cups Chicken Stock (page 13)
2 bay leaves
Garnishes
8 radishes, very thinly sliced
2 jalapeño peppers, very thinly sliced
1 small avocado, peeled, halved, pitted, and quartered
8 scallions, very thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 limes, quartered
chile de arbol powder
8 sprigs of fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the cumin and salt and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the hominy, jalapeño, and tomatillos and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the Swiss chard, stock and bay leaves and bring to a boil. Cover and cook, stirring until the chard is wilted and the leaves are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf. Ladle the soup into 4 bowls and garnish each serving.
Charity Hanif’s shortcuts:
I use 2 cans of hominy, generally a mix of white and yellow. I add a small can of green chilis, maybe add a bit more cumin, and I use either fresh spinach or a small box of frozen spinach, or tatsoi, or even some other cooking green instead of swiss chard. I also sometimes use canned tomatillos, (which if you get a larger can, freeze very well in small ziploc bags for the next batch of soup). If you have no other garnish, the little bit of lime juice really makes it!